School me in this Duramax

EdJonesJeeper

EdJonesJeeper

The Stig's NC cousin
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Location
Pisgah Forest, NC
LBZ 2007

Anyone know what kind of lift this is and if anyone has stock parts to replace back to factory suspension?

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Transmission pan dent is normal, they come from the factory like that.

As for the lift, going back to stock isn't as easy as you'd suspect. The new subframe is typically welded on or requires some bracketry to be welded on, and there is a cast on feature of the front differential that gets cut off when you install the new subframe. Most lifts like this come with different lower A-arms, so you'd have to get stock lower A-arms, and you'd also have to get stock brackets for the torsion bar mount crossmember because it is lowered too.

Another separate concern is the half bolted swaybar. Things like that are usually an indication of the care and maintenance the truck has received. That combined with the lift and mud tars would encourage me to look elsewhere.
 
There is a company that offers a bolt on ear to replace the one that's cut off with the lift kit. I'm trying to find the company but not having any luck. I know there is one available though. Easiest thing to do would be to find someone that will trade you their stock stuff for the lift kit and swap diffs too.
 
That looks like a bracket lift instead of a knuckle lift. Take some pics that show inside the fender better and I can tell you for sure. Since it looks like the knuckle is stock and the upper control arm is mounted lower, I'd say you have all the parts to go back stock besides sway bar end links, shocks, diff mount bracket, and u bolts for the rear. Those are stock lower control arms. Haven't seen many lifts that come with new ones. Usually just a drop subframe and knuckles.

The torsion bar crossmember goes back inside the frame. I bet the factory mounts are still there since they're riveted in there.
 
The company that makes the replacement diff ear that you have to replace is NorCalTruck.

On the other hand the lack of basic maintenance like the sway bar bushing mount in addition to the lift and tires I would look the truck over good, it looks to have been rode hard and put up wet.
 
Yea I have a feeling this things had a hard life even with only 83k

I notice what I think is the power steering leaking too? Doesn't sound like its worth it to bring it back to stock. It's only 5 miles away lol!
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That is the trans cooker line leaking, very common problem on these trucks. Not a hard or expensive fix but just goes along with the disregard if common maint. If he can't put a bolt in the sway bar bushings do you think he has changed the fuel filter, oil filter, oil, trans filter? The other thing to look at on these trucks is the transfer case pump rub. The pump inside the case will rub a hole through the case and run dry, ruining the transfer case.


Are both left and right sway bar bushings missing a bolt?

What is the guy asking for that truck?
 
LBZ_Duramax said:
That is the trans cooker line leaking, very common problem on these trucks. Not a hard or expensive fix but just goes along with the disregard if common maint. If he can't put a bolt in the sway bar bushings do you think he has changed the fuel filter, oil filter, oil, trans filter? The other thing to look at on these trucks is the transfer case pump rub. The pump inside the case will rub a hole through the case and run dry, ruining the transfer case.


Are both left and right sway bar bushings missing a bolt?

What is the guy asking for that truck?
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Yes both are missing.

It's at my local Land Rover jaguar dealership.
$27,911. Which now seems high.
 
The end links on the sway bar are too short. Notice how the plane of the lower A-arm is not parallel to the plane of the sway bar end. Looks like whoever put the new end links on had to take the front bolts out to get the end links in, and also looks like the front bolts have been missing about as long as the new end links have been installed.
 
HOLY SHIT1!?!!?!?!

Maybe half in great shape!
Its a 6 going on 7 year old truck.
 
The market on those trucks is ridiculous, if that truck was stock and in good shape they would have no problem getting that for it.

I heard of a guy that bought a DMAX new in 06 and put 90k miles on it, when he traded it the dealer gave him more on trade than he paid back in 06-07.
 
LBZ_Duramax said:
The market on those trucks is ridiculous, if that truck was stock and in good shape they would have no problem getting that for it.

I heard of a guy that bought a DMAX new in 06 and put 90k miles on it, when he traded it the dealer gave him more on trade than he paid back in 06-07.
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My brother refinanced his a couple years ago and the bank offered him more than the original price.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
That looks like a bracket lift instead of a knuckle lift. Take some pics that show inside the fender better and I can tell you for sure. Since it looks like the knuckle is stock and the upper control arm is mounted lower, I'd say you have all the parts to go back stock besides sway bar end links, shocks, diff mount bracket, and u bolts for the rear. Those are stock lower control arms. Haven't seen many lifts that come with new ones. Usually just a drop subframe and knuckles.

The torsion bar crossmember goes back inside the frame. I bet the factory mounts are still there since they're riveted in there.
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This I also agree with. These were lifted two ways. Like this one or with larger lift spindles. Larger spindles didn't have the goofy upper drop brackets that rarely line up good or hold frnt alignment. Both however often trimmed the diff top mt ear, and trimmed the cross member frame mt to clear the lower diff position. It's actually got a high chance of being a Pro Comp lift not because of the shocks but they are notorious for building kits with all sorts of goofy drop down brackets for anything IFS Chevy. Should also have drive line spacers on both frt axles. Can't remember steering mods though, been several yrs since I installed those regularly.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
Those are stock lower control arms. Haven't seen many lifts that come with new ones. Usually just a drop subframe and knuckles.
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You are right, its the odd knuckles, not lower A-arms. I had a truck with a lift like this for about a month. I was going to put it back to stock, and found someone with a stocker that wanted a lifted one, so we traded, which saved both of us a bunch of work.
 
Those sway bar end links are made by Energy Suspension, I'd bet, and are the off-the-shelf ones you can get from Advance or Auto Zone :D Whoever had the truck probably wasn't a genius. The correct ones for that lift should be twice that long and the ends of the sway bar would be basically parallel to the ground.

Several of the lift manufacturers also started making brackets themselves so you could return to stock. Guess they wanted to make money either way you went!


On a side note... my cousin has a 2005 F250 crew cab. They have coil springs and big ass radius arms. He scored a 6" ProComp lift for 400 bucks (parts were new in box, but it was missing a few things) for a 2008 F250. Everything was basically the same with the exception of the sway bar end links and the panhard bar bracket, but I made everything work with a few cuts and some solid welds. Originally he was talking a local dealership in to letting him trade his stock stuff for a lift on a 2007 F250 they have on their lot. I sure am glad we didn't do that! The way the radius arm drop brackets work and where they bolt up with the transfer case skidplate, there wasn't anywhere to lift the truck with a normal car lift, so I had to use BIG jack stands under the front "sub bumper" thing. He tried behind the skidplate and the ass end of the truck came off the ground. Swapping suspensions isn't as "easy" or straightforward as most people try to make it sound. However, it's not bad if you have plenty of room, can stay really organized, have plenty of jack stands, and you know what parts you'll need before you start. To me, swapping leaf spring lifts would be a pain! You'd have to get FOUR new sets of u-bolts!


Honestly, if I ran a dealership, I wouldn't take in lifted vehicles unless I personally inspected them. I damn sure wouldn't try to sell one with stuff like that under it.
 
Regarding the antisway bar I swear I helped install a lift one time (on a '97 Chevy) that you pulled the bar out, flipped it over, and re-installed it. It created some "drop" for the ends that helped it line up better. That one there looks like it could use the same treatment.
 
in my earlier post I kept saying spindles, I have no Idea why I got on that kick. I meant knuckles. I guess I was thinking about the drop spindles and such used on trailers. That was the first thing I thought of when I started unboxing these types of lift and lowering kits back in the day. I guess the correlation stuck with me! I thought to my self finally somebody engineered a better kit for Chevy. As I recall it was RCD brand stuff at the time...

So did you buy this or walk away??
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
in my earlier post I kept saying spindles, I have no Idea why I got on that kick. I meant knuckles. I guess I was thinking about the drop spindles and such used on trailers. That was the first thing I thought of when I started unboxing these types of lift and lowering kits back in the day. I guess the correlation stuck with me! I thought to my self finally somebody engineered a better kit for Chevy. As I recall it was RCD brand stuff at the time...

So did you buy this or walk away??
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Ran away lol!

Still shopping though if you find something.
 
That's a 6 inch pro comp control arm drop kit. The only cut on it is the rear control arm cross member. You will have all the parts to return it to stock minus the rear cross member and the frame cut piece. The sway bar is like that due to it not being flipped over 180*. The only problem with returning it to stock is that you will be missing the front bump mount that were cut off to lower the upper control arms down.
 
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