My 1:1 Has a New Life: Suspension is Done!

[Quick GMC]

I have an 06 GMC Sierra, extended cab, 2wd. Over the last 10 years I have had every intent to modify it and turn it into something special. 4 transmissions later, I am a little behind. I started when I bought it new, with a tranny shift kit, servos, 3000 stall converter, tuning, shorty headers, intake and 2" drop shackles. that's where it stopped. First tranny blew up the output shaft and grenaded the whole thing. Went back to stock temporarily with what I thought was a remanufactured unit. turns out is was just spray painted with new seals on the outside. Then I built my own, $3k in parts later, it was shifting hard and fast. THEN the converter clutch disk came apart, sending metal through the lines and into the tranny. Some parts were ruined, but most were salvageable, as I caught it right away and shut the truck off and had it towed. 1 more rebuild later and here I am. Everything seems good. New trans, new cooler lines and a 35,000gvwr trans cooler for a motorhome. 

I started buying parts a year ago, but have yet to install them. I keep changing my mind, but now I'm set for the next stage. 

Hellwig front and rear sway bars
Viking Coilover shocks in the front with QA1 springs
Viking rear adjustable shocks
McGauphy's 2" drop spindles for the front
Caltracs 2" drop hangars for the rear (2" shackles already on)
Caltracs traction bar system
Rear airbags
Onboard compressor for bags 
Driveshaft center carrier relocation
New rear shock relocation mounts
Detroit Trutrac diff
4.10 Gears
Diff cover

 

The pictures are off the internet. My truck is white with chrome bumper and grill surround, but the wheels are very similar. This is essentially what I am going for. Not sure if I will keep it white, might do a color change 

 

Edited June 20, 2018 by Quick GMC

[Quick GMC]

This is my truck right now 

[Casey]

Cameron, did you by chance have (or maybe still have) a Citron '70(?) Dart?

[Quick GMC]

4 hours ago, Casey said:

Cameron, did you by chance have (or maybe still have) a Citron '70(?) Dart?

No, I never had anything like that 

[espo]

I have owned a few Chevrolet pick ups and enjoyed playing with them. The last one was a '96 Extended Cab with the 6' bed. Stockland camper shell with no windows and it also was white with the light beige interior. I redid the suspension much as you have done. The 350 was replaced with a 383 crate motor from Blue Print with the Chip to compensate for the bigger cam and the FI modifications that I had done. The transmission  was never a problem for me, but when I first lowered it I did have an issue that may or may not have anything to do with your problems. Like you I raised the center carrier mount when I lowered the truck. On the '96 I used the relocated front leaf spring mounts and longer rear shackles as this lowered it 4 inches. I used 2 inch drop spindles and cut one coil on the front.  After I got the suspension where I wanted it I noticed under some driving conditions, especially from a stop getting up to speed a little faster than the rest of traffic, you could feel a slight vibration that could get kind of bad when I really stood on it. I figured out that when I changed all of the suspension around I had the pinion angle wrong. I put a very small shim between the differential and the leaf spring mount and the problem was solved. Your description of the modifications on your truck and the transmission especially if your pinion angle is off, and with all you have done I would think it is something other than stock, this can have a big effect on the transmission. You may not feel the same vibrations I had, but your drive shaft is in a different position than stock and the shaft will move further into the rear of the transmission under some conditions and this will have an impact on the internals of the transmission. As I said this may not even be your problem but it is something that will not cost a lot to have checked and them same for installing shims if needed to change the angle.    

[Robberbaron]

Sounds like a nice setup.  My daily driver is also a white '06 Sierra that I bought new.  Mine is a standard cab longbed, bought it as a Worktruck, but have upgraded it with a chrome grille, chrome rear bumper, chrome side moldings, etc.

Aside from the regular cab and 8 ft bed, it pretty much looks like yours, except I replaced the W/T steelies with Denali 6-spoke rims.  I always planned to do some additional mods, but I got married a year after buying it, then house/wife/kids ate up most of the previous free time.

It's turned out to be a pretty bulletproof daily driver, though.  I'm at 113K and the 4.8 still doesn't burn a drop of oil.  Aside from routine maintenance, the only real annoyance has been blowing several brake lines due to road salt, since I'm in the heart of the rust belt.

 

 

[Quick GMC]

5 hours ago, espo said:

I have owned a few Chevrolet pick ups and enjoyed playing with them. The last one was a '96 Extended Cab with the 6' bed. Stockland camper shell with no windows and it also was white with the light beige interior. I redid the suspension much as you have done. The 350 was replaced with a 383 crate motor from Blue Print with the Chip to compensate for the bigger cam and the FI modifications that I had done. The transmission  was never a problem for me, but when I first lowered it I did have an issue that may or may not have anything to do with your problems. Like you I raised the center carrier mount when I lowered the truck. On the '96 I used the relocated front leaf spring mounts and longer rear shackles as this lowered it 4 inches. I used 2 inch drop spindles and cut one coil on the front.  After I got the suspension where I wanted it I noticed under some driving conditions, especially from a stop getting up to speed a little faster than the rest of traffic, you could feel a slight vibration that could get kind of bad when I really stood on it. I figured out that when I changed all of the suspension around I had the pinion angle wrong. I put a very small shim between the differential and the leaf spring mount and the problem was solved. Your description of the modifications on your truck and the transmission especially if your pinion angle is off, and with all you have done I would think it is something other than stock, this can have a big effect on the transmission. You may not feel the same vibrations I had, but your drive shaft is in a different position than stock and the shaft will move further into the rear of the transmission under some conditions and this will have an impact on the internals of the transmission. As I said this may not even be your problem but it is something that will not cost a lot to have checked and them same for installing shims if needed to change the angle.    

I bought a carrier bearing relocation bracket. It's a 2 piece driveshaft, so this repositions the center carrier to compensate for the pinion angle. 

[Quick GMC]

4 hours ago, Robberbaron said:

Sounds like a nice setup.  My daily driver is also a white '06 Sierra that I bought new.  Mine is a standard cab longbed, bought it as a Worktruck, but have upgraded it with a chrome grille, chrome rear bumper, chrome side moldings, etc.

Aside from the regular cab and 8 ft bed, it pretty much looks like yours, except I replaced the W/T steelies with Denali 6-spoke rims.  I always planned to do some additional mods, but I got married a year after buying it, then house/wife/kids ate up most of the previous free time.

It's turned out to be a pretty bulletproof daily driver, though.  I'm at 113K and the 4.8 still doesn't burn a drop of oil.  Aside from routine maintenance, the only real annoyance has been blowing several brake lines due to road salt, since I'm in the heart of the rust belt.

 

 

One of my friends still has his GMC from high schook, I think a 2000 or 2001. It's a 4.8. Great motor for a turbo setup. Some of these trucks are running stupid fast times on street trim with strokers and boosted 4.8 and 5.3 motors. I'm not much into drag racing. I would love to build a single cab AWD version, but with 2 kids I need the room right now. 

There is a guy with a single cab on coilovers with a 4 link that is very competitive in Autocross against a lot of the smaller cars. 

Eventually, I think I will go a little lower and a 3 or 4 link in the rear with coilovers there too, but that's another project 

[disabled modeler]

Nice truck.

[espo]

6 hours ago, Quick GMC said:

I bought a carrier bearing relocation bracket. It's a 2 piece driveshaft, so this repositions the center carrier to compensate for the pinion angle. 

My '96 also had the two piece driveshaft and I also had the center carrier support. As I said my problem may not even be related to what you are experiencing, but if there is a vibration in say the rear drive shaft because of a change in it's angle, that will transmit to the front drive shaft.There is a curtain amount of for and aft play even though the shaft appears to be solidly mounted. Per the drive shaft shop I went too any vibration can set up harmonics that effect anything else in the driveline. This is one of the reasons balancing of the drive shaft its self is so important. Just like balancing the crankshaft in the engine or balancing your tires. Should your tire be off even an oz. you can feel it in your steering wheel, and look at how isolated your steering wheel is from your tire. Just a thought. Good luck to you on getting your truck done the way you want it. Maybe even post you progress here.         

[Quick GMC]

I changed gears a bit. Ditched the Caltracs and went with a full blown notched 3 link rear from Ridetech, along with their front upper and lower arms. Now I will be sitting on coilovers on all 4 corners, sitting just like the truck in the first pic.

 

Attached is a pic of Ridetech's full bolt on system. I am doing the same thing, but with a mix and match bit of parts. Viking coilovers, Hellwig sway bars, McGaughy's spindles, and the rear section and A-arms in the picture.  

[kobuzz]

My 2001 with 518 RWHP

[Quick GMC]

16 hours ago, kobuzz said:

My 2001 with 518 RWHP

NICE. Supercharged or Turbo? I like those 99-02 front ends

Edited May 3, 2018 by Quick GMC

[Quick GMC]

ok all done. Still some tweaking to do with ride height, shock settings and such. It's lower than I expected, but I have plenty of room to play with pre-load 

 

Rear components

Main front components

Front coilovers

Rear coilovers

Sway bars

New front setup with upper and lower arms, spindles and sway bar with adjustable links

New rear setup with no more leaf springs, c-notch, parallel lower bars and coilovers, installed sway bar after this. 

[Quick GMC]

New 20" wheels

SLAMMED, need to raise the ride height a bit

[Belugawrx]

NICE !!

Gonna roll that rear pan?

I've got a 2016 black out Silverado 4x4 I am shopping a levelling kit for.

[Quick GMC]

23 minutes ago, Belugawrx said:

NICE !!

Gonna roll that rear pan?

I've got a 2016 black out Silverado 4x4 I am shopping a levelling kit for.

right now I ordered a new bumper, the original was bent. Got a brand new one with all new plastics an brackets for $200 on amazon. Not factory quality, but good enough until I can get the roll pan, handles and mirrors together to colormatch

[Belugawrx]

 

2 hours ago, Quick GMC said:

right now I ordered a new bumper, the original was bent. Got a brand new one with all new plastics an brackets for $200 on amazon. Not factory quality, but good enough until I can get the roll pan, handles and mirrors together to colormatch

That'll look sweet

This is what I'm starting with..

I would need to lose the front bumper drop,...which wouldn't hurt the looks for sure..

Thats Riley, protecting the office

 

 

[ChrisBcritter]

Nice! And a big contrast to all the lifted trucks out there in the desert (I used to live in YV/JT).