Rides Rough, But Well? Is It Stock Or Not?

[yembo77]

Gentlemen,

 

I bought my SSS used from a guy who did a little to it. It had some headers, taylor wires, and some engine goodies, along with an aluminum drive shaft, aftermarket wheels, stripes, and grills. I don't know if he lowered the truck but it rides hard, but good? The dampening is good and the steering is smooth with no bump steer, but it's an almost uncomfortable ride! It throws you around and in particularly bad roads, it bumps so hard that it's hard not to hit the gas sensitive gas pedal, causing the truck to buck! I just want to calm it down. I've searched all over this forum for stock ride height, but get threads that just end. The tires are stock size on my truck, but Cooper's. Can you tell by looking at wheel well gap? I wouldn't be suprised if the previous owner cranked down the keys but then I still need to look at the rear to see if anything was done.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Matt

04 Silverado SS

95 Impala SS

93 Bonnie "Snow Commander" beater!

[misterp]

Looks like it has 2" drop spindles. Kinda looks like a McGaughy's Deluxe drop kit; I would see if the front leaf spring hangers have been changed, if so they will be bolted rather than riveted to the frame. The ride you describe, sounds like (1) you need to cut the front bumpstops down, and/or (2) you are using stock shocks up front and need to get shocks that have 2" shorter travel.

 

Mr. P.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Mr. P. (see edit history)

[yembo77]

Front leafs? You mean rear, correct? And I'll look for the bolts in the rear. Thanks for that identifier! And wow, you think it's spindles just from looking at the stance? Well ok, so are they stamped with McGaughy's anywhere? And if so, how can I soften the ride, just shocks? Did Chevy use Decarbon stock for the SS trucks, or were they defunkt by 2004?

 

Thanks!

-m

[misterp]

Front leafs? You mean rear, correct? And I'll look for the bolts in the rear. Thanks for that identifier! And wow, you think it's spindles just from looking at the stance? Well ok, so are they stamped with McGaughy's anywhere? And if so, how can I soften the ride, just shocks? Did Chevy use Decarbon stock for the SS trucks, or were they defunkt by 2004?

 

Thanks!

-m

No, I did not mean front leafs - I meant the hangers holding the front of the leaf springs to the frame (front leaf spring eye hangers); aftermarket ones are bolted, factory ones are riveted.

 

Aftermarket spindles are marked, they have casting numbers but you have to pull the brake rotor off to see them. Another way to know you have drop spindles is to measure the distance between the rubber CV boot and the upper ball joint retaining nut, factory there will be 2-3" of clearance there, the aftermarket ones will have less than 3/8".

 

If you do have aftermarket front spindles the first step is to modify the front rubber bumpstops, search for my post on drilling the front bumpstops.

 

Mr. P.

[yembo77]

Hah, I knew you didn't, but got the jist. And I'll definitely check the shackles and spindles to see what I got.

 

I'm searching for the rubber bump stop mod next.

 

Also, what shocks come standard? Are they firmer than a regular Silverado? I'm contemplating road tripping this truck across country and MUST soften out the ride before attempting this.

 

Thanks!,

Matt

[misterp]

Factory shocks are *crap* they're the cheapest offshore ones GM could find at time of manufacture. But the shocks aren't the problem, to prove it to yourself unbolt them from the truck and take a test drive, you'll see what I mean. If the truck is so harsh you don't want to drive it for any length of time I'm betting it's riding on the rubber bumpstops.

 

Mr. P.

[Tzer]

Also if it's bumping in the rear, check to see if the bumpstop has been trimmed and that the bracket that the rear bumpstop is bolted to has been removed.

 

The bracket is bolted to the frame then the bumpstop bolted to the bracket. You can remove that bracket then mount the bumpstop to the frame and gain over an inch more of travel in the rear.

[yembo77]

It feels like it has some travel, because if I hit some dips at a slow speed, like NYC driving, it really dips and rebounds well with good dampening, but then on just regular bumps and such, it's bangs and slams! It's simply overwhelming stiffness. I'm going to check out all of the bumpstops and snap some pics. I wonder too if I can see the spindle, or even feel for drop spindles with the wheels turned to full lock? I don't see why not. Regardless, it's needs pads and I'll surface the rotors while doing the job, so they'll be off the truck. Now to find time to tackle that!

 

Thanks for the info, fellas.

 

-Matt

[johnstownhotrodsinc]

It feels like it has some travel, because if I hit some dips at a slow speed, like NYC driving, it really dips and rebounds well with good dampening, but then on just regular bumps and such, it's bangs and slams! It's simply overwhelming stiffness. I'm going to check out all of the bumpstops and snap some pics. I wonder too if I can see the spindle, or even feel for drop spindles with the wheels turned to full lock? I don't see why not. Regardless, it's needs pads and I'll surface the rotors while doing the job, so they'll be off the truck. Now to find time to tackle that!

 

Thanks for the info, fellas.

 

-Matt

 

shouldnt you be able to see the spindle hanging below the rotor and not see any spindle on top of the rotor looking thru the wheels if its a dropped spindle? isnt that why it says 17" or larger wheels cause the bolt bolt hangs so low

[yembo77]

Well, with the spindle chat in mind, I took some pics! So what do we think? Drop spindles or not?

[yembo77]

No takers on my sweet photos? LOL Mr. P? According to your descriptions...these is some drop spindles! That's not 3 inches of clearance, Clarence.

 

-Matt

[pengintamer]

Looks like it has 2" drop spindles. Kinda looks like a McGaughy's Deluxe drop kit; I would see if the front leaf spring hangers have been changed, if so they will be bolted rather than riveted to the frame. The ride you describe, sounds like (1) you need to cut the front bumpstops down, and/or (2) you are using stock shocks up front and need to get shocks that have 2" shorter travel.

 

Mr. P.

 

correct me if I'm wrong, but with drop spindles the only thing that moves is the wheel bearing (up 2"). So no other suspension geometry changes, including the shock length. if the torsion keys get turned down then everything droops and the shock length changes. thats why spindels are way better. right?

[yembo77]

Right. Your geometry stays the same and the mounting points for tie-rods, control arms, etc. are all the same, but within the spindle, the bearing, and wheel along with it, is relocated higher up, causing the wheel to ride closer to the body. The only change is the angle of your axle shaft, unless the drop spindles are a drastic drop, which they're casted taller than the stock spindle height, and then the upper control arm angle might change.

 

Drop springs, smaller shocks, cranking down the torsion keys, ALL result in your car riding in a permanent compressed suspension position, which changes the geometry, and causes issues and premature wear.