Coil-overs: QA1 vs ALDAN

[TacosnBeer]

Thanks for that feedback. Travis and the crew at Pro Performance confirmed with Aldan that it should be mounted on top of the lower control arm. I'm going to have it swapped to get it right.

Rigth on! What setting are you running yours at? How do you like them? I have mine in but working on other stuff and havent driven it yet. I had some issue with the ADLAN rear shocks but, hopefully when the parts get here, I can drop the truck and do some burnout! LOL I did the REACT Underbed Step-Notch too... way overkill but, it came out good.

 

[Lu Blunt]

I totally get what you are all saying about RideTech being $$$. I rationalized it because I have gone through so many different setups on the Tahoe that all sucked in one way or another that I wanted to be done with it and stop spending money. 3 different sets of coil springs, 4 different pairs of shocks, drop spindles, a few kinds of bushings that were either too soft or too squeaky, etc. Now I have a setup that rides and handles the way I want and is totally silent and unobtrusive doing it, so I can stop spending money testing different combinations of parts and spending hours swapping parts just to be disappointed in a new way. The stock setup has compromises that I don't like, and the RideTech system fixes almost all of them in ways that the others do not.

• Delrin bushings. They last a long time and they don't squeak, and have even less deflection than poly. Energy suspension poly stuff is good, but needs regular greasing (I drive 20k miles a year in the Tahoe) and I don't have time for that. I have also had problems cracking and slotting their bushings over time, though not on a GMT400. I could not find anyone else that did a Delrin setup for the GMT400.
  
• Ball mount upper coilover support. I don't really care about coilovers vs. a spring and shock, but the stock shocks are spindle mount which deflects, and the lower rubber mount also has a lot of deflection. All of that adds up to uncontrolled body motion when you have stiff springs and limited suspension travel. It's a fine setup for stock or off road because there is so much more suspension travel and it's a lot softer.
  
• More caster. Many tubular arms do this, but it's still an improvement over trying to make stock arms work with different springs and shocks.
  
• Ability to run the drop I want with stock spindles. This preserves the scrub radius vs. drop spindles, which helps prevent tramlining and instability with very wide tires like what I'm running.

The other benefit RideTech has is their customer service has been amazing, at least to me. My Tahoe is a little bit of an odd setup, and RideTech will revalve their coilovers for a very reasonable fee. My fronts are great stock, but I'm going with some custom shim stacks in the rear. The other companies I talked to wanted nothing to do with that stuff. At the end of the day, I'm happy to pay a little more for all the time they spent on the phone with me.

I’m getting ready to order the ridetech coilover kit. Did you get single or triple adjustable coilovers? I like more adjustability but wasn’t sure if it was worth the extra $$

 

[gearheadE30]

I’m getting ready to order the ridetech coilover kit. Did you get single or triple adjustable coilovers? I like more adjustability but wasn’t sure if it was worth the extra $$

Single adjustable. It kind of depends what you want out of them; they definitely are biased more towards comfort with the stock valving. Ridetech can revalve the SAs for you if it's not quite on though. I am probably going to have them do this with mine as I'm looking for a bit stiffer valving to go with the stiffer springs I have on them.

If you have the $$ for triple adjustable, it definitely gives you more flexibility to dial in the way you want without taking the shock apart and revalving.

 

[TacosnBeer]

Single adjustable. It kind of depends what you want out of them; they definitely are biased more towards comfort with the stock valving. Ridetech can revalve the SAs for you if it's not quite on though. I am probably going to have them do this with mine as I'm looking for a bit stiffer valving to go with the stiffer springs I have on them.

If you have the $$ for triple adjustable, it definitely gives you more flexibility to dial in the way you want without taking the shock apart and revalving.

I have the Aldans and they are awesome. I have them set on the stiffer side and they are epic! I love them. Well worth the lower cost of most the coil overs! The adjustable rear shocks are the bomb too.... I don't have anything to compare them to other than the previous drop springs but, I am super happy with them!

 

[Garage Hack]

Rigth on! What setting are you running yours at? How do you like them? I have mine in but working on other stuff and havent driven it yet. I had some issue with the ADLAN rear shocks but, hopefully when the parts get here, I can drop the truck and do some burnout! LOL I did the REACT Underbed Step-Notch too... way overkill but, it came out good.

I have mine set for the softest setting all around. It does feel like things have loosened up some over the past six months so once I get the front mounts flipped over the A-arms I will play around some with the settings.

 

[TacosnBeer]

I have mine set for the softest setting all around. It does feel like things have loosened up some over the past six months so once I get the front mounts flipped over the A-arms I will play around some with the settings.

I put mine in a while back... I have them set pretty stiff but I like it. Mainly because my front tires are kinda tall and I have it sitting pretty low. That said, I like the ride on 8.

 

[homeslice]

Not a criticism, but a question... aren’t you supposed to install the coil over T-bars on top of the control arms? That’s an awful lot of spring pressure on those mounting bolts. On mine, shown below, I ground off the welded nuts and mounted it topside with nuts and bolts.

You must be registered for see images attach

you are correct, sir. You can see the TBar deflecting in the photo where its mounted on bottom side of control arm.

 

[808_c1500]

Not a criticism, but a question... aren’t you supposed to install the coil over T-bars on top of the control arms? That’s an awful lot of spring pressure on those mounting bolts. On mine, shown below, I ground off the welded nuts and mounted it topside with nuts and bolts.

I know this is an old thread but I have a question in regard to the correct install of the t-bar mounted below the LCA. Isn't the factory shock t-bar mounted below the LCA?

 

[Jglew82]

I know this is an old thread but I have a question in regard to the correct install of the t-bar mounted below the LCA. Isn't the factory shock t-bar mounted below the LCA?

Yes, it is. The difference is with a coilover, the spring pressure is now on the T-Bar, not the LCA spring pocket, so if it's mounted below, those 2 bolts are holding the entire load. Factory shock has no spring pressure, therefore the bolts can support them. Always mount T-Bar of coilover on top.

 

[808_c1500]

Yes, it is. The difference is with a coilover, the spring pressure is now on the T-Bar, not the LCA spring pocket, so if it's mounted below, those 2 bolts are holding the entire load. Factory shock has no spring pressure, therefore the bolts can support them. Always mount T-Bar of coilover on top.

Thank you for explaining, makes total sense as I didn't think about the stock spring perch and pressure points .

Not sure if anyone might know the difference between the two single adjustable 700lb coilovers that Aldan offers #300132 and #300220. Website says #300220 is for custom control arms but I'd like to know what that difference is between the two coilovers, because if it is only the length, it'll affect the drop I can achieve