73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Brakes, Frame, Steering & Suspension => Topic started by: cccp907 on February 08, 2014, 11:03:13 pm
-
Hey guys, I have a 87 Silverado, that i inherited from my grandpa. He told me a while back, that he switched the leaf springs to either 2500 or 3500 once. He had a plow in the front and in the rear. Truck came from Alaska.
Now i read about people having dual shocks in the front, and they are to bouncy!!!!
Is that true????
My truck is bouncy as it is.
If i but dual all the way around, will it benefit at all?
I want a little smoother.
Any info would be great. thanks
-
1500s and 2500s use the same springs (size) what’s different is the amount of springs in the pack. you could take a spring out it may soften the ride. shocks i don’t see making it bouncy they are shock absorbers and the bounce is either from springs being too stiff or bad shocks. i would lean to springs being too stiff
-
ok sounds good. i dont mind the bouncy.
Now what would you recommend for springs? Bilstein or Skyjacker or anything else?
I work for Firestone, so i get great deals.
And what do you think of dual steering stabilizers?
Thanks for your info.
-
are you lifting it? if not just remove a leave and see what it does
-
no not lifting. keeping it stock.
I really dont want to remove anything.
Its memory of my grandpa, just want to improve it a little.
-
if you remove a leafe or two you will be returning it back to 1500 rating. it will be the same thing if you get new springs
-
What shocks are you running now? Getting the right shock whether nitrogen or hydraulic can really make a huge difference. Changing shocks is a whole lot easier than changing springs. If your extremely not pleased with your springs you can go to a positive front arch spring. I know you mentioned no lift but with a positive arch spring you might be able to limit lift to about 2 inches. With all that said if your current spring eye bushings and shackle bushings are seized and your spring are rusted together you will be forever fighting a poor ride.
-
Now i read about people having dual shocks in the front, and they are to bouncy!!!!
Is that true????
My truck is bouncy as it is.
If i but dual all the way around, will it benefit at all?
I want a little smoother.
Any info would be great. thanks
You will need to think about the shocks responsibility on your vehicle. A shocks main purpose on a vehicle to to aid or assist the spring. It does this by means of dampening and rebound.
A vehicle shocks were determined by the manufacturing to give the best ride available. With advancements in shocks, there has become a tuning ability to shocks. Most shock manufactures started making tunable shocks when the racing and off road world got big. Shocks now can even have different dampening and rebound rates to match a particular driving style.
I have run dual shocks on some of my rock crawlers and some of my friends desert racers. The real reason we ran them was at the time shocks were not able to have different dampening and rebound rates, so we ran duals so we could adjust 1 for each. Now, with the technology the way it is the only real reason to run dual shocks would be for looks, or in the extreme world of ruff racing where you needed more tuneability than what the shocks of today can offer.
Unless of course you plan on jumping your truck. :o
-
FYI There are 2 types of springs for 1/2T Trucks, with the following measurements:
52" STD springs (measured across the spring arc) with a 26" measurement from the bolt to rear eye
56" HD springs (measured across the spring arc) with a 30" measurement from the bolt to rear eye
In addition to the differences in the spring length, the HD trucks have the rear hanger moved back accordingly.
3/4T and 1T trucks had 56" HD springs only.