‘78 K10 Suburban Suspenders... er... Suspension!

[RyanAK]

Hey gang. I’ve owned my Suburban for nearly a year now and have immensely enjoyed daily driving this rig. Interstates, around town, long commutes to work, 500 mile trips to the in-laws, local state forest roads, and some two-track Jeep trails around our cabin. 18,000 miles. It’s everything I could have hoped for in a family truck. Kids LOVE it. Glad I went this route after the ‘71 C10 Suburban found a new home and the ‘11 Tahoe left me underwhelmed.



Anyway... with the exception of one hiccup that left me on the side of the interstate it’s been great. I’ve done small improvements and adjustments along the way while driving it every day. Doing new exhaust this weekend. But now it’s time to take a hard look at the suspension.

The suspension is stock. 7,300 GVWR. The truck rides pretty nicely, but there are some things that lead me to think it’s time to freshen up and maybe upgrade things. Shocks seem ok... but they’re unknown make and age and are probably close to needing replaced. There’s a pretty good gap between the two leafs of the passenger front spring and the front axle isn’t perfectly centered under the front of the truck. The rear (5 leaf + 1 flat helper) doesn’t sag much.... with an empty gas tank. Put 40 gallons in and it starts to drag it’s tail. (Tank on a Suburban is behind the rear axle...) One of the leaf pack clamps is gone on a rear spring. Bushings need replaced. Has the ‘Chevy Lean’.

So I think it’s time to address things.

And there’s this: I went all-in on the daily driver thing. This is my only vehicle. So my suspension plan has to get me mobile again pretty quick or I’ll be borrowing the ever fetching Mrs. RyanAK’s Forester. So I’m gonna prep and assemble everything I can and stuff the new stuff in systematically on evenings and weekends when I can. Front shocks some Wednesday after work... Rear springs and shocks on a Saturday... etc.

So I’m asking for advice on a strategy and parts selection. I think I laid out How the truck gets used pretty well above. Hauling right now is limited to two young kids, maybe 200-300 lbs of gear, a 100 lbs Wonderdog, a loving wife of perfect weight, and 40 gallons of fuel. Possibly a small camper or utility trailer in the future. Gentlemanly on the pavement but still capable for moderate hauling and light 4x4 work. I have new 265/75R16 General Grabber A/Ts (31”) at 40psi. 350/360/203(stock)/3.73. I don’t want to lift if I need to rework steering, brake lines, shock mounts, pinion angle, etc.

Here’s my current thoughts:

Front:
Used stock front (2-leafs) - $100
Re-arch - $60
ORD 1” zero-rate add-a-leaf (marginal extra tire clearance) $40
U-bolts - $45
Spring and shackle bushings (could use guidance here) $100
Shackles?
Bilstein 4600 shocks - $170
Total - $515

Rear:
Used stock rear (4+1 leafs from an 80-87 K10 Suburban ) - $100
Re-arch - $60
ORD 1” zero-rate - $40
U-bolts - $45

OR...

Add-a-leaf to existing spring pack - $100
U-bolts - $45

OR...
Hellwig EZ-990 helper/load-leveling spring to existing pack $110

Spring and shackle bushings - $100
Shackles?
Bilstein 4600 shocks - $170
Total - $515 or $425 or $380

So $895 - $1030 for something just a bit better than stock. Maybe. I certainly could use any advice if this is money well spent. This approach does allow me to buy and install over time as opposed to going directly to an aftermarket 2”-2.5” lift. Thanks in advance for any thoughts that come my way.