Frustrated with suuspension

[Sleeperc10]

Hello everyone, I have been trying to figure out my suspension. I have a Tuff country 2" lift kit. it has blocks in the back with lift springs in the front. I had a set of Rancho 9000's which were unbelievably stiff. The ride was less than pleasant. I took all the shocks off and went around the block, the truck rode super smooth but was bouncy front to back. i figured the bounciness was from having no shock absorbers. Thinking it was the shocks i ordered and installed a set of pro comp ES3000 shocks. So today i took it for a ride and it rode like it had the ranchos on it! Does anyone know what could make this thing ride so horrible?

[dieseldawg142]

what kind of truck, half, 3/4, or 1 ton? the rear blocks won't change your ride from stock, your front springs will though, might be h-d. how many leafs?
any lifted spring pack is never going to ride "cushy", or as good as stock.
i would try some Bilsteins, there a very good shock for the ride your looking for

[Sleeperc10]

Dieseldawg142, It is a half-ton truck and the front has two leafs in the front packs.

[Stocker]

I just Googled them and read quite a few reviews..... some good but also some that said they rode too stiff. One guy said it was like having steel rods for shocks, another said he's driven smoother riding tractors. Given that, and that yours rides smoothly with no shocks (but has the expected bouncing), I'd say you have the wrong shocks if you want a decent ride quality. Monroe Sensatracs always seem to mentioned when there's a discussion on smooth-riding shocks. Might be worth a try.

[Dunenutt]

Most off the shelf off road shocks will be a little stiff. They are designed to control off road terrain. Like said above, Monroes, Bilsteins, or even KYB's will be much softer, but marginal off road. If you want both street manners, and off road manners, try talking to Fox shock Co.

[vectorit]

I had the same springs on my 1970 k10 SWB, and I had Bilstein 5100 series shocks. It was a stiff ride, but I blamed the ride mostly on the SWB. To me it drove like a Jeep, bouncy front to back but like a bucking horse lol.

I liked the truck a lot, but blame my description mostly due to being spoiled with the ride of a 3/4 ton Suburban. Heavier, and longer wheel base. My Suburban by the way has the Procomp ES3000's, and they are border line too soft but I'm good as is with it.

On my DD Toyota 4x4 I run King coil overs up front, and Bilstein 5100's in the rear. Like the Fox shocks they are super systems that are designed for abuse off road, but handle extremely well on the street going through ruts and pot holes.

You may want to shop around with the made to order spring shops, and see about getting leaf packs built to your specifications. The cost is not all that more expensive than getting over the counter springs like what you have now.

[Dunenutt]

If you have deep pockets, and want it to ride like a Cadillac, check out Deaver spring.