New to 4x4'ing: want advise on replacement suspension for '96 Z71

[SShockwave]

Hi guys,

I'm a muscle car guy but have a 96 Z71 ext cab K1500 that is my do everything work horse. I love this truck and am amazed at how many people walk up to me to talk about it and tell me how great this body style is and beg me to sell mine to them or if I want to trade it for their GMT-800. This thing is bone stock except for a set of Avalanche wheels. It has 185k miles on the stock suspension and it's time to replace it. Here's the info I need.

1. what parts make up the front suspension (excluding front steering parts) outside of shocks and coil springs? Anything else that I need to buy or get a kit for?
2. Same for the rear outside of shocks, coil springs (if there is one) and leafs, what else do I need? Where should I shop to buy this stuff?

I want to run HD Bilsteins but wouldn't mind going with nice aftermarket upgrades vs. buying stock replacement parts. I'd consider lifting it 2" in the process but that's not my priority if it requires tons of other "stuff" to make it work. I mainly want to replace the stock suspension with factory or slightly better stuff.

Any help is appreciated as I am new the 4x4 modification world. Thanks!

 

[am92]

Not to be rude, but first you might want to go out and take a look under your truck.
Front suspension uses torsion bars and keys, while the rear is just leaf springs. For the front you can replace the torsion bars and all your bushings for a better ride. The bilstein shocks are great and is what most people recommend. As for lifting it, there is a 2-3" lift kit for our trucks, but it just consists of re-indexed torsion bar keys that allow you to crank your torsion bars up for some lift. The problem with this is that as you cranks the bars, the ride gets MUCH rougher. The only way to keep a near stock ride quality would be to go with a 4" kit. Hope that helps and let us know if you have any more questions. We're all happy to help!