please someone shed some light on what could be wrong with my suspension!

[lechez71]

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

[beastie_3]

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?

[lechez71]

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

[beastie_3]

I dont have a 2wd, just throwing ideas out. Other members will respond too.

[Irish_Alley]

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

[4x4orbust]

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. 

[Irish_Alley]

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.

[VileZambonie]

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...

[lechez71]

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_

[lechez71]

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?

[lechez71]

i think the wheel bearings are good because the tires have no play in them.

[lechez71]

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.

[VileZambonie]

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?

[lechez71]

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

[Irish_Alley]

Rust will kill a shackle. Try bouncing on each corner so maybe you can hear noise