73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Brakes, Frame, Steering & Suspension => Topic started by: lechez71 on January 09, 2011, 12:29:27 am
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im having trouble finding out why my suspension feels like crap. its frustrating me bad. the truck fells bad when i hit bumps on the road. it kinda feels like it has no suspension its real stiff. it hard to describe, it even rattles like something is loose. ive spent lots of money already and nothing seems to change besides the amount of money spent. heres what ive done.
i removed the spare tire i thought that was making the noise but no. i bought 4 new shocks, got new djm 2" lower springs, 4 new control arm bump stops, 1 new upper ball joint beacuse the boot was torn, new sway bar bushings,greased all fittings, and also checked if any bolts were loose. everything seems right to me but it still feels bad. i also took the truck for a wheel alignment and thay said everything looked fine :(
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Try putting it up on stands and have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you visually look at the steering and suspension. Wiggle joints to see if they are loose. Use caution while under the truck.
It could be a bad body mount too.
How long have you owned it?
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ive owned the truck for two years and just got it on the road about a month ago, so ive only put about 50 miles on it myself. wow thanks i never thought about checking the body mounts could that cause it to rattle when i hit a bump and making it feel unpleasent? im going to lift it on stands and check the steering. thanks
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I dont have a 2wd, just throwing ideas out. Other members will respond too.
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a bad wheel bearing will cause some problems also but i would check body mounts if the rubber is gone under the cab it will cause it to bang hard or the bolts sometimes just fall out
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is the ride hard? these trucks never rode like Cadillacs, they were a pretty harsh ride right from the factory. nothing like the plush ride of today's trucks.
is the truck 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton? how many leafs are in the rear? what kind of shocks did you buy? sometimes the shocks themselves give a hard ride, depending on the type and quality.
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Never had it happen to me but a buddy's farm truck had a broken shackle and they didn't know what was causing the bang till I think they went to change the tire.
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Check your shocks and your shock mounts. Make sure everything in the steering and suspension is tight. Need a better description of what its actually doing though...
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is the ride hard? these trucks never rode like Cadillacs, they were a pretty harsh ride right from the factory. nothing like the plush ride of today's trucks.
is the truck 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton? how many leafs are in the rear? what kind of shocks did you buy? sometimes the shocks themselves give a hard ride, depending on the type and quality.
yes the ride feels hard, kinda like a car that someone heated the springs. its a 1/2 ton 2wd pickup, it has a total of 4 leafs. i bought 4 Gabriel max control shocks there a monotube shock. they were the best the autoparts carried besides bilstein.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Gabriel-Max-Control-Shock-Strut-Front/1982-Chevrolet-C10-1-2-ton-P-U-2WD/_/N-il2hzZ8oxxw?counter=3&filterByKeyWord=shocks&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=310481_0_7413_
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Never had it happen to me but a buddy's farm truck had a broken shackle and they didn't know what was causing the bang till I think they went to change the tire.
i removed the shackles to grease the bushing beacuse they squeaked and they looked fine. how did the shackle break? was the bushing missing or was it cracked?
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i think the wheel bearings are good because the tires have no play in them.
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Check your shocks and your shock mounts. Make sure everything in the steering and suspension is tight. Need a better description of what its actually doing though...
when i changed the shocks the mounts looked fine, i changed to the new hardware that came with the shocks. its hard to describe but i can only imagine, have you seen those honda civic that someone lowered and when they hit a bump they look really bouncy and you see there bodies jumping around. im guessing thats how to describe it. but not sure if it helps any.
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Well I'm getting that you are saying it rides hard like stiff and then you are saying it's bouncy. ???
Is it hitting the jounce bumpers?
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its really hard to describe i really dont know how to tell you. no rubber bumper are hitting.
i can try it to tell you this way,(example) my sister lincoln navigator has air bags in the rear, they were no good and the suspension was really low it would bottom out. so every time you hit a bump you would bounce around inside like crazy. do to it rubber bumper sitting on the axle. that how i can describe it
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Rust will kill a shackle. Try bouncing on each corner so maybe you can hear noise
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i found a coulple things that were making the noise the tailgate, and the trim that bolts to the tailgate. also a metal sleeve that i guess clamps the leafs together. i looked at the body mounts and they look new they dont have any cracks on them the previous owner must have changed them. is there a possibility they heated the leaf springs to to lower the rear? how many leafs are there suposed to be? someone heated the front springs, so they meay have done the rears also. and with the new springs it helped a little
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well if your front springs have been heated, then that might be your issue. Never heard of someone heating leafs, but not to day it isnt done. Do you have extended shackles in the rear?
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could always try to pull a leaf out of the rear to soften it up a little. not sure what else you could do to the front. as i said, these trucks always rode hard, never like a caddy.
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well if your front springs have been heated, then that might be your issue. Never heard of someone heating leafs, but not to day it isnt done. Do you have extended shackles in the rear?
i alredy changed the front springs. i have not changed the shackles, but not sure of the previous owner, they look short so im guessing there stock. the truck looks lowered in the rear to me, but not sure how it was done. are extented shackles longer or shorter than stock?
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I really appricate your guys help, i hope i get this fixed, this truck is my weekend toy so i would like to get it to drive nice.
How many leafs are these trucks suposed to have?
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The amount of leaves depends on the trucks weighting what it was meant to do. my 94 1/2 ton has only 3 I think at the most while if I can remember right my 86 1/2 ton had 5. The shackles would be longer I doubt someone would try to heat up the leafs but who knows if they did I doubt they heated it up right it should look like a snake being all bent up and all.
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Its more than likely down on the bump stops. Take us a few pics of it . or the suspension.
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ok will do thanks. ill get pics of the front and rear bump stops.
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ok guys i got pics of the bump stops. the front has a 1 1/2" clearance and the rear has 3".
(http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/DSC01821.jpg)
(http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/DSC01811.jpg)
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I would probably shave some off the front bumpstop, so you have at least 3" of travel. Did that bumpstop come with your springs?
The rear is stock and looks fine per the picture. I assume it has shackle/hangers based on the rear not being flipped.
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no i bought these universal energy suspenion bump stops from my local auto parts, they did not come with the springs. i really dont no how the rear is lowered it was like that when i bought the truck. ill take pics of the rear.
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Cut the front bumpstop. you are most likely bottoming out. If you want to be sure put a bunch of grease on the top of it and drive it.,
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i really dont understand how the rear is lowered it has all the leafs, stock hangers and shackles. heres a pic sorry for how filthy it is its been raining and very cold. thanks im gonna cut the front rubber like you said,also gonna put clay to see if it bottoms out.
(http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/DSC01827.jpg)
(http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/DSC01823.jpg)
(http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/DSC01822.jpg)
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nevermind on the remove a leaf in the rear thing, looks like it's been done already. if not then they are lowered leafs in the rear.the shackle and all looks like stock.
i agree that the front bump stop is probably hitting on bumps. do as was said and put some grease on the top of it and drive it. if the grease is disturbed, cut some off the bump stop.
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ok gonna do as said. hopfully tomorrow, it sucks layin on concrete in 30 degree weather.
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nevermind on the remove a leaf in the rear thing, looks like it's been done already. if not then they are lowered leafs in the rear.the shackle and all looks like stock.
I would have to agree, the p.o. must have bought lowered springs, they do not look stock to me..
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No doubt the guys are correct on the bumpstop, when I lower one I cut the entire bumpstop pad off the lower a-arm. Man that bumpstop that's on there is huge.
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if no one caught it the rear end has been fliped probably drop spindels check exhaust & rear frame clerance
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if no one caught it the rear end has been fliped probably drop spindels check exhaust & rear frame clerance
how has the rearend been fliped? are the u bolts fliped?
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if no one caught it the rear end has been fliped probably drop spindels check exhaust & rear frame clerance
how has the rearend been fliped? are the u bolts fliped?
looks just like my and every other truck i've seen, not sure how it's been flipped? springs are still on top of the axle...
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If you want more travel cut the factory rear bump stop bracket off, and get an aftermarket bumpstop thats short. I had to do that when I flipped my rear end. It was like 1/2 inch of travel before I did that.
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What kind of motor is in this truck? sorry if i missed it . The front springs look fairly new . but they look like some big block springs that i have around here some where .
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the truck has an LSX motor, the springs are new just put them on 5 days ago. they are DJM springs.
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Can you push down on one of the front fenders . And tell me what happens. how much does it move
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heres a vid of pushing on the fender its real stiff because it has new springs and shocks
(http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/th_MOV01832.jpg) (http://s412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/lorenzochevelle/?action=view¤t=MOV01832.mp4)
dont seem to hit, but im still gonna put grease on the bump stop.
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I can almost guarantee you that bumpstop is hitting and hitting hard. There is not enough space for that thing. Here is a pic of my susp prior to blasting and painting, notice the bumpstop and pad are gone. This is because when you lower one it hits, the one you have is even bigger than stock.
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The rear on the truck is NOT flipped. Flipped would mean the axle is on top of the springs. It also doesn't look lowered to me in the rear at all.
based on your video, you are bottoming out the front, you need to cut the bumpstop "stand" off like rwhit57 shows in his picture.
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It looks like the bump stops are tapered like they are universal so you can cut them on the lines to make them fit
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yes they are universal and tappered. just havent got the chance to cut them its been raining for two days.