And that catches us up to speed and to my current project: AHC bye bye.
Like others I can confirm no warning lights and my AVS is still fully functional having left the height sensors and AVS fuse in position. I installed 6112/5160 Bilsteins in place of the AHC. Fronts on the 4th perch and I used the 177lb rate Bilstein rear springs and 15mm coil spacers to make sure I keep some rake. Can't say I would recommend this mod to everyone but I'm very happy. I've ran Bilstein setups in all four of my last rigs and am excited to once again.
Referencing everything to a max sensor lifted ride: side to side sway feels about as wallowy as driving in comfort mode and very slow speed bumps feel in between normal and sport in terms of harshness. But where the Bilsteins really shine are in their higher speed abilities. So much better control and composure and damping of bumps, especially considering I'm at a higher ride height now. Way outpaces the AHC. This was really my only complaint of AHC and my main reason for switching (aside from some failing/rusting AHC components which I could've replaced/rebuilt and the annoying drop at highway speeds). AHC high always felt really stiff and pogo-stick-like to the point of I'd really only ever turn it on to help get out of deep snow or to pose when parked lol. This is butter in comparison. For example, the parking lot where I took the side profile picture has an entrance that's about 8" higher than the lot. There are two turn ins with ramps and everything else is a 90 degree curb drop. I've hopped off the curb numerous times to go do donuts in the lot when it has snowed and boy is it a hard harsh hit with the AHC. I took it at about 25 mph with the Bilsteins and you can barely tell you just hopped of a curb. So smooth. Me likey.
Where the AHC really shines and what I truly will miss are just how damn flat it can corner. A 6,000+ lbs SUV should not be able to handle that good its ridiculous. And the auto adjusting for load. It's stupid good. I will miss it for the one time I tow per year. This in mind, I have a stiffer rear sway bar on order. In my limited driving so far I feel like the front is OK but the rear could use a little more help. I also may have inadvertently softened the effect of the rear sway bar by how much I lengthened my rear end links. Long sweeping turns are no trouble at all, but there is too much body roll for my comfort when doing windy mountain roads with slalom-like turns. Advantage of a stiffer rear bar is the back end is so slinky I highly doubt I'll lose much if any articulation, but it should in theory help the front end articulate better. I'll probably also get some rubber spring coil boosters that I can swap out easily for long trips with heavy loads or towing.
For anyone considering Bilsteins with AHC, you won't find too much out there but I've read a total of two comments after scrolling multiple threads that the rear reservoirs might not have clearance with the rear sway bar. And I can confirm, they don't. You either have to delete the rear sway bar which I don't recommend, run the bar anyways and have it rub the bar which I don't recommend, or fab up extended end links which I do recommend. I extended my links by 2.5 inches. This may have been too much as it's more than my lift height but after taking measurements it's gotten me good clearance from the reservoir. At rest I've got about an inch of clearance. Flexed out a good amount on a little bank at the parking lot in my work leaves me around 1/4 inch clearance
The shop that did my alignment claimed they couldn't get anymore than 2 degrees of caster. This might actually be true. I gave myself an eyeball alignment before taking it in as I did the install myself and I maxed caster all the way out then got camber as close to zero as possible. This is slightly less caster than I had with AHC sensor lifted and I felt that was a little light on center steering already. This is a little lighter still. I originally thought I'd live with it for now but after taking a 500 mile roadtrip to chase some snow this weekend I've already got some aftermarket UCAs on order.
Aaand that brings us to ride height. Center of hub to edge of fender before and afters, all measurements taken with a half tank of gas in the same spot in my garage which does slope ever so slightly downwards towards the passenger side. Final edit for ride height after 1,500 miles and removing the 15mm spacer from the passenger side only, driver is still in. Pretty damn level. Me gusta.
Driver Front: 20 5/8" to 21 5/8"
Passenger Front: 20 7/8" to 21 3/4"
Driver Rear: 20 3/4" to 22 1/2"
Passenger Rear: 21 3/8" to 22 1/2"
I don't have measurements from before the sensor lift but I do remember it lifting me about 1 1/4" all around. That puts stock measurements around the 19 1/2" range.
My rear LCA bolts were seized like probably half of everyone else's rigs so I also cut those off and swapped in new to me LCAs (low mile take offs) and bolts during the suspension install. I'll go back in sometime in the next couple weeks to remove the rest of the AHC components.
Anyways enough rambling, here's some pictures:
