Review from stock suspension to mid travel and all flavors in between

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Mille_ed

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I picked up a 2020 in April and messed with the suspension so much since. It was hard to find objective reviews, so hope this helps someone. Feel free to hit me up with Qs.

Round 1
: stock truck
On-road:
  • Wonderful soft suspension, loved the cush. Very quiet in cab.
  • Offroad: floats through small bumps, bottomed out rear fairly easily. OEM bump stops suck.

Round 2: +eibachs and alignment
  • Was looking to level the truck. It did this well.
  • Lost the cushy suspension. Pretty clear that the higher spring rate and preload really did not work with stock shock tuning. Didn't bother with resetting live valves, as knew was going mid travel

Round 3: +Deaver +3s and SVC bumpstop with King airbumps
  • Greatly reduced the axle wrap, and rear felt more progressive. Gained some traction offroad while in 2wd, but could still feel some hop.
  • Gained a ton of confidence offroad with the bumpstops. Bottoming out was now not a hazard, and much more progressive.
  • I found the limits of the truck with the "stock-ish" suspension chasing my buddy in Barstow in his mid-travel Silverado. There was an obvious point in whoop size and speed where the truck was just falling apart.
  • Shock fade was terrible after chasing the Silverado for 30min. Shocks were too hot to grab, and suspension felt like all spring.

Round 3A: +live valve Fox race shocks with RPG UCAs, bump stops, and Deaver +4s (I borrowed a friend's truck)
  • Felt pretty much like my truck from round 3. The ability to make click adjustments was nice for different terrain. Best thing was not worrying about shock fade. Definitely not a night and day change.

Round 4: SVC midtravel front and rear, trac bars. 2.5 King coilovers up front with 3.5 bypasses. 3.5 bypasses in back with bypass rack.

Holy mother of god. Feels like a different truck.

Pros:
On-road:
  • Regained the "floaty cushy" suspension that was lost with the Eibachs.
  • I was originally worried about the permanent removal of the torsion bar. While the truck did pick up more lean, I've found it to be very predictable and manageable.
  • Axle wrap 100% gone with the trac bars. Stupid amount of grip. Huge immediate improvement. So easy to roast the rear tires now.
Off-road:
  • So much travel. I went back out with my buddy in his mid travel Silverado and easily got away from him. Picked up at least 15mph through the same woop sections compared to the truck with fox race.
  • The trac bars give so much more traction in 2wd. They shine with loose ground going uphill. The lean is also very predictable and easy to learn. I have not been able to bind them up.
  • Zero shock fade. In fact, I grabbed the shock bodies and reservoirs after running hard for an hour, and they weren't all that warm.
  • Adjustability: I've found bypass settings I like for road and offroad. Need to do more shock tuning, but happy where I currently am.
Cons:
On-road:
  • Turning radius is silly. Can't make most u-turns, and drive-thrus are a challenge. The increased width isn't really an issue on itself, it's just the turning radius.
  • Noises: everything is noisy. I expected this. Replacing oem components that are tuned for NVH was going to come at a cost. Lot's of clickity-clackity, but hey, race truck.
  • Lost half of bed space to the bypass rack. Not really an issue since I just haul bicycles for the family. Can borrow Dad's truck for hauling anyway.
Off-road:
  • The limits of the oem suspension were a good safety net to not pushing the truck too hard. I find myself running way too hard now and have to keep in mind that I don't have a cage or 5 point. Really easy to get carried away and in trouble.
 

ddubdb3

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Really nice write up! The deavers made a big Improvement in axle wrap and even adding track bars you could still feel that much more improvement? I’ve thought about getting a set but worried these wouldn’t make much difference in the trucks feel with deavers


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dave_g

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great wright up! I'm jealous you have a big enough area to run it hard for 30 minutes! ( not happening in NJ) .
 

Tin Can Rap

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What did you do to address the front/rear fenders? What size tires are you running?

Thx, awesome homework you did for us; I currently am in your round 2 and debating what rabbit hole to go down, or wait on a gen 3...
 
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Mille_ed

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Deavers to trac bars was way more noticeable than oem leafs to deavers. I can’t recommend the trac bars enough!

Really nice write up! The deavers made a big Improvement in axle wrap and even adding track bars you could still feel that much more improvement? I’ve thought about getting a set but worried these wouldn’t make much difference in the trucks feel with deavers


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