Springs On Z71
 

I was wondering why my 2006 Z71 does not have springs in the front? And if it does excuse my stupidity. I looked but couldnt find them. Im hoping they dont cuz my buddy and I have a $100 bet and I said it doesnt.

You should have coil springs...

I crawled under the truck and everything couldnt see a thing. I got a shock absorber mounting to lower A arm but no spring anywhere in site

I did some googling, just be sure I'm not missing anything... You have coils. or something is there I dont know about.

I will take pics and post them here in a few minutes

Im still waiting on them to send from phone to PC then I will upload them. They are taking forever. Im bout to start a new thread To show Changes I have made to the truck and future progress I make. Hopefully they upload soon cause in like 10-15 minutes im going to get the truck programed

https://chevroletforum.com/forum/pic...pictureid=2309
Here is one pic. Still a little muddy. went out one of the ranges last night on the Back 40

Here is another pic https://chevroletforum.com/forum/pic...pictureid=2310

Um, you have torsion bars for front springs, the 2 wheel drive models have coil springs.

I feel dumb... I should've known that. I'm just used to 2wd's.

Ok Cool. I still thought it would of had coil springs. My buddy I had the bet with is a 2008 Chevy 1500 and his is the Work Truck Model and he doesn't have tension bars but does have coil springs.

mudmaniac is right. all 4wd models from 88 up (with independent front suspension) use torsion bars. they're couple inches diameter, one driver side, one passenger. if you crawl under your truck, right about center of front doors, you will see them coming out of a crossmember, running forward to the lower control arms of your suspension. yes, you win.

I went back through some of the googling I did.... Everything i looked at was 2WD... Wow.

all the snow has caused brainwave interference. :D

arent coil springs better for off roading instead of torsion bars and shock absorbers? i'd think that 4wd trucks should have coil springs and 2wd have torsion bars since torsion bars give a better ride than coils. but mudmaniac is right

Yeah I think maybe the only reason they have it on my buddies truck is because its a work truck. I do know 01 F150's Have torsion and coil springs. I know what torsion bars are. I got the suspesion maxx torsion key leveling kit on mine. I was still shocked I didnt have coil springs.

nice. im liking your decals haha. those are sick. i just picked up my leveling kit today and hopefully installing it this weekend. damn shop took forever placing my order. too bad they dont make aftermarket coil springs for your trucks.

Yeah I havnt even looked into it. I would like to put 37" tires underneath it but might settle for 35" Im going to get atleast a 6" lift but still debating which on to get. And want to wait till I have all the money at once to order lift and tires. I still crank the front end up a couple more inches but it would look retarted. Which leveling kit did you get?

rough country, keys and 4 shocks. a kit i havent seen anybody mention around here has been fabtech. seems to me people are opposed to the lift kits with the add a leaf kits. they tend to lean towards the block kits. i was looking at the rough country lifts and the new ones are pretty nice. not sure if i'd get the ntd kit or the normal lift.

I would lean towards add a leaf or replacing the leaf springs completely. Yeah I like the NTD I havnt read the installation manual on the NTD but I did a 6" RC lift on a 01 tundra and you had to cut out the cross member under the front differential which Im sure if you ever wanted to take the lift off that wouldnt be good.Been meaning to look up if the NTD lift requires the same. I just sold my 90 ram charger and the guy that bought it had a truck similiar to mine with the RC keys in it with the torsion bar cranked all the way up I think he said and he had 2 or 3" blocks in the rear with add a leaf. It was really nice looking. He had 33" tires but it look just right.

i was going to get the 3 inch block kit for the back but my truck still would of had that downward rake just higher up. i think the people were against the add a leafs because it stiffens up the ride. but wouldnt that mean you would have a higher payload? almost equivalent to a 3/4 ton?

Yeah I believe so. He added it because he hauls around a goose neck trailer with his mud bogger on it. My other buddy has a 05 F-150 I believe and he has a 6" Fabtech lift on it and bout the 2.5" Coil leveling kit to bring it up a bit higher and a add a leaf for the rear.

I dont know to much about add a leaf but I was always informed add a leaf is better then bigger blocks. and getting new leaf springs was the best. Thats one reason alot of lifts offer the lift with blocks and have the same thing with leaf springs instead of blocks. Its usually a bit more pricey for the Leaf kit though. From my understanding replacing the leafs is the best for off roading cuz you have more travel then as if you added blocks you would be getting still the same amount as stock.

a set of springs will have less axle wrap than a big block

which is a good thing right?

yes its a good thing

I dunno.. Maybe you right 992door. My understanding was that by adding bigger leaf springs you are actually capable of getting more articulation where as a block with stock leaf springs you would still get the same travel because you are not actually changing anything suspension wise just putting blocks in it. I've always heard block lifts as the cheap mans lift. Im not saying anything bad about blocks though.

I might have misread what you wrote 992door.... Do ya'll agree from best to worse lifting the rear of a truck is:

1. Bigger Leaf Springs
2. Add-A-Leaf
3. Blocks

I did misread what you 992door. Sorry bout that.

a new set of springs will not really give you more articulation. I think the more leafs that are in a spring pack the less articulation you will have and the stiffer the ride will be. The fewer the leafs in a pack the softer the ride will be

The new springs have more of an arch to them which would allow more travel without stiffening the ride, it really dosen't matter though, the front is where you are limited in the travel with the torsion bars. Block will increase the chance of axle wrap, but I have the add a leaf with 4" blocks in the rear and don't get much wrap out of them, also the rear flexes as much as the front with my solid axle swap.

Oh Ok.. Yeah Im probably going to get blocks with add a leaf on mine unless I can find a good deal on a kit with lead lift in the rear.

they make kits with blocks and leafs?

Not sure... I would look around. You can always buy the leaf lift and go to your local auto zone and pick up block kits with U bolts for like $30

Thats if your trying to get some extreme lift though. Then you got to figure out how your going to get the front up level though (i.e. coil overs, torsion keys, other leveling kits. etc..)

yea i feel ya. i wonder if you can take coils from a 2wd and put them on a 4wd? im not sure about getting the truck level with a the kind of lift you want.

are you planning on lifting or leveling you truck?

BTW what type of lights did you use to illuminate your floor boards in you truck?

yea i have a rough country leveling kit i picked up yesterday and putting it in this weekend.
here is the link... http://www.ledunderbody.com/Blue-4pc...hting-Kit.aspx
i've had it since oct 08 and no problems. :) i think the green kit would go good in your truck.