Are different shocks the answer?

[stanski]

My 74 Jimmy is lowered with drop spindles and rear shackle mod. It rides on 8" wheels and thin tires with almost zero sidewalls. As one would expect the ride is effected by the condition of the road surface as there in minimal cushioning provided by the tires. My concern is when you hit a sharp bump it feels like the dash and steering wheel are going to come apart just like the front suspension bottomed out. I'm thinking the shocks may be the problem, too stiff for this application.
Any advice from anyone with the same problem and did you solve it with different shocks? What brand?

[Warrens69GMC]

Have you trimmed the bump stops or put smaller bump stops on?

[mongocanfly]

(thin tires with almost zero sidewalls.)

don't know if anything can overcome this...
unless like warren pointed out something is hitting when bottoming out

[sweetk30]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

(thin tires with almost zero sidewalls.)

don't know if anything can overcome this...
unless like warren pointed out something is hitting when bottoming out

x2 on this . sidewall = ride quality .

short = crap ride
taller = best ride

[Dead Parrot]

If you can, have someone shoot a video when you go over one of those bumps. Should be able to see how much the suspension is moving. Put some slow dry paint on the bump stops before the experiment. If it shows up where the stops hit on full compression, then you are bottoming out.

[stanski]

Thanks all. Figure I'll have to live with the ride quality provided by the tires. I am going to check the bump stops for the hell of it.

[sweetk30]

put a thin film of grease on the bump stops . if they hit the grease will now be on the bump stop pad . easy way to help tell if your to close .

[75C10]

I am going to guess the upper shock bushings have seen better days and now there is metal to metal contact resulting in noise and rough ride. Look at the upper shock bushings and maybe consider new shocks.

[SCOTI]

While 'low profile' tires do exaggerate the feel/quality of the road surface vs taller tires, there are many Z28's/Mustang GT's/Vettes/BMW's out there w/short sidewalls that ride pretty decent. I'm betting it's a travel related issue that compounds the issues of the shorter sidewall.

Figure out the bump-stop situation first (front & rear). You need to know how much travel you have & what will interfere first. Bump-stops can be trimmed or replaced w/shorter ones but doing so will require the stop to be stiffer so it won't absorb impacts like a taller OE unit might.

Once you know travel dimensions, you can start working through items toward a solution w/o just throwing money @ it & hoping "that was it". There is no magic answer w/o doing some investigation on your end.

[mongocanfly]

Make sure the shocks arnt bottoming out as well..

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Make sure the shocks arnt bottoming out as well..

I should have included this statement in my post.....