# 06 D-max needs a lift!



## Foxx (Dec 23, 2013)

06 2500 Chevy HD LT. Its my first season plowing with this particular truck and I'm having some pretty severe clearance issues. I have western poly ultra mount up front and a strong 3" of clearance under the 'A' frame of the plow. Of course as I cruise down the road I'm smacking every little bump and digging some nice trenches in clients driveway/parking lot approaches, not to mention having trouble pushing snow well past curbs. So I've been doing some research online to find a set of heavy duty replacement shocks. Its been fairly unsuccessful as most things I find are just to 'lift' or replace old worn shocks and nothing about the added weight of a plow. Can you guys give some advice on products I should be looking at or a website I should visit? Thanks in advance!


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## jb1390 (Sep 23, 2008)

Foxx;1694697 said:


> 06 2500 Chevy HD LT. Its my first season plowing with this particular truck and I'm having some pretty severe clearance issues. I have western poly ultra mount up front and a strong 3" of clearance under the 'A' frame of the plow. Of course as I cruise down the road I'm smacking every little bump and digging some nice trenches in clients driveway/parking lot approaches, not to mention having trouble pushing snow well past curbs. So I've been doing some research online to find a set of heavy duty replacement shocks. Its been fairly unsuccessful as most things I find are just to 'lift' or replace old worn shocks and nothing about the added weight of a plow. Can you guys give some advice on products I should be looking at or a website I should visit? Thanks in advance!


You can install timbrens in the front, but if you honestly have 3" of clearance, I think your plow might not be installed quite correctly.


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## Foxx (Dec 23, 2013)

I don't think the mount is installed wrong. There was really only one way to install it. The only adjustment to the plow that would give some extra clearance that I can see is that the A frame has a few 'slots' it could be repositioned to. Ill try to post a pic to see what you think.


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## mkwl (Jan 21, 2005)

I have the same truck- crank the t-bars up a couple turns, add timbrens (a must on duramax equipped trucks pre-2011), and run about 500Lbs of ballast against the tailgate. Do these things and you should be good to go, assuming the truck has VYU selected t-bars (with a 4,800LB front end, not the lighter front axle rating).


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## orinicklawncare (Nov 10, 2011)

Change they torsion keys to a leveling key, i only paid 75 for the new keys.


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## FF/P215 (Dec 5, 2012)

I just did the whole front end this past fall.. Crank the T-Bars a couple turns and throw some keys on, if you don't like the ride, get some UCAs from Cognito or Camburg, they improve your ride and also save you ball joints by keeping the angles at the proper height. And 500lbs should do it for your rear end. I should add that I wanted to do that for a while, and upgraded everything for only a couple hundred more than a couple shops wanted to do just balls, tie-rods and pit/idlers on both sides.


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## plow3232 (Sep 21, 2009)

FF/P215;1694763 said:


> I just did the whole front end this past fall.. Crank the T-Bars a couple turns and throw some keys on, if you don't like the ride, get some UCAs from Cognito or Camburg, they improve your ride and also save you ball joints by keeping the angles at the proper height. And 500lbs should do it for your rear end. I should add that I wanted to do that for a while, and upgraded everything for only a couple hundred more than a couple shops wanted to do just balls, tie-rods and pit/idlers on both sides.


about 5-6 turns should be good. I hope you don't have the small tires 245-75-16


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## Deerewashed (Jan 13, 2010)

my buddy plows and he has readylift keys and 7 or 8 turns on his setup


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

No clearance issues with my 04 carrying 950 lbs 810. 5 cranks on t bars, timbrens to reduce bottoming, alignment and 400 ilbs of ballast and you're good to go! 250$ fix.


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## Triton2286 (Dec 29, 2011)

Shocks do nothing for handling extra weight.


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## KDB33 (Sep 16, 2012)

I have a '07 Dmax classic body CC with a fisher xtreme v so the plow is even heavier than what you are running and I have no issues. I have 4 turns on the T-bars, and the cognito UCAs to keep everything level so the tie rods are at the correct angle, I also have sumo springs in the front instead of timbrens. They are softer than the timbrens so my ride is better. I would recommend the cognito UCAs they will help keep your truck level and prolong the life of your front end parts like tie rods and ball joints because your not stressing them as much because they are at a better angle. I also run between 1000-1200 lbs ballast. I would also recommend welding in gussets if you do alot of plowing. Just my $.02


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## SnowGuy73 (Apr 7, 2003)

mkwl;1694731 said:


> I have the same truck- crank the t-bars up a couple turns, add timbrens (a must on duramax equipped trucks pre-2011), and run about 500Lbs of ballast against the tailgate. Do these things and you should be good to go, assuming the truck has VYU selected t-bars (with a 4,800LB front end, not the lighter front axle rating).


Yup, I did this in my 2007 2500. Just crank the bars up, poor man's lift!


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## SnowGuy73 (Apr 7, 2003)

orinicklawncare;1694753 said:


> Change they torsion keys to a leveling key, i only paid 75 for the new keys.


Did this in my 2013, I like leveled look it has now!


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## Zrxpilot (Jan 27, 2012)

I have a big block gasser of the same vintage and had the same complaint. Installed timbrens, turned up the torsion bars 5 turns, gusset plates and new KYB Monomax shocks. Lifted the rear 2" to compensate for the 750 lbs of ballast I put in it but that is a personal preference. Added extenders to the front shocks.

After an alignment, I could not be happier. Rides a bit firmer but nice. Doing all this myself was not that big of a job. Whole works can be done in less than 4 hrs with proper tooling/motivation.


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## Triton2286 (Dec 29, 2011)

KDB33;1697121 said:


> I have a '07 Dmax classic body CC with a fisher xtreme v so the plow is even heavier than what you are running and I have no issues. I have 4 turns on the T-bars, and the cognito UCAs to keep everything level so the tie rods are at the correct angle, I also have sumo springs in the front instead of timbrens. They are softer than the timbrens so my ride is better. I would recommend the cognito UCAs they will help keep your truck level and prolong the life of your front end parts like tie rods and ball joints because your not stressing them as much because they are at a better angle. I also run between 1000-1200 lbs ballast. I would also recommend welding in gussets if you do alot of plowing. Just my $.02


These?

http://cognitomotorsports.com/chevy...upper-control-arm-kit-for-01-10-gm-8-lug.html


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## BowTieDmax (Nov 25, 2003)

Is this a gas truck? If so you could put some torsion bars out of a diesel? That would help the most.


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## KDB33 (Sep 16, 2012)

Triton2286;1703597 said:


> These?
> 
> http://cognitomotorsports.com/chevy...upper-control-arm-kit-for-01-10-gm-8-lug.html


Those are the ones I put in. Cognito also does sell 3 different stages of leveling kits you might want to check out. So if you want to try different keys that might be a cheaper route since it is a pakage deal. They are fairly easy to install just make sure to get an alignment after installed. I know they are pricey but I feel better knowing everything is at the correct angle.


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## WilliamOak (Feb 11, 2008)

I had timbrens, green keys (from what I understand they're basically 1/2 ton code keys that are "indexed" differently to gain more distance persay out of each crank on the tbars) I ran a 9'2" boss v out front with very minimal sag. No worse than my current f350 with 810.


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## snowman55 (Nov 20, 2007)

plow likely assembled wrong. can be set up 6 different ways. 1 have 6-8" on all my chevys put a plow for a ford on a chev and I got 3"


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## 09Daxman (Dec 24, 2009)

Like someone else mentioned, what tire size are you running? That will make a huge difference. If you are still on the stupid 245 donuts, that will play a big part of your height clearance issue.


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