Get Free Suspension Travel on your Suburban, Tahoe and Avalanche
By DJM Staff
For years professional Installers have been doing this modification to the rear bumps stops for extra clearance and a greatly improved ride. When it comes to lowering I think certain modifications are justified because you can have a truck that is truly lowered (not just torsion bar adjustment in front and a mild drop spring in the rear) and still a very good ride. The Calmax Avalanche is lowered 3” in front and 5” in the rear. The front end is lowered simply by replacing the control arms and aligning.The rear consist of a 5” lowering spring, trailing arm and sway bar kit. Also the rear bump stop brackets were removed and a urethane stop was bolted directly to the frame. With the stock bump stop brackets left in place the ride was fair and bottomed about 10% to 15% of the time. Removing the brackets improved the ride to a point that you would think the truck came from the factory with this stance. Remember it does not hurt anything to ride around for a while without this modification. There is very little disassembly involved and no parts to buy except two bump stops. Under some conditions (leasing etc.) you may not want to do this. I think even if the truck is retuned back to stock this modification is easily reversed.
This is the stock bracket with the bump stop shortened. The ride was fair but can be greatly improved by completely removing the bracket from the frame. See Photo 1. |
First the lower shock bolts and lower sway bar bolts were removed. This frees up the rear end and all that is needed is to remove the springs and lower the rear end. See Photo 2. |
A plasma cutter makes quick work
cutting along the profile of the frame making sure not to cut into the frame
itself. A good plasma job can get within a 1/16 of an inch. The remainder will
be cleaned up with a 4” grinder. |
These are the stops after being cut from the truck. If it is done with skill there is no reason they could not be reattached later. See Photo 4. |
Jack the rear end back into place to make sure the new urethane button bump stop will align properly then drill and tap a 3/8 x 16 threaded hole. See Photo 5. |
This is the frame after a little clean up with the grinder. Spending a little extra time all evidence of the bracket can be removed. Now you can see the very standard frame that was covered by the bracket. See Photo 6. |
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After installing the springs, sway bar links and shocks you can see there is much more clearance than before. This will make for a much improved ride and will eliminate the bottoming problem with the stock configuration. Some customers have commented that the ride and handling is better than stock. We are not going that far but realistically you can have a 5” rear lowering and a very good ride. See Photo 7 | |
