Nasty0500

HOwdy folks, I'm a lurker here, but looks like I need some squaring away. Here's the situation:

I'm the second owner of a 2014 Burb LTZ with what I believe is the full Autoride system as I ran the VIN and it brings up the Z55 RPO code. The truck just turned over 59,000 miles and we replaced the OEM tires with all terrains. The truck now rides extremely rough...no doubt from the added weight of the all terrains perhaps overwhelming the autoride? I see that quite a few folks have gone to the conventional shock in the front shocks/coils in the rear. I'd like to go to Bilstein 5100's on all four corners and understand that I'll need to use some resistors and what not to patch the system. At one time it appeared that Arnott actually offered a Bilstein kit, but no longer does (I'll be contacting them this week, but today is sunday) so I'll be making some calls on Monday to figure out that, but in the meantime, is there any tribal knowledge some of you DIY's out there can share? I'm also confused on a few points below:
1) Everytime I search 2014 Suburban I get 2013 search results...is there any difference between the 13 and 14 Autorides? I'm going to assume "No" since 14 was the final year of that body style.
2) Any difference between the Suburban and Avalanche suspensions? There's quite a few threads on the Avalanche forum.
3) Am I correct in that my AT's are the culprit? The compressor seems to operate fine and the shocks don't appear blown.
4) If anyone has done the ilstein conversion on a late model...12,13,14...can you provide some part numbers, feed back, and general impressions of the conversion? I'm running Bilsteins on my Ram 1500 and love the ride and handling...can I expect similar results on the Burb?

Nasty0500

Any experts out there?

Nasty0500

So I went ahead and put in the Bilsteins, new Moog springs in the rear and the resistor packs on all four corners of my 2014 LTZ burb. Truck rides so much better than the autoride, especially with All Terrains. The front right autoride shock was not functioning normally. With the Bilsteins, I started with the highest adjustment on the front and wound up with a reverse rake of about 3/4". So I then readjusted to the second lowest setting and the truck is almost perfectly level...has about 1/4" rake. Hope this information is helpful to someone else.

Perhaps it's because I'm new, but zero responses is pretty weak.

73shark

Curious as to how a shock can affect ride height.

Nasty0500

Not sure if this is a serious question or not...surely you must be familiar with Bilstein 5100 Adjustable Shocks as you're an Admin? Lots of youtube videos out there...but here's a description:

"Bilstein's 5100 Series Ride Height Adjustable Shocks are Zinc-plated shocks that install like factory replacement shocks and are designed to correct the factory nose-down rake, allowing for the use of larger wheels and tires. The OEM spring seat is repositioned to provide more preload to the factory spring. The result is a level front to rear ride height. Features include: Monotube gas pressure construction, Extremely affordable, Snap ring grooves on shock body provide up to 2.75" of front end lift (depending on application), More practical than strut extension or spring pre-load spacer kits, Offers increased wheel travel while accommodating a 33" tire, Application specific design available for many popular light trucks and SUVs."

Thanks for the participation...thought maybe I was the smelly kid.

SabrToothSqrl

Pics would be cool. Have 130,000 on the Tahoe now with no auto ride issues. It gets traded in on a Model 3 in March 2018... so fingers crossed

73shark

Sounds similar to a coil-over setup to me. The shock by itself can not affect ride height.

MTDreamin

Hi Nasty. I know this is an old thread, and I'm new here as well, new owner of a 2018 LS Burb. I'm just curious if you have any pictures of yours with the height adjustment? Sounds like you went with the highest setting in the rear and 2nd highest in the front?

I had a 4Runner a few years ago that I put Bilstein 5100s on and the difference in ride was night and day. As far as figuring out what height adjustability I wanted to go with, there were literally dozens of threads with people posting pictures of their 4Runners at the various settings, but I've had very little luck finding that with either the Suburban or Tahoe. I had an Expedition in between and even the Ford forums seemed more helpful on the Bilstein topic. Given their popularity, I'm surprised. My follow up question, of which I've also found little info on is how large a tire guys are fitting without any trimming. I don't want to go huge, tires or lift, and I think with my 4Runner I went up 2 from stock (so 3rd setting) in the front and up one (2nd setting) in the rear for the perfect slight forward rake, like you describe. Thanks for any info and help.