Lowering Advice

JimInRadfordVA

Original poster
Member
Feb 29, 2016
195
Radford, VA
I have a 2005 TB LS. I am handicapped and have difficulty getting in, due to the overall height. I'd like to drop it a few inches and level it out. I'm running stock 16's with 245/70-16 Geolandars.

I'm leaning toward (no pun intended) the Belltech 796SP kit.

Any suggestions on an alternate setup and/or source?

Thanks.
 

dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
  • Like
Reactions: Capote

JimInRadfordVA

Original poster
Member
Feb 29, 2016
195
Radford, VA
Looks like it's going to be NORCALSS kits. Now I'm looking for someone local for the installation.

Thanks!
 

07TrailyLS

Member
May 7, 2014
423
Toledo ohio
installs not that bad so don't let someone gouge your wallet. Most labor intensive thing to do is compressing the front springs. Everything else is cake
 

JimInRadfordVA

Original poster
Member
Feb 29, 2016
195
Radford, VA
Yeah, but since my spinal cord injury, I'm not as spry as I used to be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 07TrailyLS

AzTruckGuy

Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
Jim

I wanted a very minor lowering kit for my 2003 TB, When I first got the TB, I was going to do the 2/3 Belltech kit with new shocks and 22's on it. I’ve owned my TB for about 6 months and things have changed so much since the beginning.

My TB has 96k miles on it now, it’s getting close to the 100k mark and after tabbing up the amount I would put into it with what I wanted to do in the beginning, it doesn't make sense to dump that much into it at those miles.

The reason why I say this, is I was chasing a stall issue on my TB and I’ve replaced parts that prob didn’t need to be replaced and I am still experiencing a stall issue on the vehicle. The other reason is the TB sucks for gas mileage, there is nothing that can be done to fix this. I’ve thought of making the TB lighter by removing the front drive shaft (I don’t use my 4WD at all), rear hitch (Don’t tow), getting light rims (the cost just doesn’t justify) to see if gas mileage would improve, but I am thinking it won’t matter.

So I went a different route with my lowering intentions.

I scored on a brand new 1.5/3 inch McGaughy's Lowering kit for $130 shipped on EBay. I installed the rear coils (They’ve settled a bit more since the pic was taken) and the ugly rake that I had before is gone, it really looks good and the front well I like the height but want a .5inch lowering. Since I have 1.5 inch front lowering coils, I’ve decided on the Belltech 9510 - 1" Street Performance Lift and Lowering Shock Absorber Set, I intend to lift the front by 1” and since I have 1.5” lowering coils, it should level out and I should get my .5” lowering on the front, which won’t require the front modified A arms since there is no drastic lowering.

The stock suspension is horrible on these Trailblazers, I’ve noticed since I have the rear coils changed out that my stock fronts are bouncy, and jarring over bumps. The black blistens are also shot, which show when the road isn’t smooth.

I can’t wait to put on the new shocks and front coils, it really should improve the ride to my liking.

Since the car is lowered, I’ve decided to keep the 16” rims, was going 18” but again more cost into a vehicle that is almost 100k miles.

It currently has 245/75/16s and I can feel these tires, they just feel heavy. I am going to go 255/60/16 to take some of the heavy feeling off and hopefully get at least 1 mpg savings, but who knows. I don’t mind the gap either, I’ve been noticing the factory TB has gaps on the fender.

This is my alternative to lowering the TB, keeping my costs under $700 vs $2k+ on the parts I wanted to get.
Rake.JPG

Lowered.JPG
 

AzTruckGuy

Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
installs not that bad so don't let someone gouge your wallet. Most labor intensive thing to do is compressing the front springs. Everything else is cake

I agree for the rear I wouldn't pay more then $100, I did the rears myself it took me about 2hours since it was my first time changing out coils. But I feel it can be done under 30 minutes with the right tools. Now the fronts I'm debating if I wanna do them or pay someone, its more involved.
 

07TrailyLS

Member
May 7, 2014
423
Toledo ohio
Az, have you ever replaced your plugs and coils? Also have you checked your catalytic converter? I can get 400 miles to a tank and I manually shift my blazer and am constantly above 4000 rpms. Maybe a tune up would fix your gas mileage problem.
 

AzTruckGuy

Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
Az, have you ever replaced your plugs and coils? Also have you checked your catalytic converter? I can get 400 miles to a tank and I manually shift my blazer and am constantly above 4000 rpms. Maybe a tune up would fix your gas mileage problem.

This is what I did to my TB so far
1. Plugs
2. K & N Air filter and housing kit
3. Fuel Filter
4. Cleaned Throttle body
5. Replaced key Ignition switch (for stall issue)
6. 3 coils have been replaced, 3 are original

How do you get 400 miles on tank? That seems impossible with the Trailblazer. I went 194 miles on a full tank and my TB was empty when I got there.

I do have the following issues though
1. My gas tank is leaking, while not gushing out gas it leaks.
2. I have a P0404 which is a EVAP system no flow during purge, but I think its related to #1

How do you check the catalytic converter?
 

07TrailyLS

Member
May 7, 2014
423
Toledo ohio
Well not really check it but do you have symptoms like when you step on the gas the truck goes nowhere? You could be eating tons of extra gas trying to make the truck move if there's no airflow moving out of the exhaust
 

JimInRadfordVA

Original poster
Member
Feb 29, 2016
195
Radford, VA
Jim

I wanted a very minor lowering kit for my 2003 TB, When I first got the TB, I was going to do the 2/3 Belltech kit with new shocks and 22's on it. I’ve owned my TB for about 6 months and things have changed so much since the beginning.

My TB has 96k miles on it now, .....
View attachment 75713

View attachment 75714
Nice ride, AZ! Based on costs, I went with a set of running boards. Bought and installed, I'm about $300 all in. It gets the job done as far as making it easier for me to get in and out. Looks like they belong there.

I have no complaints about the ride quality. Every time I drive it I remark about how smooth it rides. Makes my old Ford Explorer SportTrac's ride seem like the Flintstonemobile. A loss of ride quality was one of the worried I had when contemplating a lowering kit.
 

AzTruckGuy

Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
Nice ride, AZ! Based on costs, I went with a set of running boards. Bought and installed, I'm about $300 all in. It gets the job done as far as making it easier for me to get in and out. Looks like they belong there.

I have no complaints about the ride quality. Every time I drive it I remark about how smooth it rides. Makes my old Ford Explorer SportTrac's ride seem like the Flintstonemobile. A loss of ride quality was one of the worried I had when contemplating a lowering kit.

Jim thanks...I don't think you have to worry about loss of ride quality with the right lowering kit, in my research its a combination of shocks, tires and rim size. These all play into the ride.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
23,271
Posts
637,476
Members
18,472
Latest member
MissCrutcher

Members Online