2006 Chevy Silverado - Western Alliance

Twelve 1/2-inch bolts, per side, hold the notch in place and required plenty of time to drill. Our time schedule reached a standstill when a couple of drill bits were sacrificed to the altar of steel, while creating all of the necessary mounting holes. Although the notch could have been welded on, the owner wanted the option of possibly removing the notch in the future, should he decide to either airbag or lift his truck.

We've shown you this view plenty of times and the break down is pretty simple. After breaking the ball joints apart and popping the steering loose, HTS removed the brake caliper, spindle, and stock coil spring.

Making room for the Western Chassis parts, Doug and Scott pulled the stock lower control arm free and set aside the hardware to be reused later.

Side by side, it's easy to see the difference between the new control arm and the factory unit. The new control arm lowers the coil mount deeper into the arm, which resulted in a 2-inch suspension drop. Quality features such as heavy-duty ball joints and urethane bushings are why Western Chassis offers a 7-year warranty on its arms.

By using the previously set aside hardware, the new A-arm was laid up in its new home.

With a hydraulic jack underneath the control arm, the Western 2-inch drop coil went in and the spindle was put back into its place between the two arms. The brake caliper was also placed back where it belonged at this point.

Western supplied new nitrogen-charged shocks and shorter sway bar end links. Here the link assembly was being put in place in the proper hardware order ensuring that only the fresh urethane bushings touch metal.

Once the steering was back on the spindle and all of the hardware had received the "once over," we were ready to move on.

A 4/6 suspension drop is a pretty decent descent on these trucks. To keep everything safely tucked underneath the truck, Western's kit included a raised transmission crossmember. Doug popped the retaining bolts loose and supported the transmission output shaft so the crossmember could be completely removed

A visual comparison shows the bolt holes and height to be identical, but the new piece does not have as much under hang below the bolt holes to possibly contact the ground.

Next, the new unit went into place with the stock hardware. If you look closely, you can see how much material now sits below the cross member. This material needed to be cut away, and then plate steel was welded in its place to sturdy the mount and prevent flex. With this modification, the exhaust cross-over pipe became the lowest point of the truck, but a competent shop like HTS can make the necessary changes to tuck it safely away, too.