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Newclearwaste

New Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
4
Location
San Luis Obispo County, CA
Hello fam!

I am a new 2007 Avalanche LTZ owner! (eyyyyyyyy) I have been browsing the forums here, but I haven't found a very direct answer to what I'm looking for.
I want to lift my Avalanche (probably a 4 inch lift) but from what I have read the Z55 suspension system that the LTZ models come with is not compatible with 99% of the lift kits out there. So I am debating whether it is better to try to find a lift kit that will work with the Z55 suspension or if it is better to replace it.

Have any of you gone down this road?
Do you prefer your new suspension over the Z55?
How much was labor to replace your Z55?
Is there a lift kit I am not aware of that works with the Z55 suspension? (I could not find a company that still made one)
 
First welcome to the website!
If you read the older threads about the LTZ suspension issues you already read about the expense and issues of replacing the stock suspension. You would have to deal with fault codes from sensors that notice the missing suspension parts. You would need to add sensor overrides or reprogram things to eliminate the notices on your dash.
Just my .02 but I would NOT open a can of worms trying to frankenstein a bunch of parts together when the manufacturers say it shouldn't be done and they don't want to create a complete kit to do it right. Remember if you do it you are changing the geometry of drivetrain, steering and probably going to install bigger rims and tires which will add weight to axles and could affect bearings and other parts as well as needing to get speedometer and odometer changed if you change tire diameter. You may heave to spend time and money chasing parts replacement and if anything goes wrong and you didn't buy from one source then each company can blame the other for your problems.
You should also consider gas mileage being affected by the weight and rolling resistance of bigger tires and lifting the AV into the air stream. It may not be an issue now when gas prices are low but if they rise you will start to see many threads on this website with owners trying to get better gas mileage.
While the AV does many things well you have to think of it's origins and it is built on the Suburban frame and the LTZ in particular was built to be a very smooth riding SUV not some off-road Jeep like vehicle. So it can be modified with enough time and money but it is at a disadvantage when you consider it a starting point for an off-road vehicle.
Good luck with your efforts.
 
👆 What he said.

There is no way I would change out the smooth ride of the Z55 suspension. By doing so, you would start a chain of events that your wallet may not be able to handle. :cheers:
 
Skyjacker has a Z55 autoride compatible 3.5" lift. I have no experience with the product.

C7361ARK - 3.5 in. Front Strut Spacer Kit with Rear Coils (Autoride) - Skyjacker Suspensions

3.5 in. Suspension Lift Kit. Includes Front Strut Spacers and Rear Coils. For Autoride Models. Includes Rear Autoride Shock Extension brackets. Will NOT fit models equipped with MAGNERIDE.

For $2,100 it includes
  • Suspension Lift Kit with Shocks
  • Autoride Rear Shock Extensions
  • 3.5-4 in. Lift
  • Can Use OEM Tires/Wheels with No More Than 5 in. Backspacing
  • Aluminum Front Spacers,
  • Rear Shock Extensions,
  • Rear Leveling Link,
  • Hardware.
  • Rear Lower Links,
  • Rear Bump Stop Extensions,
  • Sway Bar End Links,
  • Rear Coil Springs
 
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Hi. I too am a "Brand new" 2007 LTZ owner as of October 2020..
Got mine fairly cheap, knowing I would need to fix a bunch of things. So far I've fixed the Airbag/SRS warning (2 new impact sensors), TMPS warning ( New TPMS sensors). Next is the 'Service Suspension' warning.

My autoride is shot, so I am considering a lift as well. What did you end up doing?
 
Hey! Congrats! I also had to replace some stuff already. MAF sensor was bad, needed new fuel pump, and a new break switch.

I haven't decided what to do yet. I think the cost might be about the same between buying z55 compatible lift and buying all new suspension/putting resistors in the z55 sensor line, and buying a normal lift kit.
The one thing that might sway me is how the z55 will handle offroad conditions. I'm not planning on rock crawling or anything, but if the z55 is designed for smooth riding on the road, I kind of doubt it is going to be good for offroad.

My lift project is at least 6months to a year away, so I'm not going to rush it but if your autoride is shot, you might as well switch out the suspension. I hear that the z55 is very costly to replace due to the fact that it uses air shocks and an air compressor, so might as well put a normal(and more reliable) passive suspension in. You can get the resistors to stop the code from popping up on your dash for cheap. Or you can just ignore the code on your dash.
 
Thanks.

Yeah. One reason for selling my F250 (aside from not needing it to tow anymore) was all the complaints from the wife & kids about the rough ride.

As for sticking with OEM. It was actually kind of hard to locate the correct parts. I think most of the other threads that I looked at were out of date.
I nearly bought Arnott 2700 for the rear then realized it actually bypasses the electronic suspension control features.
My Front OEM Delphi part#15799701 returned nothing on google! GM Parts sites just said 'discontinued' when I looked up shock part# for the year/make/trim. Finally figured it out though.

The new 'magneride' parts are actually the replacements now...
From Rock Auto:
Rear: ACDELCO 5801094 GM Original Equipment CHASSIS PKG(Z55) $244 each
Front: ACDELCO 580433 GM Original Equipment (6AM, 7AK Front) $245 each
Air Compressor: DORMAN 949099 OE FIX w/Thermal Switch; Original Design Fix; $171

All total... About $1250. Ouch. (all of the above now come with a limited lifetime warranty however).

I do take some pretty rough mountain roads on a regular basis. So a little lift would be a good thing.

All in all, I like the Av. The LTZ has a lot of nice features for the age & price. Just need to get that last dash warning off. :)
 
I replaced all of the OEM shocks and air compressor on my 2004 EXT back in 2012 with gear from Arnott.

I never had any complaints in the 8 years and over 120K miles the first set of Arnott gear was on there.

I replaced the rear air shocks and air compressor again this past year with more Arnott gear.

The air shock air bladders were starting to develop small leaks and the air compressor would allow the system to leak down overnight.

None of the gear just outright failed and could have been used a while longer.

Just slow air leaks that irritated me.

The Arnott gear lasted longer than the OEM gear did.

I went to the Arnott web site and obtained the part numbers for the gear I wanted.

I then shopped around and found the best prices for me were at Rockauto.com.

If I manage to keep my EXT long enough to wear out this round of Arnott gear, I will install Arnott gear again.

The new stuff is even better than what I bought back in 2012.
 
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