Bilstein 5100 Series question - So after doing lots of reading and research on the forum, I have not found what I was looking for. I will apologize now if ...

So after doing lots of reading and research on the forum, I have not found what I was looking for. I will apologize now if I have just simply over looked something and posting another irritating leveling kit question. I have 2004 GMC Sierra Z71 4x4 it has a 1.5 inch body lift on it already nothing major, I have been really looking into the Bilstein 5100 series shocks and am prepared to do this, but will it work if I buy a 2.5 inch torsion key leveling kit and put the Bilsteins on it as well? now all said and done that should give me a supposed 4-5 inches of lift correct? What tire size would i be able to accommodate? Has anyone tried this application?

Can someone help this member out before the post gets buried?

no the shocks and torsion key lift can only give you so much lift, once you hit the moving limit of your a-arm and other components you wont have any more room to lift. so i would say that if you got the torsion keys and shocks you may be able to get 2.5-3.5(maybe) inches plus your body lift before you could no longer safely lift the truck without getting a total lift kit. hope this helps

So I can safely lift the truck with the torsion key lift and my body lift without causing any damage to the suspension components? And safely run 33's. From the post above I now thinking about not going with the bilsteins anymore as my current shocks are currently not shot. Any suggestions?

i think you can do both the torsion key and shock lift but you wont be able to set them to the max height they allow because your truck wont move that far without buying a lot more parts. if i were you i would talk to a place like 4wheel parts

The shocks will not give you any lift at all. The torsion keys are not technically a lift, most of these keys that advertise "up to 3"s" are doing so at the max limit, your suspension durability will suffer as will your ride. I would say that going 2" is more realistic and a good compromise. Any higher than that, you should be looking at a full kit. I cranked up my stock keys when I had my Avalanche and got about 1 1/2 inches and the ride was a bit stiffer but still was nice.

The problem with leveling kits is your taking out of the droop cycle and not leaving enough room for your suspension to flex. let me give you an example. If you have 8 inches of overall travel and you put a 3 inch leveling kit in, you end up with only 1 inch of droop. Definitely not enough for decent handling on paved road let alone any rough road.

I would advise that anything under 2 inches is workable but not optimal. Take it for what its worth and make your own decision. There are a lot of people out there that claim to get 3 to 4 inches with no compromises, I call BS and feel sorry for the guy that is next in line for the vehicles ownership.

cody- i think these are the shocks hes talking about with the adjustable ride height http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG1GynQEAPc

Those are for the 2007 and up... will not work with torsion bars.

Thanks for the input guys my problem is I already have the body lift installed so what I have taken from all that has been said is that I will be safe with doing the torsion key lift but stay away from the trying to get any additional lift out of the the shocks...?Correct? So I should be somewhere around the 2-3 inches of lift including the body lift. Sorry for not being as educated as I should on the whole subject.

They do make the 5100's for the 2004 model.