BC847

Hey folks. Long read ahead . . .

My shock absorbers are worn out. The are the typical Monroe Gas-Matics with about 100k on them.
While I can't really complain about their performance, I've been thinking about ways to improve the ride quality comfort-wise. I initially had my heart set on some Bilstein's, but have found they no longer have any for the '93 with a stock lift. Per Bilstein's office over in Mooresville, NC, they build theirs application specific and only have '94 and up. . . .. poot!

So here I am.

I don't haul nor pull anything on a regular basis these days. Pretty much a 500' dash play truck. Perhaps a trail on a full moon but no mud-bogging catching air stuff.

With that I run CenterLine 16 x 10 Bullet rims with BFG LT305/70R16 All Terrain tires. They are mounted on the typical DANA70 rear and DANA60 front axles. They in turn support the truck with the original, regularly greased stock/OEM spring packs, shackles, and bushings. All dampened with the Monroe shocks mentioned above.

I want a smoother ride.

I know that's a tall order considering the heavy straight axles and all. But I'm thinking I can tighten things up with new rubber goods in the shackles and spring eyes. My current thinking is polyurethane, while surely providing a tighter connection, they also transmit more road noise, so for now they are out. I do have poly bushings in the front sway-bar though.
I'm seriously considering switching from the All Terrains type tire to one with a more traditional highway tread as we don't get enough snow here to warrant the extra road noise (having said that I expect we'll set a record shortly . . .. YEE-HAAA! ) Still well out to lunch on that though.

Which brings me to Shock Absorbers.

What brand/Model approaches the Bilstein's in quality ride and construction? I can't remember the name right off but seems I've read here that many ultimately toss the red and white ones after only a couple of years due to heavy corrosion and degradation of performance. I'm sorta stumped.


Here's your mission, should you decide to accept ~ Momma's running late for the church dinner. She's got a pot of bacon seasoned purple-hull peas she's gonna set on the front passengers seat. She's gonna drive 40 to 50 mph through some winding dirt and gravel roads with the last being two-lane blacktop. . . . . . . and she might'a hit "The Recipe" a little while in the kitchen.





Help me help her git to church without spilling those peas.


What kind of shocks? Brands? Model numbers?

Thanks,

David (BC)

haloman

Is there a shock absorber to fit those needs? It almost sounds like something air bags would be used for.

G1625S

Ding Ding Ding!!! Even a budget damper will be fine when you're riding on air


http://www.keldermanairride.com/category.php?id=21

BC847

While sweet, the air-bagged front and 4-link air-bagged rear is pushing $4500 and I don't know that an empty truck is gonna be enough weight to take full advantage of them. And it still doesn't say what kind of shocks I need.


Hmmm . . . . . .

G1625S

The rear setup is pretty off the wall, and the price reflects that, hehe. Here's my thoughts: Similar air bags can be had from your local Fleet Pride for about 45 smackers per unit. The front brackets don't look too hard to...ummm....replicate? Even if you spent the $$ to have a pro welder make the brackets, I willing to bet the price would be pretty reasonable. As for the rear, I plan to just get a Firestone/Ride-rite kit, which comes in around 200 clams. IMO, the trick to make this all work on a DD/play truck that doesn't see even close to GVW very often is to flip a bunch of the factory leaves over. For instance, flip 4 out of the 6 leaves up front and now the bag will be carrying all/most of the weight and yet the simplicity of axle location via the main leaf will be retained. I think if you look close at the pic on the Kelderman site, there are some flipped leaves on that front axle. Apply the same theory to the rear and I think you'd really have something. From what I've been able to gather, much of the harsh characteristics come from a short leaf pack. Look at a chevy and it seems the forward spring pearch for the rear axle starts under the cab! I guess a longer spring is smoother, or something Anyhoo, I think air springs would be a lot easier to dampen than what we've all got now, and I think the whole idea could be carried out for under a grand. It's in my plans...if I don't take a torch to the POS first!


edit: I forgot to mention that limiting straps would be a good idea and traction bars for the rear would be a must if more than one or two leaves were flipped---but we all want traction bars anyway, right?

wannadiesel

The Kelderman 2 stage setup for the rear is not near that expensive. I've ridden in a W250 with the full Kelderman setup and it's smoother than a stock 3rd gen.

Greg is right about flipping the front leaves, they flip half the leaves when they do the conversion.

EClancy

what does flipping leaves do? ive never heard of that

Raspy

BC847,

First thing is to duct tape a lid on that dinner pot! It is a 1st gen after all. As much as I loved my 1st gen I never was able to compliment it for smooth riding. And I did a lot of work trying to make it better.

There are two main problems with the 1st gen front suspension. First is not enough travel and second is too much friction between the leaves in the front springs.

If you get some new springs with plastic bushing between the leaves and with a little more arch, it will make a big difference. Get it up an inch or two for more travel. You can make a small difference by raising the bump stops to get another inch of travel. Then put on a set of Ranchos set on soft. Bilsteins might be the best for the front if you can find them. There's not a huge improvement available without going to a 3rd gen coil front setup. In other words, getting a different truck.

Tall and narrow radial tires without excessive air pressure also helps a lot.

Wetspirit

BC847

Thanks for the replies folks.

@ Wetspirit, short of getting new spring-packs, I have been greasing them to help keep them loose.

It's hard to make lemonade with eggs.

wannadiesel

The Kelderman front system uses the stock main leaves to locate the axles and support part of the load. An air bag on each side of the axle supports the majority of the load.

Flipping the bottom 3 leaves effectively removes them from the system without losing the thickness of the spring pack.

BC847

Well, after drilling down the available parts lists for a standard lift, '93 4x4 from the major manufacturers, it comes down to Rancho RSX1700's (Barring the OEM Monroe/KYO/Gabriel type).

We'll see.

Thanks folks.

KartRacer

I could be wrong, but I would think that flipping or removing leaves would cause axle wrap. To put more load on the air bags, you would be much better off fabbing up a good 4 link. Like others have said, the angles/heights need to be changed also. So good soft lift springs (2"-3")could be a good option with air bags to help with the loads. Either way, good shocks will round out the package.

-Steve

G1625S

yup
yupyupyup

Ace

Standby for my next project. I think I've come up with what I'm gonna bill as "Ace's Utimate Traction System." I'm not giving anything away just yet, but it will be heavy duty, bolt-on, non-binding, and should be very effective. And no Flash, it is not what we talked about. The only other clue I'm giving out is it is not "exactly" like anything else out there, but has some similar characteristics of the new designs I've seen lately.

That will be the last step before the big power mods go in.

ofcmarc

I've run the rancho rs5000s on a couple of first gens. Gas and Diesel. They smooth out the ride quite a bit but we are talking about a first gen. There prices were resonable and the bolt right on.