Lift question

[Daytona#3895]

I have a 1987 k-10. This is my first lifted vehicle. I always had muscle cars. The truck has a 6" Superlift kit with 35x12.5x15 BFG All Terrains. It seems to be a good kit. I am not sure what kit it is though. It was on the truck when I bought it. There are no lift blocks, it is all spring. Rear springs have 7 leaf. 6 normal size leaf and 1 that looks like its 2 to 3 times thicker. It may be a helper. Its closest to the axle and its the shortest. The front has 6 leaf. I have the factory quad shock in front and the normal 1 shock per side in the rear. I also have dual stabilizers up front and a drop pitman arm. The sway bar is intact and lowered accordingly. I checked the entire front end as well as the rear. All is working properly and nothing is loose, worn or damaged. My question is, being its my first lifted truck, do they all ride like tanks? It is the worst riding vehicle I have ever been in! The suspension doesn't give or flex at all. Every little bump I hit, my head wants to bounce off the roof! Is this normal? I doubt if softer shocks would lessen the bouncing. The springs don't budge. For a daily driver, its a bit much and is taking all the fun out of driving it. Do I have to swap out for a more softer spring or is it just how it is?

[Irish_Alley]

different companies use different styles, there is a "softride" lift but its still not stock. while i have the rough country and it is in fact rough. but the softer a vehicle rides the more roll it will have when taking a corner. most will tell you that if you lift a truck you will lose the stock feel and i have to agree with that. this is why i have 2 trucks granted the smaller is a 94  with only a 4.3 so it rides softer and gets better mpgs

[ehjorten]

Spring quality and shape of the spring contribute to it.  Lift springs with a large arch will ride like crap.  Also, different manufacturers of springs make them differently.  The thick spring at the bottom of the pack is called an Add-a-Leaf.  It is essentially just a spacer for lift and does not contribute to the spring rate (unless you are really loaded down).  Spring length also has a lot to do with it.  Newer trucks have longer springs and you will see a lot about converting front springs to 56"ers and rears to 64"ers and the like.  That is because the longer springs give better articulation for off-roading and also give a better ride.  I would say that you probably have 52" springs in the back and too much spring rate all around.  If I was going to change something I would eventually put a 4" shackle flip in the rear and use stock 56" springs with an Add-a-Leaf and get some softer springs for the front.  Alcan Spring is a very good resource for getting the right spring for your application.  The quad shocks in the front probably aren't helping you either.  It depends on the amount of damping in the shocks.  You could have too much damping which will affect the ride.

These trucks do ride rougher than newer trucks.  I actually like that because that is just how a truck should feel in my opinion.  Not too rough like you are saying, but then I haven't riden in you truck to compare.

[Isaac3384]

The 'soft ride' springs typically have more springs that are not as thick. By 'quad shock', I'm assuming you mean there's 4 shocks in the front. If that's the case, take one out per side and see if it helps. I, personally, have never liked the multiple shock setup. It ruins the ride quality, unless the shocks you have are a 'soft ride' shock, which would be really easy to compress by hand in comparison to a 'stock' shock. If you had a shock with a compression ratio that was the same as your stock shock, then you double the amount of shocks, it will take twice as much weight to get the same ride quality. I've owned several lifted trucks, from ford to chevy to dodge, and they've all rode poorly, but they've looked great goin down the rode.

[bake74]

     One thing to check, if the po overtightened the suspension when putting it on, the shackles and springs would not be able to ride as designed or flex/move very easy.  Before buying a new suspension, check the torque on all the suspension parts.

[beastie_3]

check this out

http://coloradok5.com/springratetable.shtml

[Daytona#3895]

Thanks for all the helpful hints and ideas. It runs and drives, so it will stay for now. I have other minor repairs and adjustments to make before I tackle the suspension. It is quite harsh, but I do like the cornering aspects. Virtually no lean at all. And I don't think I have to worry about jamming one of the 35's up into a wheel well anytime soon either.

[jdl71]

If your used to driving muscle cars, then you would probably find even the stock ride "harsh". Solid axle, leaf sprung trucks will always be lumberwagons to an extent, nothing like the trucks of today. Even your TJ which is coil sprung would probably be a lot smoother than one of these trucks. Do you know anyone else that has a solid axle leaf sprung truck you could compare to? Not saying something's not wrong with yours, just offering my .02.

[Grim 82]

^ lumberwagon x2
To an extent, it's just the nature of the beast.  My pickup rides better with some weight in the bed and a boat hitched to it.

[Psycho71]

You can get some soft ride springs for the front, and eliminate one set of shocks up front. That'll help there. Then get a rear shackle flip kit for the rear, with extended shackles, and run a set of stock springs in the rear. That will keep your 6" lift and completely change the way it rides. It shouldn't hurt handling too much as long a you keep running the sway bar up front.

I am running a similar set-up on mine and while it does ride a bit harsher than a stock burb would, it does not ride like a hay wagon either. Mine even flexes OK for what it is too.