2012 Chevy AWD Family Adventure Van

[MoonMan]

Hi there. First post here on Expedition Portal. I have scoured the Chevy AWD van threads....thank you very much for all the info.

I am purchasing this 2012 Chevy Express AWD conversion van to turn into our family adventure van. It will be used for comfortable travelling with our two sons and dog. We will be driving from San Diego to Mammoth for skiing, going on camping trips and pulling our travel trailer. AWD is for the snow and no worries travel on forest service roads.



My first project is to remove the conversion body kit and spray the lowers and bumpers with Raptor Liner per Captn-See-Had thread here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...ody-kit-removal-spray-on-raptor-liner.196048/

Next will be a 2"-3" lift using torsion keys in the front and suburban leaf springs in the rear closely following DogCrazy here: https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...d-van-info-thread.137390/page-10#post-2167671

Then new wheels and tires. Still sorting through all the options.

Also looking into a roof rack and cargo basket but not sure how it is going to mount.

Questions:

-I've been trying to sort through the different torsion key options. Any specific recommendations on affordable torsion keys that will give a 2"-3" lift? Any to stay away from?

-I am looking to upsize the tires to 265 or 275. The 265 Duratrac looks real nice. Any specific tire recommendations?

-I want to push the tires out a bit to get a better stance without compromising the suspension. Any specific 17" wheel recommendations? Any difference between 17x7.5 and 17x9? The offset and back space stuff is a bit confusing. Any specific recommendations for offset and backspace?

-Any recommendations for mounting a roof rack and cargo basket? I am not sure if I will have gutters to attach to or will need to mount to the fiberglass top.

Thank you for any input or additional help you can provide. Cheers!

 

[Choff]

Welcome, Looks like a nice van for Family, on tires, i have gone to 17 inch rims with 265 and just but on Nexen Roadian AT Pro RA8 All-Terrain Tire , like them so far.
Just turned 200,000 miles on our 2005 GMC AWD Savana full conversion, got it with 43,000 miles.

 

[eaglevo]

Nice van! I have basically the same conversion van. The roof rack might have its challenges as there aren't many options for gutter mounts. The fiberglass top might support the weight if distributed properly. Wheel options are probably a little better with the 17x9.

 

[wjeeper]

Torsion keys are pretty straightforward, any torsion keys that are for a 99 to 2006 1500 will get you lifted. If you're DIY type of person going to a junkyard and snagging some F-150/Expedition torsion keys will give our vans 2.5 inches of lift on the cheap! (I think I paid $15 for my torsion keys) There are some fancy torsion keys out there (Maxx something or other) that have a lot of different options for index in your torsion bar. I don't think they're necessary because you already have a ton of adjustability built into your torsion Adjusters. With some modification F-150 keys and drop brackets for the lower control arms can net you 5 inches of lift, but it's exponentially more work.

The biggest thing with cranking torsion bars is that the upper ball joint starts to run out of down travel. Luckily these Vans have droop stops that bottom out right before the ball joint goes into bind. So most of your suspension travel will be on the compression side versus the droop side. If you crank it too far your ride quality starts to suffer. As does the caster, the higher you go the harder it is to put the correct amount of Caster in the front end. That said there are a few upper control arm options out there for these vans.

Depending on how crazy you want to go in your shock selection there even is an off-the-shelf remote Reservoir shock that works with the two and a half inch torsion crank. I have the part number on a sticky at work computer.

I could go on forever about these front suspensions, p.m. me if you have any other questions. I've even thought about putting together a comprehensive kit for these vans.

 

[MoonMan]

Welcome, Looks like a nice van for Family, on tires, i have gone to 17 inch rims with 265 and just but on Nexen Roadian AT Pro RA8 All-Terrain Tire , like them so far.
Just turned 200,000 miles on our 2005 GMC AWD Savana full conversion, got it with 43,000 miles.

Thank you. Ours has 73,000 and hoping to get to 200k in 10 years or so. The 2012 has stock 17" rims. I plan to sell the chrome rims and newish 245s and replace the black 17" rims and 265s.

Nice van! I have basically the same conversion van. The roof rack might have its challenges as there aren't many options for gutter mounts. The fiberglass top might support the weight if distributed properly. Wheel options are probably a little better with the 17x9.

Thank you too. I haven't taken delivery yet, so I need to see if the stock rain gutters are still there with the fiberglass top. If so, I was looking at the VanTech adjustable height system: Vantech H1 Bar

Torsion keys are pretty straightforward, any torsion keys that are for a 99 to 2006 1500 will get you lifted.

Thank you for the detailed post. I will look for torsion keys you recommended. I still need to do some research to understand the how the different torsion keys work and create the added lift...just for my understanding.

 

[MoonMan]

I found this webpage which helped me understand offset and backspace. I am now looking for 17x9, 0 offset wheel options.

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/learn/offset-backspace

 

[Len.Barron]

I found this webpage which helped me understand offset and backspace. I am now looking for 17x9, 0 offset wheel options.

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/learn/offset-backspace

You wouldn't believe how many guys are clueless about this...I have friends that just buy wheels because the size and lug pattern are correct and then act like they've been personally targeted for screwing by the wheel company when the tire rubs on the frame or wheel won't clear the brakes...a little measuring goes a long ways..

 

[MoonMan]

I did some reading last night on torsion keys and found this article helpful: https://www.gmfullsize.com/tech/torsion401.html . I had assumed the different shapes and angles of the torsion keys affected the lift height or ride quality. Nope. Just allows you to crank them up further than stock. The article definitely focuses on the negatives of cranking up the torsion keys too much.

Question: What have been your experiences, positive or negative, using torsion keys to raise the front of the Chevy/GMC AWD front ends 2"-3"?

 

[Len.Barron]

As mentioned before, ball joint working angle/ travel and your ability to restore camber become a real problem(heavy outter tire wear/scalloping) when you crank/change torsion keys to lift more than about 1.5' to 2"...you will loose most of your droop and will be hitting the upper bump limiter (loud and rough) whenever that tire drops at any speed. Modified upper control arms (that move the ball joint back out, flat and down) can fix that. The drop spindles that weldtec makes for the 2500/3500 vans is a great fix, gives you the lift without having to change your spring rate or alter ball-joint geometry... unfortunately I don't think he does one for the AWDs..

 

[macexpress]

I have a 2013 awd express. I bought it 2 years ago at 172,000 miles and it has 230,000 miles on it now. I cranked my torsion bars using the stock keys to fit 265-70-17. I gained 2" and in 2 years haven't had any problems.

 

[MoonMan]

I have a 2013 awd express. I bought it 2 years ago at 172,000 miles and it has 230,000 miles on it now. I cranked my torsion bars using the stock keys to fit 265-70-17. I gained 2" and in 2 years haven't had any problems.

Is this on the stock wheels? Do have any pictures of the van stance with the 2" lift and larger tires? Thanks.

 

[wjeeper]

Nope. Just allows you to crank them up further than stock. The article definitely focuses on the negatives of cranking up the torsion keys too much.

Sounds like you have it figured out, torsion bars are pretty simple but are different from the "normal" spring type suspensions. Keys just allow you to twist the bar farther than stock!

Question: What have been your experiences, positive or negative, using torsion keys to raise the front of the Chevy/GMC AWD front ends 2"-3"?

Before you go out and buy new torsion keys there is always the option of just cranking your stock torsion keys. I got about 1.5-1.75" out of my stock keys.

With just keys and shocks I would stick to 2-2.5. If you want to go 2.5-3 you are going to need new upper control arms, I had a set of Cognito upper arms and they worked well.

If I were to do it again I (i overdid it and went a full 5.5" with drop brackets, custom steering knuckles, drag links, custom rear springs, etc, etc) I would:
*Run lift keys (F-150 stock or aftermarket)
*Install some Silverado Z71 bumpstops
*Buy some cognito upper control arms (skip the uniball style, mine squeaked incessentaly, as uniballs often do)
*Run Bilstien 5160 remote resivior shocks
*Crank it to 3"
*slap some suburban springs in the rear and stop messing with it.

 

[wjeeper]

PS are the fender vents functional?

I need to do something to get the heat out of the engine bay a bit more effectively in the summer on slow moving trails.

 

[MoonMan]

PS are the fender vents functional?

I need to do something to get the heat out of the engine bay a bit more effectively in the summer on slow moving trails.

I'll check when I take delivery of the van next week and report back.

 

[MoonMan]

PS are the fender vents functional?

I need to do something to get the heat out of the engine bay a bit more effectively in the summer on slow moving trails.

No, the fender vents were not functional. They appear to be rear of the firewall so no easy way to make them functional.