2001 Chevy Tahoe (Level, Tires, 4x4 vs Z71)

Hi. New to the forum and new as a Tahoe owner.

What is the best way to level a 2001 Chevy Tahoe 4x4?
(Assume raise front end to be leve with rear some how)

What is the largest size tire I can install with a 17" wheel?
(Assuming Tahoe is level and no extradordinary lift kit is installed)

What is the difference between the Tahoe 4x4 and Tahoe Z71?

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Cole1247

Welcome aboard!
You might want to try cranking down on the bolts to the torsion bar keys to raise the front some. But you'll have to take the tension off the keys first or you'll chance stripping or even shearing the bolt. You'll have to get the front end re-aligned afterwards though, as this will change the camber angle.
Some of the things the Z71 has are body colored mirrors, grille, and bumpers. It also has a heavy duty cargo roof rack.

Cranking the torsion bolts will make the torsion bars weaker. At least thats how it was with my Explorer. Its a two sided street. It will level your truck, but off roading will be more risky. I would say the best route is to just buy a leveling kit. I dont have a lot of experience with Yukons or Tahoes yet since I am pritty new my-self, so I may be wrong, but like I said, on the Explorer which has a torsion bar front suspension, tourqing those bolts is not good to do. You can snap a torsion bar. Someone please correct me if I am wrong....

Coastie Kyle said:

Cranking the torsion bolts will make the torsion bars weaker. At least thats how it was with my Explorer. Its a two sided street. It will level your truck, but off roading will be more risky. I would say the best route is to just buy a leveling kit. I dont have a lot of experience with Yukons or Tahoes yet since I am pritty new my-self, so I may be wrong, but like I said, on the Explorer which has a torsion bar front suspension, tourqing those bolts is not good to do. You can snap a torsion bar. Someone please correct me if I am wrong....

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The torsion bars will only rotate, rotating the control arms along with it either up or down. Tension doesn't change. No matter what position the torsion bar is in, it still supports the same amount of weight on the front of the vehicle.

But if you crank them to far, you will make the CV Joint angle too big and it will cause premature wear of the CV Joint. I was told a while ago that if I was going to do a torsion twist, I should measure the amount of lift gained and go no more than two inches. Anything else was to risky........

after 2" lift by just adjusting the torsion bar, ride quality really drops also

Coastie Kyle said:

But if you crank them to far, you will make the CV Joint angle too big and it will cause premature wear of the CV Joint. I was told a while ago that if I was going to do a torsion twist, I should measure the amount of lift gained and go no more than two inches. Anything else was to risky........

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True, but if you are only leveling a 4wd, the front end shouldn't need to be raised that much.

I just wouldnt do any heavy off roading. Im sure it would be fine for city and freeway.

cole1247 said:

What is the largest size tire I can install with a 17" wheel?
(Assuming Tahoe is level and no extradordinary lift kit is installed)

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i'd also like to know, and i haven't seen this answered. :confused2:

285 series tire is the safest , biggest tire to use.

And as said above when you adjust the torsion bars YOU ARE Not altering there spring rates , all you are doing is setting there INDEX, which is the reason the adjustment exists in the first place.

As far as to far of a crank , there are Travel stops on the trucks , which LIMIT the total amount of travel the front can move. You do not want to adjust so far as to bottom out this stop ,leave 1/2 inch or more between it and its max travel.

Leveling kits are a waste of money , if your bars are week , common on a tahoe , get a set of torsion keys for a ford F-150 which are 50.00 at a ford dealer and use them in place of the stock keys , the keys start out at a higher index which makes truck stand taller from the get go JUST like a leveling kit offers.

Coastie Kyle said:

I just wouldnt do any heavy off roading.

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heavy offroading? i'm guessing this is a tongue-in-cheek remark?