New upper A-arms are included...
New upper A-arms are included with the kit. They are made from 1/4-inch steel and include greaseable bushings. The ball joints need to be installed in the arms before the arms are installed using the OE cam bolts. Since the small S-10 ball joints are prone to failure, it's always a good idea to install brand-new ball joints.
The rear suspension is lifted...
The rear suspension is lifted via a spring-over-axle (SOA) conversion. The major components of the SOA conversion include new spring-perch brackets that double as shock mounts, spring plates, and U-bolts, a track-bar drop bracket, a brake-line drop bracket, and new shocks.
Here you can see the front...
Here you can see the front end after completion. Front and center is the optional BDS skidplate. The new swaybar drop-down brackets are visible, as are the new BDS shocks. Not visible are the new adjusting sleeve assemblies and relay rods for the steering system.
So was the kit worth it? We'll let the numbers speak for themselves.
Before we installed the BDS Suspension 5-inch kit, the stock ZR2 traveled 48 inches up a 20-degree RTI ramp, earning a score of 391. After the install, the ZR2 crawled 59 inches up the ramp, which improved its score to 480. Ground clearance, which as we all know is one of the key ingredients of a good off-road vehicle, also improved as expected. In stock form, 18.5 inches separated the front lower valance from the ground. After the install, that number jumped to 24.5 inches. In the rear, we gained 6.5 inches over stock, culminating with a measurement of 28.5 inches. These numbers reflect the fact that the owner of this specific ZR2 chose to install 33x12.50 tires (on American Racing 15x8 chrome Slider wheels), which are an inch larger in diameter than what BDS recommends. To counter the resulting clearance issues, the owner is going to install a body lift.
On the road, the truck handled and tracked amazingly well. We expected a stiffer ride, which we experienced (probably due to the larger shocks and beefier tires), but it was nowhere near uncomfortable. All in all, we think the owner of this ZR2 will be quite pleased with this ZR2's new on- and off-road performance.
Before
After