Good info about the flip kit, I'll have to keep that in mind if I can ever make this a reality

 

I don't want my truck slammed, I just want it lowered 2 inches.

Why are the spindles so bad? I searched and found a few threads saying how much better spindles were over the torsion keys. I even found threads saying how they were better than the control arms.

I believe they said bump steer was bad with the control arms.

 

Yea mine wouldn't break em loose in 4wd back then.. just lil cam bolt on 5.3 it barly spun in 2wd lol but I would ride around in 4 high and nail it and brake stall it as hard as I could and never broke a cv.. Now as it sits I can break them om command

 

I'm still on stock cv axles I dont drive it in the winter anymore but i drove it in two winters straight in 4hi most of the time. I didnt do 4wd burnouts or drifting but i always launched it in 4hi at the track as well.

The control arms will give you back a lot of the turning radius that you lost with drop spindles. My turning radius was horrible as well with just the spindles because the stock lower control arm on 4x4 trucks is very thick and it doesnt go into the recessed part of the spindle. The DJM control arms are a bit thinner and tubular so they fit just perfect and right now my turning radius is as good as stock. Rides pretty damn good too.

 

Spindles: Horrible turning radius, bumpsteer, shitty ride if you couple them with drop keys, Not many aftermarket drop shocks available for the stock control arms, 17+ wheels

DJM Control arms: good turning radius, hardly any bumpsteer, great ride with lots of shocks available for the new mounts, and you can run 16" wheels if you have a 99-04. Plus the djm control arms will get you lower if you need to.

The best riding option available would be to run both the spindles and djm control arms so that you dont need to decrank the keys as much.

 

I believe that the main problem with the spindles is the loss of turning radius, but as far as ride quality goes, I'm sure that spindles are better than torsion keys, as spindles don't affect the spring rate like installing lowering keys/decranking the factory keys does. My truck rides great with the Belltech lowering keys as long as the bumps in the road are gradual, but harsh bumps cause bumpsteer that can be downright scary, especially on the highway I really need a new set of shocks that are intended for a lowered truck also, like the Belltech Street Performance shocks that I've heard so much about. I'm currently rockin stock height Bilstein HD's, which rode awesome at stock height, but are a little compromised considering that they're so compressed, even with the truck at rest.

A little sidewall on the tire makes a huge difference also...when I'm running my winter setup, which is 275/70-16 Toyo Open Country AT's on the factory aluminum wheels, it's like I have a whole different, comfort suspension on the truck as compared to when I'm cruising my summer setup which is 285/50-20's on Joe Gibbs Performance wheels. The brakes feel soooo much better with the 16's on also

 

Billy, I wouldn't recommend ANY twin-tube shock if you're running a heavy 20" wheel/tire combo. You want a mono-tube design shock.

 

That's all I wanted. I did not want "slammed" or "notched" or any of that, just a subtle stance. I did NOT want a "sporty" ride, as some call it.
I wanted a stock, or better than stock ride, with just a mild lowering job on my 2002 Z71 which is what I ended up with.

I used the cheap Ebay (BellTech copy) 2" lowering spindles w/stock keys in the front, and 2" rear shackle kit w/block removed in the rear. I used stock Z71 replacement KYB Monomax shocks in the front, and 2wd KYB Monomax shocks in the rear. Truck handles much better than stock, yet rides better (smoother) than ever. Only sucky thing was having to have at least 17's, but I like the 17's I now have, better than the old stock 16's anyway.

I have ZERO loss of turning radius...same as stock, so I am unsure what loss is being referred to?

Here is BEFORE (RC Leveling kit, and 33's):



and here is as it sits today, wheels and all (low enough to notice, yet high enough to haul without bottoming out):

 

Well I can tell you I dont know what all the damn hype is about Belltech street performance shocks cause they SUCK I'm on mcg spindles and 2500 keys and they rode ok for the first 5000 or so and now it's just horrible they absorb no "shock" like their supposed too... ... Up next will be some KYB monomax and be done with it

 

Excellent info Roger, that's good to know...what's the reasoning for this, are the twin tubes not durable enough, or is it a dampening issue? And which shocks are twins, the Belltechs? Thanks man!

This is the first bad report that I've heard about the Belltech Street Perf shocks...although it's also the first report that I've heard from anyone with any sort of mileage on them either Everything that I've heard or read previously had been positive, although they've all been reports that were pretty much right after the shocks had been installed