Factory Spring Part Numbers & Associated Lift

[fishsticks]

Be sure to really assess your needs, as bigger isn't always better.

I realize you have that bumper, but a suspension that's so tight that there's no droop isn't desirable either. I extended my strut length with my 88's and still wish I had more.

The 88 springs are cheap as well. I believe the 89's are nearly double the 88's cost.


EDIT: From GMPD.

*15125889 Front Chassis Spring SPRING 1 $75.79 1 $75.79 $54.55 $0.00 $18.19 $93.98
*15125888 Front Chassis Spring SPRING 1 $45.51 1 $45.51 $32.77 $0.00 $10.92 $56.43

[HARDTRAILZ]

I would go 87 if I did it again

[janesy86]

I have 87's and they are treating me well so far. Stiff but not too stiff, but gave me a lil' extra height.

[Hpimichael02]

I assuming compressing them would be a pain in the butt to lol,

Kyle how stiff would you rate your on a 1-10 scale?

[Trail X]

I assuming compressing them would be a pain in the butt to lol,

Kyle how stiff would you rate your on a 1-10 scale?

Actual numbers are posted in the 3rd post...

Spring#.......Rate(N/mm)
15125881.....50
15125882.....53
15125883.....56
15125884.....60
15125885.....63
15125886.....67
15125887.....70
15125888.....74
15125889.....77

[HARDTRAILZ]

8 or 9. I built my own spring packs for my suburban and they were stiffer but they were leaf. These are almost too stiff for really serious wheeling. They are about like a 1 ton truck. At least that's how I describe the 88 and z71 combination. It works but not as well as it did with the softer flexier springs. I chose ground clearance over suspensoin travel for now.

[HARDTRAILZ]

They were a bitch to compress as well. Thanks a ton to regulator for the help

[fishsticks]

I put the impact gun to my spring compressors... alot... to get mine on.

[Regulator1175]

They were a bitch to compress as well. Thanks a ton to regulator for the help

Ya they sucked at getting on. I strongly suggest you pay someone to do it for you!

[Rob93]

I only had the 86s... and it was a PITA. Had to cool down my impact gun twice for each side as it was getting too hot to even touch. And its a heavy duty industrial one (not sure of the brand right now not at home to check)

[Regulator1175]

I only had the 86s... and it was a PITA. Had to cool down my impact gun twice for each side as it was getting too hot to even touch. And its a heavy duty industrial one (not sure of the brand right now not at home to check)

We wore out Kyle's impact, and had to resort to doing it by hand. It litterally took one person standing on the spring and the other stepping on the breaker bar and using their entire body weight to move it a 1/4 turn at a time. It was about a 2 hour process for each spring!

[janesy86]

Dang, my 87's were stiff but not too bad to get compressed. Did each side in about 5 min.

[dirty anton]

with bartons heavy metal installed (bumper ands both skids) i figured i would let you guys know my results so far. originally i just wanted the height back to were it was with the stock bumper and maybe a little extra for a removable winch down the road. its been almost a month of breaking in the (87) springs and the front end sits at least an inch or so higher than with stock(83) springs and stock bumper.and yea i would recommend a wall unit spring compressor took every bit of 5 mins.

[dirty anton]

i know you guys like pictures. befor and after

[Mooseknuckle]

my RPO codes are 6hp and 7hp any idea which ones these are?

[irishboy02]

6 HP and 7 HP HP = 83 (same as me)

[Mooseknuckle]

ok cool thanks Brendan I found it last night just wanted to make sure. I think I'm getting the 87's.

[Jon A]

I feel the 88's are about perfect stiffness-wise for my uses having a heavy front bumper/winch. Without those I'd probably opt for 87's. I always felt my stock springs (unknown) were way too soft. With the 88's it now feels somewhat like a 1/2-3/4 ton pickup (one with a decent riding IFS) and less like an overloaded minivan.

Ride harshness is only increased slightly--I've found air pressure in the tires and the airbags in the rear actually have more affect on ride harshness than the new front springs. Stock length shocks in the rear with a lift and too much lift in the front will cause more ride quality problems with the shocks topping out than the stiffness of the springs will.

Of course softer is going to be better for rock crawling, but one needs to keep in mind what's best for that compromises the vehicle for other things. In my case, keeping the swaybars connected and the limited extension travel in front (due to ride height, not spring stiffness) are bigger factors than the new springs.

I didn't find them much harder to install than stock. I used a Makita cordless impact on the compressor and it did fine. I actually did the whole thing twice in one day due to my own errors and it wasn't a big deal. The biggest difference is the compressor jaws get jammed between coils on the 88's due to the increased wire diameter. Just use a prybar to pry apart the coils.

[Gordinho80]

Add another to the list for 88s. I managed to put them in this weekend just before we got hit with the blizzard. I opted to run without the outside spacer for now. I'm going to see how they settle after a few weeks to see if I really need the spacer.

Stock springs, BDS Spacer, MarkMC shim, + MTA Armor = 32.375" mean to the flat line at the fender.
88 springs, BDS Spacer, + MTA Armor = 34.25" mean to the flat line at the fender. (As of 3 days after spring install)

I still need to replace the axle shafts, upper ball joints, and flip the UCAs... I will do this once the springs settle so that I can do the additional shim if I decide.

[Trail X]

Nice. How do you like it so far? Are you bouncing off the end of the shock?