Coilover kit for 2001-2010 trucks

[tjs82]

Flashback to several months ago. I find myself stumbling around SEMA with a Bacardi 151-induced hangover. After several minutes of standing in front of the BDS booth with the look of a lobotomized toddler on my face, I realized what was in front of me. BDS decided that us 2001-2010 3/4 ton 4x4 owners need a coilover conversion kit. Since the count of firing neurons in my brain had dropped down into the single digits at the time, here’s what I remember:

As far as I can tell, it's very similar to their 7" lift kit. Drop bracket for the stock LCA's and front diff, tubular UCA’s, taller spindles, and a snazzy skid plate. Coils are a fox 3", with a remote resi and 650 lb/in springs. Lower coilover mount piggybacks off of the stock shock mount on the LCA. The upper bracketry is where my memory gets a bit fuzzy though. It looks like the bracket for the upper coilover mount actually gets bolted into the factory shock mount. Judging by the orientation of the parts in their display, I suspect that the UCA mounts also get relocated a bit higher than the factory mounts.

The BDS rep I talked to at the booth made it sound like these kits are supposed to be available early 2018. However, it is currently early 2018, and it looks like BDS hasn’t released any info on it yet. Figured some of you would find this interesting, as there aren't currently any coilover conversion kits available for the 01-10 4wd chassis to my knowledge.

 

[wilrob]

James, is this the long sought after answer

 

[SmokeShow]

The display is oriented how it would be in the truck? If so, how in the heck does a CV shaft fit through there?

 

[Dozerboy]

It looks like they are only utilizing the two little shock mount bolts for the bottom of the coil over. That’s crazy to me. I recall a few instances of people stripping or breaking those bolts with just shocks hook to them. Cognito did the same thing at one point with their 4 inch lifts. When I asked Nick about it he said it should be fine with the load being all shear, but yet they ended up changing their lifts I believe.


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[Chevy1925]

That setup is feasible for these trucks but you better drop the diff with it and some trucks do not have the cross bar across the lower arm that that kit uses for support. May be part of the hang up. Plus that’s for a 2wd you see

 

[Budneeds2beers]

James, can you post a picture of your lower shock mount? Im curious on the difference. Plus i need to see how its done for 4x4. Thanks

 

[Chevy1925]

I’ll have to search through my pics but it just mounts off the factory lca shock mount and an extended shock rod end so the 2.5 shock clears the cv. People said that mount and arm are weak..... definitely not

 

[wilrob]

It really is seeming like the only way to do the conversion on our trucks is custom fab..

 

[Yngdmax92]

Do they make a kit for stock height trucks?? I'd be interested in that!

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[wilrob]

Do they make a kit for stock height trucks?? I'd be interested in that!

So would I, just want better suspension. But so far its custom only.

BDS just needs to feel really generous and make a kit for ours like they did for the new models..

 

[Yngdmax92]

So would I, just want better suspension. But so far its custom only.

BDS just needs to feel really generous and make a kit for ours like they did for the new models..

I think James should be the pioneer to do so, he knows his stuff and Id trust what ever he offered!

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[Chevy1925]

i appreciate that Yng but i wont be coming out with anything as a kit. too easy to copy and resell after doing so much work. We need a big shock/spring to make off the shelf stuff work and last and the room just isnt there. MFG of springs and shocks dont seem to want to take me serious in my venture either so oh well, no skin off my back

 

[Budneeds2beers]

What size extended rod end? What spring weight/valveing? As for the shock what size did you end up using 10,12? Im going to copy a build from another forum that i found but use coilovers. Did you end making your own hoop or reworking a kits? What about a bump stop mount? Sorry i have tons of questions i sent you a pm a few weeks ago about all this. Like yourself im a huge suspension guy (came from the old 1450 class).

 

[Chevy1925]

What size extended rod end? What spring weight/valveing? As for the shock what size did you end up using 10,12? Im going to copy a build from another forum that i found but use coilovers. Did you end making your own hoop or reworking a kits? What about a bump stop mount? Sorry i have tons of questions i sent you a pm a few weeks ago about all this. Like yourself im a huge suspension guy (came from the old 1450 class).

I understand the want for the info Bud but this isnt info i give out. I know you can figure it out, many guys can but after all the work i went through, im not going to give it up the specifics. Sounds selfish, i know but there are WAY too many sharks in the waters these days and frankly, i just dont want to give this info away for free.

 

[wilrob]

Completely fair. I guess you would pay a little more to have a fab shop do it than buying the BDS kit. The R&D is the expensive part.

 

[Yngdmax92]

I understand the want for the info Bud but this isnt info i give out. I know you can figure it out, many guys can but after all the work i went through, im not going to give it up the specifics. Sounds selfish, i know but there are WAY too many sharks in the waters these days and frankly, i just dont want to give this info away for free.

James,

Make a kit for stock ride height to leveled trucks and lowered trucks. No need for the diff drop. We are all happy, you are happy. Huge market for it and you put the time in to figure all the crap put and seems it's pretty successful ... Didn't your truck leave the ground at what point????

Eventually some shmuck will figure it out kinda like bds and kill it in sales as long as they get everything right...... Just make it easier for us since you already have it right..... Lol make a kit.

Start a go fund me page on Facebook!

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[Chevy1925]

James,

Make a kit for stock ride height to leveled trucks and lowered trucks. No need for the diff drop. We are all happy, you are happy. Huge market for it and you put the time in to figure all the crap put and seems it's pretty successful ... Didn't your truck leave the ground at what point????

Eventually some shmuck will figure it out kinda like bds and kill it in sales as long as they get everything right...... Just make it easier for us since you already have it right..... Lol make a kit.

Start a go fund me page on Facebook!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

its always easier said than done. this is an outdated chassis at this point and the clientele is changing. The fabtech coilover 9" lift was a flop and im not expecting the BDS to take off either. at this point, i like the LSK kit the best but you still widen your stance. to do it "right", it wont be bolt on with control arms in the stock position. the factory setup sucks for this. it never was a matter of money, it was a matter of being smart with it. you cant go dumping tons of money into something and expect to get it back by charging way more than its worth when said and done. if the market wont support your cost, you wont make sales.

 

[wilrob]

its always easier said than done. this is an outdated chassis at this point and the clientele is changing. The fabtech coilover 9" lift was a flop and im not expecting the BDS to take off either. at this point, i like the LSK kit the best but you still widen your stance. to do it "right", it wont be bolt on with control arms in the stock position. the factory setup sucks for this. it never was a matter of money, it was a matter of being smart with it. you cant go dumping tons of money into something and expect to get it back by charging way more than its worth when said and done. if the market wont support your cost, you wont make sales.

That LSK kit sure is pretty though. I guess if you are serious about going off road with your truck its no different than spending coin on an engine build for drag racing.

Also James, I was thinking about the fiberglass stuff, and I wonder if Line-Xing or something similar the whole inner fender after you prep it to get mounted would prevent cracking a little bit?

 

[Chevy1925]

I’m sure it would help but the spider cracking that happens will come down to paint prep. As long as the glass isn’t in a bind anywhere, it holds up well. My is cracked cause it presses against the cab due to a bad mold. Otherside has had no issues other than spider cracks from expanding and contracting

 

[tjs82]

This kit definitely drops the front diff. It's almost identical to their old torsion drop style kit that currently resides on my truck. At least until I get the time and ambition to make some changes. Unfortunately, their design involves cutting out the original crossmember that the front diff mounts to, as well as cutting the front mount off of the diff housing. I'm not sure if BDS made a mistake, or the previous owner botched the install on my truck, but the pinion angle is pretty far off from where it should be. Between that and a handful of other things, I'm not at all impressed with BDS.

Going off of what James was talking about though, I wouldn't be at all surprised if BDS did a bit more market research, and decided that this kit wasn't worth producing.

As for stock ride height, I have a feeling that a coilover conversion that retains a relatively stock ride height is going to involve quite a bit of fabrication. Without restricting the setup to a very small amount of shock travel, it seems that there are two ways to go about a conversion. Either move the bottom coil mount lower (ie drop the LCA mounts and quite possibly the front diff, effectively lifting the truck) or move the top coil mount upward (retaining a stock-ish ride height, and avoiding the need to drop the diff). The second option seems to involves its own lengthy list of complications though.