Should I Change The Rear Leaf Springs
After driving 3000+ miles on vacation with my new suspension setup I am getting some "wandering" and although not excessive it does tend for me to work at keeping the truck easier to drive. I never really noticed the problem before with my other camper which was about the same weight and even higher. I rebuilt the front end, upper and lower shafts/bushings, idler/pitman arm, sway bushings and realigned by a very reputable shop..one I used to work at owned by my best friend!. I added a Rancho steering stabilizer, Rancho 9000's on all four corners, Firestone air bags with on-board controller, Hellwig rear swaybar. I have the Rancho's set 7 front-9 rear. 40 PSI in the bags fully loaded and the whole rig is very level. I notice, however, that the truck and camper lean to the left (driver's side) and the suspension is loaded more on that side (measured 1 1/4" difference in height from side to side at spring perch to frame) and the camper is loaded equally. There is almost a full tank of fuel in the saddle tank (20 gals.=160lbs+-) but I don't really think it should make that much difference in ride height. I never really noticed this before. I took the camper off last nite to work on changing the cab cushions and am contemplating throwing another set of springs underneath it. There is a '71 GMC C-30 in the local yard with a nice set of springs. I was going to cut those off of the wreck, minus the top overload leaf and bolt those on my truck. I used to have Hellwig constant-rate overloads on it before and it drove like a cement truck without a load! It was bone-jarring to say the least. That is why I put on the bags and took the OL's off. My truck has 7 leaves, 2 1/2" wide and the wreck has 6 but they are thicker. Carrying the weight is no problem now but it seems to "wobbly" to me. I know with that rear swar bar on it once it leans a bit it wants to go straight right away! Any suggestions?
|