2001 Chevy Silverado 3500 Air Suspension Install - Hammer Time

Since the bottom bracket bar was mounted, it was a convenient time to mount the new Air Ride Technologies rear shock absorbers. Sean did just that, by sliding the shock onto the top mount and into the new lower mount on the lower 'bag mount bar, and cranked them into place with the supplied fasteners.

The lower 'bag bracket bar was secured firmly into position by cranking the hardware down with an impact on one end and an open-end wrench on the other.

Brandon mounted the rear airbags and proceeded to fix them to the upper and lower air spring cups with the supplied airbag mounting hardware.

Next, the two 2-gallon air tanks were mounted up underneath the rear frame crossmember. On one end of the tanks, metal tabs had to be welded to the base of the tank legs to get enough material to span the gap of the open area. Holes were drilled from underneath and the tanks were mounted as shown. This way, they are hidden out of the way and won't take up useful space inside the bed. Before the tanks were permanently secured, Brandon temporarily secured them with clamps to ensure the perfect location.

Supplied with the Air Ride Technologies kit is a Panhard bar to keep the rearend centered under the truck with the new adjustable suspension setup. The Panhard bar was secured to its mounting point at the rearend bracket with an open-end wrench.

The Panhard bar was tightened at its mounting bracket on the top 'bag bracket bar on the inside of the frame.

Next, the four-link bars were installed. Sean secured the upper four-link bar to the rear mount on top of the differential with an impact on one end and an open-end wrench on the other.

The top four-link bar was secured at the forward mount on the frame with an impact and open-end wrench on the back side. After the top bar was secured into its front and rear mounts, the lower bar was mounted in a similar fashion into the original leaf spring hanger at the front and into the bottom four-link bar bracket on the bottom of the lower 'bag bracket bar at the rear.

Now that most of the rear suspension structure was set up, we moved onto addressing things up front. After the front sway bar endlink was disconnected, the tie rod end was separated from the spindle, the spindle was unbolted from the ball joint at the upper and lower control arms, and the brake caliper was removed from the rotor and hung up out of the way from the frame with a piece of wire. Now we could remove the spindle and brake rotor assembly. Sean pulled the assembly free and prepared to perform the front suspension alterations.

Before the spindle, rotor, and hub assembly could be reinstalled in a later step, a few modifications needed to be made to the spindle. According to the Air Ride Technologies instructions, some mild trimming needs to be made. If you have access to a drill press, then these alterations could be made at home, but seeking out an experienced machine shop to perform the work is not a bad idea. According to Air Ride Technologies, the ball joint basses need to be drilled out and the supplied ball joint adapters need to be installed to move the spindle up 3 inches over the control arm. Sean bolted on the Air Ride Technologies steering arm, which will correct the angle of the tie rod to eliminate excessive bumpsteer.

Proceeding with disassembly of the factory front suspension links, Sean unbolted the factory upper control arm with an impact and socket. The upper arm was removed and set aside. We kept it close, since the factory ball joint would need to be removed and inserted into the new upper control arm.

The factory lower control arm was unbolted and slid out of its mounting area and pulled free from the factory torsion bar.

Sean mounted the new lower control arm into the factory mounts and installed the hardware to fasten it in place. At this point, the hardware was just installed to keep the lower arm in place. Once the front suspension alterations were complete, everything was snugged up at once.

The front sway bar had to be moved forward to work in conjunction with the new front suspension, so it was unbolted from its mounts on the frame and lowered out of position.

The new sway bar mounting plates were positioned according to the Air Ride Technologies instructions and mounted to the base of the framerail.

Sean hoisted the sway bar up to the new mounting plate to attach it into place.

The sway bar endlinks were bolted back onto the top of the new Air Ride lower control arm.

Brandon McCaw of SporTrucks By Dean used a press to install the factory ball joint into the new upper control arm.