johnny5th Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 So i think i've decided that i wont be lowering my SSS. It's my daily driver, and i put a lot of miles on it, so any vibrating issues would really bother me. Lately I've noticed that my suspension has been a bit squirrelly. It seems that i feel every single bump in the road and everything in the truck just shakes. I've got around 55k miles now on it, and nothing on the suspension has been changed. Is it time for new shocks? Also, what mods have you guys done on stock height trucks? i've done a bunch of searching on sway bars and shocks and such, but most of the entries are about lowered trucks. Any help from you guys would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivierakid55 Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 So i think i've decided that i wont be lowering my SSS. It's my daily driver, and i put a lot of miles on it, so any vibrating issues would really bother me. Lately I've noticed that my suspension has been a bit squirrelly. It seems that i feel every single bump in the road and everything in the truck just shakes. I've got around 55k miles now on it, and nothing on the suspension has been changed. Is it time for new shocks? Also, what mods have you guys done on stock height trucks? i've done a bunch of searching on sway bars and shocks and such, but most of the entries are about lowered trucks. Any help from you guys would be great. sway bars are great. of all the things ive done to mine i think they were the best for the money. tightens the truck up a ton imo. shocks will definately help with that many miles. shocks and sway bars are available for stock height vehicles as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) Yup the Hotchkis kit is pretty good, not a race kit by any means but does a great job at bringing the factory understeer back to manageable, definitely worth the $450 if you do a lot of driving. Shocks, yes you can count on them being shot by 50K; search the posts, I thought somebody mentioned that bilsteins were on the market now??? And do the basics, check condition of front sway bar bushings & joints. You can probably take the truck to a tire/alignment shop and they'll give you a rundown on what's worn. Mr. P. ps - lowering, you can lower it a little and it won't drastically affect the truck - drop the front 1" via torsion bar adjustment and install 2" drop shackles in the back and it will look a whole lot better without seriously affecting ride or alignment. And it's cheap to do, and easy to undo. Edited March 27, 2007 by misterp (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowtie70SS Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 That's the exact same mileage that I replaced an inner tie rod at...they are notorious for going bad quickly. Also when I put my spindles on around 40k the ball joints seemed a little loose for that low of miles. A third thing is at 75K I replaced a hub bearing. I didn't even flinch when my 2nd trans gernaded....Oh well. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny5th Posted March 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 That's the exact same mileage that I replaced an inner tie rod at...they are notorious for going bad quickly. Also when I put my spindles on around 40k the ball joints seemed a little loose for that low of miles. A third thing is at 75K I replaced a hub bearing. I didn't even flinch when my 2nd trans gernaded....Oh well. Dave Hmm, ok that went way over my head. Note that 80% of my knowledge of cars came from reading this forum for the past 8 months Ok well i can swing about $800 on everything i need for suspension stuff. I think that its more important right now rather than power adders (would love a S/C... would hate to blow my tranny) Mr. P, i did read that article on the bilsteins and will look into getting a set of those. I'd really like to get some anti-sway bars also for the crazy roll i get when gassing through those sharp turns Now all i need is to find a decent place it have everything installed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny5th Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Just ordered those shocks and sway bars. tbyrne has the sway bars back ordered for 2 weeks so i need to wait for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josebrwn Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 the Hotchkis kit is pretty good, not a race kit by any means but does a great job at bringing the factory understeer back to manageable, definitely worth the $450 if you do a lot of driving Hotchkis Performance lists their sway bar kit at $580, is there a better deal out there? http://www.hotchkis.net/cgi-bin/EDCstore.p...;catalogno=2230 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivierakid55 Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Hotchkis Performance lists their sway bar kit at $580, is there a better deal out there? http://www.hotchkis.net/cgi-bin/EDCstore.p...;catalogno=2230 there was a group purchase from tbyrne last fall that saved quite a bit from that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_bnoon_SS Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Hotchkis Performance lists their sway bar kit at $580, is there a better deal out there? http://www.hotchkis.net/cgi-bin/EDCstore.p...;catalogno=2230 Addco bars from Summit are cheaper than that. ACO-2044 in black for the front and ACO-631G for the rear in gold is what I got. I think they're still out of the gold rear bars as they were on a clearance special here a few weeks ago. ACO-631 for the black one. Each of them are $149.88 plus shipping. I also got Rancho 9 position adjustable shocks all around. RAN-RS99198 rear and RAN-RS99265 front. I installed the shocks and sways this weekend and they simply transformed the truck into an Indy car compared to what it was before. For some people, they aren't going to like the shocks at full stiff like I do, so you may want to run them about half way or so. The best part is that you can twist up the number on the shock to firm them back up as the shocks wear out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavydigger Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 (edited) its seems to me taht your problem lies therin within the stock suspension components your truck has 55k i asume its 03 awd its ganna ride poop no matter what so might as well lower it ranchos should be in a box faar away from any ss Edited April 4, 2007 by heavydigger (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_bnoon_SS Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 ranchos should be in a box faar away from any ss I SOOOO totally disagree!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavydigger Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 I SOOOO totally disagree!!! ranchos 9000s are overpriced and they are designed for offroad use i dont understand why they would be on a ss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobradh77 Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 I never understoood the sway bar thing. I mean I want to go fast staright. I didn't buy my truck to be an indy car and have no intentions on taking turns/corners at high rates of speed so whats the point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 (edited) I never understoood the sway bar thing. I mean I want to go fast staright. I didn't buy my truck to be an indy car and have no intentions on taking turns/corners at high rates of speed so whats the point? They're not for everybody - after riding with you I agree you wouldn't get much use out of the sway bars. The only thing that noticed in everyday driving is that after you are half-way into a corner you won't need to continue 'feeding' more wheel to make the truck hold it's lane position through the corner (i.e. reduced understeer). Adding sway bars also adds a good 25-lbs (estimate) so you won't want to do that unless you are a hard driver or drive windy roads while carrying lots of tonnage. Myself, I like taking the freeway cloverleafs at 50 Mr. P. Edited April 5, 2007 by misterp (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_bnoon_SS Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 ranchos 9000s are overpriced and they are designed for offroad use i dont understand why they would be on a ss They are cheaper than the Koni's, which are the only other adjustable valving sport shock that Summit carries. The Rancho's are an adjustable bound/rebound shock designed for the truck at stock ride height and has nothing to do with off-road suspension setup. They offer easy adjustment without removal, or even jacking the truck up. They kick ass. They're not for everybody - after riding with you I agree you wouldn't get much use out of the sway bars. The only thing that noticed in everyday driving is that after you are half-way into a corner you won't need to continue 'feeding' more wheel to make the truck hold it's lane position through the corner (i.e. reduced understeer). Adding sway bars also adds a good 25-lbs (estimate) so you won't want to do that unless you are a hard driver or drive windy roads while carrying lots of tonnage. Myself, I like taking the freeway cloverleafs at 50 Mr. P. 50 eh? Lightfoot! I didn't buy this truck to corner carve either, but now that I know it can, I'm doing it!!! Rear sway bar and adjustable shocks transformed the SSS from drunk whale handling to a capable corner carver. Going above this handling level will require the jump to a custom 4 link (that I do plan to do someday). That reminds me, time for a project update over on http://www.pro-touring.com/ for my truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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