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Steering, Suspension, and Brakes.. Oh my!

Auto Parts Guy

Full Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2021
Messages
413
Location
Greenville, SC
Time to start the next upgrade and maintenance phase on my 2500. May take a little while to get everything installed since it's not high priority (more of preventative maintenance stuff), so be patient with me. But I'll share pics in typical fashion.

Nothing too crazy but stay tuned for the next arrival of parts :D

AC Delco brake hoses and Rancho RS55198 front shocks
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" Rancho RS55198 front shocks "
Hmmm that's interesting.
Those look like rear shocks to me.
On my 2500, the front shocks have a stem for the top, with two large washers and two bushings :unsure:
 
" Rancho RS55198 front shocks "
Hmmm that's interesting.
Those look like rear shocks to me.
On my 2500, the front shocks have a stem for the top, with two large washers and two bushings :unsure:
Good eye! Yes they are most likely rear shocks. I couldn't find any with the S-type on top and LS42 eyelet on bottom in the right compressed and extended lengths for my lift. I'm at about a 19.5" resting position considering the adapters (21" without). Hopefully these work, we'll see when they arrive.

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That should work well, as long as the shocks don't get compressed beyond the fully compressed position when hitting a bump, for example.
 
Front shocks are on. I had to grind about a half a mm off the eyelet to fit it in the adapter. Those adapters are pretty freaking beefy. Other than that and the top bolt on the old shock being tough to get off, all went fairly smooth. Old shocks weren't bad per se, but they were old.

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Interesting, I remember one member used those adapters when they installed coilovers.
 
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Tie rods finally came in. These things are stout! I went back and forth between the Rare Parts, Kryptonite, DieselMax, PPF and all the other brands and seemed like rare parts had the best value to me. Anything looks better than stock. The Moog Problem Solver inners and outers were going to run about $200, so for $289 I decided on these, Part# RP28559.

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Easy night with a $12 upgrade
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Also picked up some Wagner ThermoQuiet front pads for $17. After that transmission purchase from Advance Auto, they gave me a bunch of speed perks; that combined with a 40% online only promo off got me ceramic pads for $17. I don't need them but why not!?

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As I said before, I CALL FIRST DIBS ON Auto Parts Guy's 2500 Avalanche should he decide to sell!
He certainly is putting it into fine shape! And he started with a really nice one. Looks like a labor of love! I have found that the more you work on 'em, the more you care about 'em! Don't think he'll be selling it any time soon!
 
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Easy night with a $12 upgrade
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Also picked up some Wagner ThermoQuiet front pads for $17. After that transmission purchase from Advance Auto, they gave me a bunch of speed perks; that combined with a 40% online only promo off got me ceramic pads for $17. I don't need them but why not!?

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Excellent deal! Those are supposed to be great pads, I almost went with them but went with the Raybestos Element. If I could have gotten the Wagners at that price it would have been a no-brainer.

I say put them on and do a comparison...
 
AutoPartsGuy, you guys are lucky on the sway bar bushings on the 1st gen... I guess GM made the switch on the 2nd gen to smaller (9mm?) bolts, and here in rust country they are not fun to remove. The heads on the rear bolt of each side snap right off.. I welded a nut to the remaining bolt multiple times but could never get the bolts out, so ended up drilling.. That was not a fun afternoon.

I had the same thought as you, for $12 and 4 bolts this'll be an easy upgrade!

P.S. thanks for showing all of your progress.
 
I'm so glad we don't have the rust issues down south, every repair would be a bucket of 'surprises'! I did add some Anti-Sieze on these 10mm bolts when i reinstalled them. Even though these bushings fit and work and were the biggest diameter that rockauto showed available, they still could have been a mm or 2 larger IMO. I measured the bar at a whopping 36mm diameter.

Small update today.
The rear shocks came in, Rancho RS999056 adjustable, but only one problem. One was brand new, and one must have been a return and wasnt even the right shock and looks used, although the box was the right PN.

So now i have to return it and more waiting :mad:

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I'm so glad we don't have the rust issues down south, every repair would be a bucket of 'surprises'! I did add some Anti-Sieze on these 10mm bolts when i reinstalled them. Even though these bushings fit and work and were the biggest diameter that rockauto showed available, they still could have been a mm or 2 larger IMO. I measured the bar at a whopping 36mm diameter.

Small update today.
The rear shocks came in, Rancho RS999056 adjustable, but only one problem. One was brand new, and one must have been a return and wasnt even the right shock and looks used, although the box was the right PN.

So now i have to return it and more waiting :mad:
I hate those kinds of things.
People have been known to put a part they had laying around in the shop, put it back in the box and then return it (n)
 
Got the replacement shock in the other day and got them on tonight. It wasnt quite a plug and play install, the tube is so big they barely fit and I had to grind a little on the driver side to make clearance. But all in all they look good and just bouncing the truck, i can tell a big difference in the softest setting vs the stiffest setting. So we'll see how they do this weekend pulling the camper.

Also while I was under there, I realized just how bad my Flowmaster muffler is, it's completely broken on one side but somehow still hanging in there. So that needs to be higher priority. I did weld a strap from the muffler to the pipe until I can get it taken care of. No pics of that rig job though :ROFLMAO:

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Just a small update, haven't had much time for leisure repairs lately. Still have the upper control arms and tie rods to replace at some point, although they aren't bad, just unknown.

I had my exhaust replaced, SS Magnaflow muffler to dual 5" tips. Loud enough to hear but not annoying or droning.

I also swapped out the front Rancho shocks for some Bilstein 5100 series. WAY better ride. The Rancho 5000 series just allowed too much bounce pulling a heavy trailer or the camper. The 9k adjustable in the rear are good.

For anyone looking, Bilstein 24-066464 fit the 2500 Avalanches with a 6"+ lift in the front. Straight bolt in. And fantastic!

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Is that a true dual exhaust? I am looking at doing a true dual exhaust on my truck and curious if that muffler has separate chambers or not. Would be nice. Although I want to run 3" exhaust on my 1500. But only because I have a stroked 6.0 with a blower going in and want as little back pressure as possible.
 
It's not necessarily a true dual per se, more of an X-pipe but you can see straight through one side out the other. No chambers or blockages.

They also make a 3" dual in 3" dual out.

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Wonder if they make one that is true dual. I don't need an x pipe at all. Especially that far back. Would rather not have two mufflers if they make them as one unit.
 
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