I installed the DJM 2/3 inch drop in my tahoe. The front was the torsion bar keys and the rear was the springs with the shock extenders. After the drop i went ahead and got a wheel alignment. This is where the tragic starts.... before i explain the issue please understand the truck was all original and never in an accident.

The wheel alignment tech who is actually someone i know couldnt get the passenger wheel straight. It was set to the max and he couldnt get out of all the negative camber it had. The drivers side was actually straight and looked perfect but as for the passenger side it looked like it was running on the inner side of the tire which of course it was. After messing around and taking alot of his time i gave up and went home to look at it myself and go over it. I was able to crank the torsion bars up a little to give me more postive camber but still not enough. If i go up anymore the front of the truck will be higher then the rear.

Why is this and is there a solution. I really dont understand why this is happenning even with a small drop!! Should i have gone with the front spindles instead? Before and after shots.

 

You need to understand how the suspension works with a torsion bar setup. You are turning the torsion bar to pivot the suspension up to get you're drop. By doing that you affect the camber and limit the amount you can adjust it to get back to 0. I went through alot of lowering kits on my wife's Yukon XL. I had a Springtech 2-3 then a DJM 3-5 and finally Belltech spindles, Belltech 5305 coils with helper bags. So I'm talking from first hand experience. Take the keys off, get some spindles and then adjust your final height with your torsion bars with stock keys. If you go more than 3" on the back you have to get the rear hardware kit from DJM. The Belltech coils in the rear are the best possible thing you can get. I tried 4 different sets and they were the best. The helper bags run such a low pressure usually around 5-10 psi that they are more of an intermediate bumpstop. I also tried several shocks and the absolute best was the Bilstien HD. Our Yukon finally sat about 4-6 which rode great, almost tucked a 305/40/22 and towed alot of weight with just a little air in the bags. PM me if you need any further help. I redid ours alot and have lowered about 3-4 more.

 

WOW skyhighsami thanks so much for all that info. Let me explain my goal and intensions with this drop. First i was trying to get it in the garage so i can be able to work on it when need to. Having a driveway that is a downhill makes it hard to do many things. Two becasue it is the z71 and with the addition of the new wheels it was way to high for my liking. I also was trying not to spend to much money doing this. I did much research and from what i found that fit my budget and fit my needs was the DJM 2/3 drop. I do feel the truck bounces alot and more then i would like and i am also afraid if i need to tow anything will it work out okay. So from what you said im curious if i put in the factory torsion keys will i be able to drop it that 2 inches that i need and get the front wheel issue resolved, what you think?

 

The DJM keys are re-indexed to allow the drop without turning the keys way down. They are "supposed" to allow you to install them at factory suspension specs and it be 2" lower. I personally am not a fan of replacing the keys because usually I have been able to swap the coils out in the back and turn the factory keys to make the truck sit some what level or have an inch or so of rake and never had any alignment issues. On my wife's truck I did keys, LCA, and finally spindles. On the keys I was able to get it aligned. The lower control arms it was just like yours, the adjustment was maxed out on one side so the other was adjusted so they both were out the same amount so there wasn't any funny handling or odd tire wear. The spindles were perfect and gave me 0 problems. When you lower something with a spindle you get your drop by moving the wheel's mount point up. It doesn't affect your suspension at all, with the keys it re-indexes moving the suspension up in it's arc and decreasing suspension travel and causing some camber issues if the bars are cranked or bar is moved enough. Is your truck sitting level or was it sitting level when you took it to be aligned? Also how far out it it? Because I have had several vehicles lowered and my last one was a bagged dually. I can tell you that some negative camber isn't bad it will just slightly increase your tire wear. However saying that on my wife's truck we put about 50k miles on a set of Nitto 420s that was rarely rotated and for most of their life the alignment wasn't spot on. They were great when I sold the truck at the end of last year but the wheel bearing on the driver's side was worn and ultimately did the driver's side tire in. The passenger was fine and would have lasted another 15-20k miles I bet. So while it's not ideal a little bit isn't really that big of a deal. When I sold the truck I sold all the records otherwise I would get the paper work from each alignment and let you know exactly what mine was with each lowering kit.

 

I just looked at the picture good and I would set the truck with about a 1/2" difference between the front and the back and have the alignment checked again. It looks like there is atleast and inch or so of rake in your truck. Also make sure you have trimmed the front and rear bumpstops.

 

I did not trim the bump stops is it totally necessary? I didnt see any issues running on them becasue my thoughts were that it will cause more support but the more i think about it (Im an Idiot) is that its not correct to do that. I will cut them down. I agree with you on what you said above about installing the DJM keys they should automatically give me some kind of drop without maxing out the bolts which mine are. I wouldnt mind going back to stock keys and installing the spindles to give me that two inch drop in front. I just hope i dont have any issues in the rear if i do so. If the drop is even or if its a little bit lower in front and i mean a little bit i dont mind but i just want to try and get the best ride as well. I went with a minor drop nothing out of the ordinary at least i think so, thinking it would make it look better but not affect the ride or the tires. How low will the stock keys give me if put them back in? I was planning to go home and install the stock keys and see if i can drop it low and see how it looks, will that be worth it?
Thanks for all the help.

Also what does RAKE mean?

 

Rake means the front is lower than the back, or a tool used to gather leaves in the fall. I lowered one 3" in the back with coils and turned the torsion bars enough to level it. You have to trim the bumpstops because you're closing the gap between the bumpstop and suspension components. Plus you won't get all your drop if it's sitting on the stops. It will also hurt the downward compression on the suspension travel

 

Last night i went ahead and installed the stock torsion keys. I have it set to the lowest i can go. The truck does look level and the front wheels do look more straight then before but when you use a measuring tape the front is actually a half inch taller then the rear, not what i want. I also noticed the drivers side rear is 1/2 inch lower then the right side rear. What the hell is going on???? Im thinking my only next step is to install the 2 inch front spindles leaving the stock torsion keys and call it a day. I also did trim the front bumpstops but only a small amount about a 1/4 of an inch should i do more and if so will that give me the 1/2 inch more im looking for. DAM im confused....

What do you think??? And if you agree what spindles should i go for?

Thanks for all the help. Wish you were closer i would have stopped by first thing.

 

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[QUOTE=Vinniety;4697760]I also noticed the drivers side rear is 1/2 inch lower then the right side rear. What the hell is going on???? QUOTE]

Thats called the Chevy "lean"...could be result of fuel tank on that side. I put an extra spacer on the spring that side to level it out.