Our project tow vehicle can stop on a dime and has some gorgeous wheels to boot but it needs to be lowered just a hair to give it the right look. Above is some things you are provided with this 2 (front) 3 (rear) lowering kit from Belltech Suspension. The kit also comes with shocks which we will install. A Part 2 will also take place to show how we put on Belltech Swaybars.

Raise the Tahoe and place it on jack stands under the front crossbeam. Remove the tire. Disconnect the vehicle speed sensor(VSS) from the Tahoe at the frame rail. Remove the tie rod from the spindle. Now remove the brake caliper (you can keep it attached if you support the caliper), caliper bracket, and brake rotor.

Remove the nuts for the upper and lower control arms.

With a jack placed under the Spindle, hammer the side of the spindle near the control arms until it “pops” off the control arms. The jack will now support the weight of the spindle.

Remove the three bolts that will separate the spindle from the hub.

Once the three bolts are taken out you can remove the hub from the factory spindle as shown above.

Here is a comparison of the spindles. The Belltech one is on the right and our factory GM one is on the left.

Now you can install the hub onto the new spindle.

To replace the shock you are going to have to support the lower control arm with a jack. Remove the lower shock bolt, then lower the jack. Now remove the upper bolt and the shock will come out.

Place the new shock into the Tahoe. Tighten up the top bolt. Do not do anything to the bottom mount yet.

You may now take the new spindle and place it on the jack. Pump the jack up so that the spindle goes into the ball joints. Hand tighten the nuts onto the ball joints.

Move the jack to the left side of the lower control arm. Jack the control arm up until you can insert the lower shock bolt.

Now tighten all suspension bolts. Be sure to reconnect the tie rod!

Reconnect the VSS, and reinstall all brake components. Attach the tire, lower the vehicle and torque the lug nuts.

THAT WILL COMPLETE YOUR FRONT INSTALLATION. NOW FOR THE REAR INSTALLATION. 

Raise the rear of the vehicle. Place jack stands on the frame. Now place the jack under the differential. Slightly raise the differential. Now remove both rear shocks (the upper bolt is most easily accessible from the inside of the frame rail). Lower the differential.

Remove the factory rear spring.

Install the new springs; be sure to reinstall the upper and lower grommet.

Install the shock relocation drop bracket. Note the bolt loosely placed in the photo. This is how the bolt is to be installed in the original lower shock location

Install the shock. Place the upper bolt in first.

Jack the rear differential again. Thread the lower shock bolt.

Tighten all bolts. Lower the Tahoe and Test drive.

These are some after shots with the lowering kit. As you can see we have a much improved stance all around on the car and added a 1.5 inch lifted hitch for ease of towing. We have some Belltech Swaybars and other installation goodies around the corner so stay tuned!

The last time we checked in on Project Tahoe’s lighting situation, we had drastically increased visibility inside the truck by replacing the factory interior lights with LED counterparts from V-LEDs. This time around, we’re tackling the exterior lights to greatly increase night visibility. Towing long distances often means driving through areas with little to no street lighting and being able to see clearly in low visibility conditions is absolutely vital. That’s where V-LEDs comes in, as we’ll be replacing exterior lights with V-LEDs, and our headlights with HIDs by V-LEDs.

We started out with the taillights. The taillights are simply secured using a few phillips screws. Once you remove the screws, the lights should pop right out exposing the sockets. To remove the lights, simply twist the bulb housings out, and remove the bulbs. The bulbs at the beginning of this article are taillight bulbs, showcasing the stock bulbs compared to it’s V-LED counterpart.

Moving to the front of the Tahoe, we come to the headlights which will be receiving a V-HIDs upgrade. This V-LEDs HID kit contains everything you need for a painless plug-n-play installation including Bulbs, Ballasts, and a relay harness for compatibility with your factory harness.

Removing the headlights on our Tahoe was incredibly easy. The headlight and daytime running light assemblies are secured using two metal posts. By lifting these posts out, we’re able to pop out the housings to access the bulbs.

The headlights are equally as easy as the taillights. Simply twist the bulb out of the socket, and replace it with the LED bulb being careful not to damage the bulb while inserting it into the housing.

Pull out the housing below the headlight housing. This contains our daytime running light as well as the turn signal. We twisted the bulbs and effortlessly replaced them with VLED bulbs. Pictured above is the parking/turn signal bulb ready to be replaced in the housing. Once this is done, both housings can be replaced, and the pins dropped back in securing them to the vehicle.

Installing the relay harness is easy. Simply ground the black wire, and attach the red wire to your battery lead. The remaining wires plug together only one way making this part a no-brainer. Plug the battery relay to the ballast, and the ballasts to the bulbs. Secure excess wiring and the ballasts to the vehicle using the attached zip ties and double sided tape.

The bulbs in the foglights were also due to replacement. We received an additional V-HIDs kit for our foglights to match our headlights. Installation was identical to the headlights. Simply twist out the factory bulb, and replace it with the HID bulb while making sure to not damage it while inserting it into the fog light housing.

Plug the bulb into the ballast, and the ballast is plugged into the factory fog light plug which will now act as a switch to turn on/off the HID fog lights.

Be sure to secure any extra wiring, as well as the ballast securely to the vehicle using the supplied zip ties and double sided tape. Failure to do so could result in damage to the HIDs or fog lights.

And that’s it! Quite possibly the simplest installation, and the results are staggering. Improved visibility means safer nighttime driving, and V-LEDs delivers unparalleled quality and ease of use.