3” Rear spring options?

[91RS]

I currently have the Belltech 2/3 kit on my 08 Escalade with the front knuckles, using the spacer on the rear springs, and McGhaughy’s shock extenders. I’ve never been in love with the rear Belltech spring, they feel a bit squishy/wallowy. Although it is progressive, when the truck is on the ground all the progressive coils are touching so it isn’t doing any good. I tried the McGaughy’s 30014 springs which claim to be a 3” drop with Auto Ride but that isn’t true. They raised the rear about 1.5” but I did think they were a little better feeling but I went back to the Belltech because it looked terrible. Are there any other options I’m not aware of? Pedders is out of stock but says 60mm drop so that will likely raise it also. I was thinking I could maybe use the McGaughy’s 5” spring with the Belltech spring spacer.

 

[iamdub]

I currently have the Belltech 2/3 kit on my 08 Escalade with the front knuckles, using the spacer on the rear springs, and McGhaughy’s shock extenders. I’ve never been in love with the rear Belltech spring, they feel a bit squishy/wallowy. Although it is progressive, when the truck is on the ground all the progressive coils are touching so it isn’t doing any good. I tried the McGaughy’s 30014 springs which claim to be a 3” drop with Auto Ride but that isn’t true. They raised the rear about 1.5” but I did think they were a little better feeling but I went back to the Belltech because it looked terrible. Are there any other options I’m not aware of? Pedders is out of stock but says 60mm drop so that will likely raise it also. I was thinking I could maybe use the McGaughy’s 5” spring with the Belltech spring spacer.

Trim a coil off the top of the BT springs to lower it about 1/2". This alone won't affect the ride from the springs since those top coils are compressed and are only acting as spacers. The AutoRide will add a little more air to the bellows to make up for that ~1/2" drop, bringing it back to the height that it sits now but with a little firmer spring rate from the extra psi in the bellows. You could trim off a little more off the spring to make it even more firm. Just try to gauge it with plenty of drive time after cutting to really assess the change and trim a little at a time. You can't add it back except by getting a thicker coil spacer.

 

[91RS]

Well, I don’t want it any lower than it currently is and I may be deleting the Auto Ride for the Atomic Fab coilovers which would just use the dual or triple adjustable Viking shocks for the rear with whatever springs.

 

[iamdub]

Well, I don’t want it any lower than it currently is and I may be deleting the Auto Ride for the Atomic Fab coilovers which would just use the dual or triple adjustable Viking shocks for the rear with whatever springs.

It'd just be about 1/2" and it'd only be lower when parked for a length of time, like over night, depending on how airtight your system is. But, if you have plans for all that, then it's a moot point if you wanna delete the AutoRide before you install the coilovers. As for spring suggestions, I'm the last to make any suggestions because I'm running coils from a Jeep TJ with shocks from an XJ.

 

[91RS]

I’m not really deleting the Auto Ride before the coilovers it’s just the rear won’t be coilovers so I will still have to use whatever springs for the rear with a matching Viking shock. The more I thought about it after I posted this, I will likely leave the Belltech springs for now because they could feel very different with the Viking shocks since the air will also be gone.

I also remembered about DJM after I posted this and they have a 3” rear spring so I’ve emailed them and asked if they have a hub to fender lip measurement for the drop to compare to what I have.

 

[91RS]

DJM replied with the link to this article: https://djmsuspension.com/2007-tahoe-calmax-34-drop/ which does contain measurements but I don't think they're comparable since the that Tahoe does not have Auto Ride. IF my Escalade was at the same 23 1/8" in the rear stock that Tahoe was then that would mean my current drop is 4" when it should only be 3." I didn't bother to measure what mine was before I lowered it. I know I'm not riding on the bump stops (I have no desire to cut stuff off my frame so that is why I have no desire to go lower) so it shouldn't be 4." Maybe I can find another Yukon Denali or Escalade to measure the stock height but I'm definitely not going to be buying any springs until I see what it does with changing to the coilovers and non-Auto Ride shocks in the rear if I even decide to do that. I was thinking about just doing the coilovers in the front and leaving the Auto Ride in the rear.

 

[91RS]

I'm revisiting this because I bought an ESV to replace my Yukon and I swapped the lowering kit and the rear Belltech springs are not going to work. They're so rough on the ESV which I'm guessing is the Mag ride trying to compensate for how soft they are and the extra weight has lowered the rear a tad more than it was on the Yukon. I still have the McGaughy's 3" springs and I'm half tempted to try them on the ESV and see if maybe the extra weight won't raise it up as much as it raised my SWB Escalade. They're easy enough to change but I suspect it will be higher than I'd like but maybe I can add a very small spacer under the front shocks and raise the front a tad so it looks right.

I also found that Ground Force and MaxTrac offer rear springs. Ground Force only sells a complete kit but their web site says you can call for individual parts of the kit. They list it 2.75"-3" rear so that may not be enough. MaxTrac offers 2", 3", and 4" springs. I couldn't find much on here for people using them in the GMT-900 body style but it looks like quite a few people are using them on the K2 body style. I ordered their 4" spring since I already have McGaughy's 3" spring and I believe the drop with the Belltech springs and spacer is closer to 4". I figured I can use the Belltech spacer under the 4" spring if I need to raise it.

 

[91RS]

I ended up putting the McGaughy's 3" springs on the ESV and I was right that it didn't raise it at much as my SWB. It raised it about an inch which is acceptable even though only a half inch would have been better but it rides much better and doesn't rub any more when cornering so I don't have to cut the wheel liners now. I put some washers under the front shock to push the front up a tiny bit to make it look better.

I also bought the MaxTrac 4" springs for my SWB and they kept the ride height exactly the same as the Belltech springs WITH the spacer so I was also right that the Belltech springs with the spacer under them are NOT a 3" drop but a 4" drop. The MaxTrac also ride much better since it doesn't have all those progressive coils that are touching each other at ride height. I don't understand why Belltech would design such a useless spring. The spring rate of the MaxTrac spring is definitely higher as the coils are much thicker but the uncompressed spring is a lot shorter than the Belltechs so they're also much easier to install.