[wackdogg]

I was looking into lowering my 2005 Armada LE with the intrax spring kit. I will be going with 22 inch rims on the Armada cause I don't want it to ride to rough. Of course I wasn't really thinking ahead and bought the Armada with the load leveling rear suspension.........Question is.......How does the load leveling supension work by weight or does it have a sensor that compresses as the load lowers the rear of your SUV? Do you guys (and gals) see where I am going with this? It would be worthless to put springs on the back end of the car to lower it if the rear load leveling suspension just keeps raising the back end up everytime you turn the car on. Is there a way to adjust this sensor into not raising the car up everytime you turn it on? I don't even know if I am going to have problems or not I am just planning for the worse just in case.

P.S. 92TB I know already that you hate big rims and lowering SUV's. I will keep the stock tires just for towing.

 

[SE Off Road1]

Load Leveling

Load leveling is just a set of air shocks and an on-board compressor. Yes it does have a sensor that detects when the vehicle is not at normal ride height. If you are lowering your truck you will be replacing the front and rear coils including all the shocks. You can keep the air compressor mounted and remove all the lines just in case you want to re-install the factory suspension.

But to answer your questions; No, load leveling will not affect lowing your truck because you will be removing it.

 

[Vegeta]

P.S. 92TB I know already that you hate big rims and lowering SUV's. I will keep the stock tires just for towing.

LMAO !!! Nice one wackdogg !

 

[scr38]

The load leveling will still work after lowering, you just have to adjust the position of the sensor. Look at my post on this here:
http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=388
You may have to remount the sensor higher. I dropped the rear only 3/4 inch to make the Armada level. It was sitting 3/4" higher in the rear than the specs in the Service Manual. I was able to make the adjustment by rotating the sensor as shown in my post. For a 2" drop you can use this adjustment plus adjusting the length of the connecting link; however you still may not be able to adjust for this much drop without remounting the sensor 2" higher, or moving the lower link bracket 2'" lower.

A couple of things to consider about lowering:
1. This will cause more wear on the rear axle CV joints. The stock supension is designed so there is a minimum angle in the CV joints at normal ride heigth. When you lower the car the you are "working" the joints more. It may take some time for this to show up, but you are putting more stress on the joints when you lower.
2. You will lose suspension travel, and the car will bottom out easier. And the ride will be stiffer.

 

[SE Off Road1]

Lowering

I stand corrected. I did not think it would work.

 

[scr38]

First let me say that I wouldn't lower my Armada. But wackdogg asked about the leveling system, and how it would be affected by installing the Intrax spring kit. This kit lowers 2"", with only the springs replaced with some that are shorter and have a higher rate. The ride heigth will be 2" lower, but no other supension components are changed. So the shocks have exactly the same stroke and travel. the difference is that the "resting" position is 2" more compressed.
I aslo mentioned the drawbacks of doing this. If you think you would ever need the auto leveling then, in my opinion, lowering is the wrong thing to do. But the air shocks will still work, and the auto level will still work if the sensor is properly adjusted.
So, to answer wackdogg's question, it can be made to work.

 

[92TripleBlack]

Don't forget to have your wheels realigned after dropping it, and drive slow over speedbumps. I'll be looking down on you for this.

 

[wackdogg]

Thanks guys for the quick replys and for not turning this into a flame war. I don't like alot of wheel gap on my vehicals but I don't want to be rubbing tires on fenders or anything. I would like to have 1 1/2 to 2 inches of wheel gap front and back. I have a 2002 Nissan Altima with that same amount of gap and it is perfect. For you guys with 22's and 305/45 series tires, how much wheel gap do you have? What about 24's instead? Would riding on 24's without lowering be rougher than driving with 22's and lowering springs?