2005 4x4 Suburban 2" lift

[Erni]

Time to get new tires for the burb and was thinking of lifting it up a bit and getting bigger tires. 2" lift with 285/75r16 duratracs. Up from stock height and 265/70r16. (Sick of needing ramps to work under a truck)
Anyone got experiance with this? Looks like shock extenders or new shocks are needed, just as well since 100k on the original shocks they can use a freshening.
Impacts to towing, milage, etc? Fairly easy to do yourself?
This is my weekend, housework, dog, camping and rough weather truck.
Thank you.

[COcz]

What's under a 2005? Is it torsion bars up front with coils in the back? I've done some easy lifts like that to some vehicles and it is the tires that have the most effect on ride, mileage, and such. I would count on it being a little slower and a little worse mileage. Ride depends heavily on what shocks and tires you get. My GF really likes her duratracs of similar size. I went with cheaper rancho shocks and bfg a/t years ago and have been mostly happy.

[Walker2970]

just do a 2" body lift and swap out the break lines to the wheels done.. can be done in a day with a couple of ppl to help

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Suspension/3-Inch-Body-Lift-Kit.aspx?t_c=1&t_s=20&t_pt=3680&t_pn=DAYPA10113

[ThunderSquirrel]

The 05 is T Bar, I'm pretty sure, and most kits have you replace your keys which is not that difficult.
But 2" should be attainable by just cranking your existing keys and not result in too much extra wear on the front end. On the rear you can add a leaf or add a block.

I did a 2" T Bar crank on a 99 S10 and never had any extra tire wear or front end failure and drive it for 5 years. YMMV though, since the S10 is far lighter in the front.
Definitely get a good alignment and check your CV angles.

[Irving]

Do people do ball joint flips on those vehicles like they do on the Isuzu vehicles?

[Erni]

Thanks for all your help.
After your pointers and a lot more research I think I will leave it stock height. Not convinced cranking on the keys is the right solution, as it messes with suspension geometry and travel. Next step up would be a 3-4 inch lift kit, and probably wheels, etc. This project would quickly get out of hand. Not to mention my wife reminded me I would end up having to build a ramp for the dog to get in.) I will just save the $ for a quad or something. I will go on easy trails with the burb.

[Guylee]

You may be able to put the 285's on it without the lift. My Silverado is set up like that.

[Martinjmpr]

Just a few weeks ago I did my '04 Suburban. A guy from Expedition Portal came over to my house with some tools and we did the entire lift except for the T-bar keys. Since my truck spent its first 8 years in Wisconsin (by the carfax) the t-bar keys were pretty much rusted to the bars. I ended up taking it to shop in Sheridan (Tru Automotive) and they were able to bust the keys loose with a power hammer and put the new keys on.

My total cost was around $450 for the lift but that included new Z71 springs on the rear (my Suburban is an LT so the Z71 springs were both thicker and taller than the tired stock springs) and also Bilstein 5100 shocks all around which are more expensive than some other shocks.

Here the "before" shot:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z256/ZappBranigan/Suburban/Lift/before%2001_zpsgjfsntdy.jpg

And here's the "after":

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z256/ZappBranigan/Suburban/Lift/after%2003_zpsksvibwyq.jpg

I actually measured about a 2" lift all around. I also put extended sway bar links on the front. All of the work was relatively simple to do, although having an air wrench and other air tools definitely helps. Also you pretty much need 2 people, because there are times when you need 4 hands to get something done (getting the top bolts on the front shocks were the worst.)

Some people like to do a simple spacer in the rear. I'm not crazy about spacers and preferred longer springs. Here is a comparison of the stock LT spring and the brand new Z71 springs I ordered:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z256/ZappBranigan/Suburban/Lift/2016_0924_144612AA_zps9qpnstr3.jpg

Similar comparison for the rear shocks:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z256/ZappBranigan/Suburban/Lift/2016_0924_145436AA_zpsl1t4a2ny.jpg

This was the first time I'd ever done a lift. It took us about 7 hours to do the rear springs and shocks, the front shocks and the front sway bar links. If the T-bars had come out of the keys the way they're supposed to that would only have added maybe another half hour at most.

Ride quality is much improved. Truck is actually at the alignment shop now, once the front end gets aligned I'll get new tires. I have a set of 16" wheels (stock Suburban/Tahoe LS wheels) and I'm going to go with BFG AT KO2's in 285/75/16.

The primary function of my 'Burb is as a trailer tug (we have a small travel trailer and we travel a LOT ) and a "winter taxi" (My DD is a Nissan Pathfinder with a 5 speed that's more fun and more economical to drive) so I didn't want to go crazy with a lift, but I wanted to be able to run 33" tires (285/75/16 works out to about 32.8" - close enough for me.) Also going from 17's (stock) to 16's will save me almost $200 on tires, believe it or not!

[Erni]

Nice. That is what I was going for too. Please post pic with the 285s on, and let me know how you ride quality is. Does the front suspension bottom out going over bumps?

[Martinjmpr]

Nice. That is what I was going for too. Please post pic with the 285s on, and let me know how you ride quality is. Does the front suspension bottom out going over bumps?

If they do it's not noticeable. My keys aren't cranked up more than halfway, in fact the adjustment bolts are actually hanging kind of low:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z256/ZappBranigan/Suburban/Lift/after%2005_zpsksy96nc7.jpg

I haven't driven it more than a couple hundred miles since getting the lift and no long trips at all. Alignment is done so I'll probably get new tires in a few weeks.

[MarkCO]

In my 2003 Silverado with a 6" lift and 35s, and ARB bumper and about 200 pounds of "stuff" I went from 18 mpg to 13 mpg when I lifted it at about 35K. I drive it pretty hard and I just did an overhaul at 180K. New front suspension and transmission. Each side has had a new front hub and I am only on my 2nd set of brakes. Other that the gas mileage hit, I do enjoy what it gives me. It is not a Crawler by any stretch, but it gets me through mud and snow that stop most Jeeps when hunting, and that was my goal. For 4-Wheeling, IFS full sized trucks are not the best choice.

I run Bilsteins, which are lifetime warranty and were installed with the BDS lift. I have swapped out all 4 at least once, but it is like 20 minutes with air tools per shock, so not a big deal.

[Martinjmpr]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161113/06c9f3addd7054a74a43f5513b7689e5.jpg

Not a great photo but here she is with the new shoes on 16" wheels.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fportmen45]

just do a 2" body lift and swap out the break lines to the wheels done.. can be done in a day with a couple of ppl to help

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Suspension/3-Inch-Body-Lift-Kit.aspx?t_c=1&t_s=20&t_pt=3680&t_pn=DAYPA10113


NOOOOOO!!!!

[Irving]

Just a few weeks ago I did my '04 Suburban. A guy from Expedition Portal came over to my house with some tools and we did the entire lift except for the T-bar keys. Since my truck spent its first 8 years in Wisconsin (by the carfax) the t-bar keys were pretty much rusted to the bars. I ended up taking it to shop in Sheridan (Tru Automotive) and they were able to bust the keys loose with a power hammer and put the new keys on.


I'm doing this same thing on my Isuzu Amigo and my keys are also stuck to my old torsion bars. I have brand new heavy duty torsion bars to install so I need those keys off. Did that shop charge you a lot to press them off for you?

Also, it didn't look like you replaced your torsion bars, so why did you need your keys taken off?

[Martinjmpr]

I'm doing this same thing on my Isuzu Amigo and my keys are also stuck to my old torsion bars. I have brand new heavy duty torsion bars to install so I need those keys off. Did that shop charge you a lot to press them off for you?

Also, it didn't look like you replaced your torsion bars, so why did you need your keys taken off?

On these GM trucks, the simplest and most cost effective way to lift the front end is to replace the torsion keys. The lift keys are "clocked" so that they twist the key a little bit more than stock to raise the front end (IOW, they push the LCA downward.)

Obviously this limits downward travel but for trucks like mine that are primarily tow rigs and mild off roaders the loss of downward movement is not critical.

If you look at message boards for both GMT-400 (roughly 1990 - 1999) and GMT-800 (roughly 1999/2000 - 2006/2007) GM trucks you'll see that the "key lift" is probably the most common one out there because it's the one that requires the least amount of modifications. Less expensive and less wear and tear on the CV joints. The downside to a key lift is that practically speaking, you're limited to about 2 - 3" max lift and even 3" is pushing it in terms of the CV joints.

There are 6" lifts but they involve a lot of bracketry - at the very least you have to drop the differential and in some cases they actually lower the rear end of the T-bar as well as putting on longer LCA/UCA. I think those lifts START around $2000.

OTOH a simple key lift can be under $100 if you don't want to change shocks. Basically you get a set of keys for about $30, and a set of either nylon, aluminum or steel spacers for the rear springs and maybe some extender links for the shocks.

Now I didn't go THAT cheap. Since my Suburban is an LT I replaced the rear springs with Z71 springs (Z71 is the GM RPO code for the "off road" package and included longer springs) and brand new Bilstien 5100 shocks all around (most expensive part of the lift as they were ~$80 each.) The shocks I chose are about 2" longer than the factor shocks to accomodate the lift. Other than shocks and springs the only other new parts I added were some Moog extended sway bar links, even though I'm not sure they are neccessary. They were really inexpensive, I think it was about $20 for both sides and they are much beefier parts than the factory sway bar links.
.

[Irving]

I see, your torsion bars are not adjustable. Everything for my Isuzu is exactly the same as what you just said for your suburban, except there is an adjustment nut on the torsion bar keys to allow you to raise, or lower the front end. The issue is that Isuzu has pretty wimpy torsion bars to begin with so the front end has a lot of brake dive and is squishy in general. The remedy is heavy duty aftermarket torsion bars which in my case, unfortunately, are not cheap.

[Martinjmpr]

I see, your torsion bars are not adjustable. Everything for my Isuzu is exactly the same as what you just said for your suburban, except there is an adjustment nut on the torsion bar keys to allow you to raise, or lower the front end. The issue is that Isuzu has pretty wimpy torsion bars to begin with so the front end has a lot of brake dive and is squishy in general. The remedy is heavy duty aftermarket torsion bars which in my case, unfortunately, are not cheap.

Actually, it is adjustable, it's just that putting a new key on gives you more adjustment range. I could crank mine up another inch or so if I wanted to.

[Irving]

I plan on doing the same and being a bit lower in the front than the rear.