The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 is an off-road optimized version of the Chevy Colorado that packs some serious off-road suspension hardware. It competes in the midsize pickup segment with the Jeep Gladiator, and it has the good to be cross-shopped with the Gladiator Mojave and Rubicon.
On thing the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon has that the Colorado ZR2 lacks is a front stabilizer bar disconnect mechanism. The ZR2 performed very well when I last tested it on my Flex Index ramp, but the Gladiator Rubicon did quite a bit better after I triggered its factory stabilizer bar disconnect mechanism.
In this video I wanted to see if disconnecting the ZR2's front stabilizer bar would improve the suspension's ability to flex on my ramp test, so I got out some tools and disconnected it manually. I'll show you how that's done, then I'll drive the Colorado ZR2 up my Ramp Travel Index (RTI) ramp a second time to measure the effects. Is it worth doing? We'll find out together.
The idea of an RTI ramp is simple. It creates an artificial but repeatable frame-twist situation that allows you to safely reach the point of maximum suspension flex and quantify what I call the Flex Index score through a simple measurement. Numerical scores are based on a vehicle’s performance on a 20-degree ramp.That angle that was chosen some time ago, and it works well for stock and lightly-modified vehicles.
It’s worth noting that this particular Colorado ZR2 is fitted with the Bison package that was co-developed by GM and American Expedition Vehicles (AEV). AEV caters to the overlanding crowd, and their package of upgrades includes functional upgrades such as stronger wheels, front and rear bumpers that offer greater protection from trailside rocks, and a couple of additional skidplates. The front bumper is winch-capable, too. The suspension that we’ll see, however, is common with ZR2s that do not have the Bison package.
Why am I doing this? I love this stuff. I'm a former suspension development engineer that spent most of my career developing off-road focused trucks and SUVs. Later, I somehow found my way into auto journalism, and for several years I created a popular photo feature called a Suspension Walkaround for Inside Line, a now-defunct offshoot of Edmunds.com (no relation). Today I have resumed writing these features under the name Suspension Deep Dive for Autoblog. I'm also doing video versions here on this channel.
But I'm also known for a series of RTI blog posts and Instagram shots featuring numerous off-road vehicles posing on this very RTI ramp. I didn't know where to buy such a ramp when I first got interested in doing this, so I designed one myself, bought all the metal, cut it to size, and had a friend of a friend weld it together. My previous employer was tired of it being in the way, so it's now with me at home, where I'm starting to re-build my database with new vehicles. I'll be keeping track of everything I measure and will be calling my database the Flex Index.
I never seemed to have the time, the equipment, or the confidence to get in front of the camera, but I got over that by hosting at least 80 professionally-produced videos over the last three years on the Edmunds.com You Tube channel. If you like this video, tell your friends, click subscribe, share links, give it a like and check out the other videos on my channel, which is simply called Dan Edmunds. And I take requests. I can't promise that I can get my hands on every new off-road oriented truck or SUV, but the odds are good. And the more views I get, the more horsepower I'll have when requesting off-road vehicles to examine.