Rear spring modification
There is lots of talk on here about rear suspension, and lot's of ways to skin this cat. Here is my experience, maybe you want to try it maybe not. I am extremely happy with the results.
With the deplorable state of our highways, I was tired of getting beat to death just driving down the road with my TC. The harsh ride cracked my shower wall, and knocked the door off the bathroom. Not to mention the wear on my spine! It was so miserable to drive on rough roads, I considered giving up on my big Arctic Fox 1050. My truck had the tired out, original leafs, with the overloads mounted on top of them, and one 3/4" thick leaf under the main stack.
Then I started thinking, when a car is loaded with more passengers/cargo, it rides smoother, just floating over the bumps. Why should my 1 ton not ride better with all the weight of the camper? Looking closely, I saw that with the camper loaded, the frame brackets were sitting on the overloads. And the main stack of leafs was flexed down onto the 3/4" thick bottom leaf. I figured those short, thick leafs are way too stiff to provide a smooth ride. So I put in air bags, and pumped them way up to get the frame brackets way off of the overloads. But it still rode like a lumber wagon because those little bags with 100 psi in them were too stiff! So then I dropped the air pressure in the bags until the frame brackets were barely above the overloads. And the ride got smoother! Not good enough, but an improvement. On bigger bumps, the brackets would bang on the overloads and provide a harsh landing. So I decided my next step was to replace the old leaf springs with new leafs which I bought from RockAuto for about $300. When I had it apart, I took the 3 longest leafs out of the old springs, cleaned them up and re-arched them in my press, and installed them into the new springs. So the 3 longest leafs were doubled up. THen I threw the overloads and the bracket in the scrap pile, and installed my new, modified springs with NO overloads at all, also omitting the thick short leaf that was at the bottom of the main spring stack. The goal was to get the main leafs dialed in to support the weight on the longest leafs. Longer leafs have more give, and should provide a smoother ride. While I had it apart, I replaced the Dana 70 rear end with a Dana 80, which has much bigger brakes and a higher load capacity.
The result: unbelievable. Like night and day. I put about 10-30 pounds in the bags, just to level it out. It rides REALLY smooth for a 23 year old 1 ton dually! Plus it has much more braking power. I have driven it about 15000 miles this way, and it does sway more, but not bad. I have the sway bar that came with the axle to install yet, that should help. And the Bilstein shocks are way too soft to provide proper control. So I need to get something stiffer, with more control, but not so stiff as to ruin the ride.
All in all, I spent about $600, including all new brakes in the dana 80, new U-bolts, and factoring in what I sold the dana 70 for vs. what I paid for the 80, and having the driveshaft shortened. And I spent 2 weekends of some pretty hard, dirty work.
Well worth it in my opinion!
With the deplorable state of our highways, I was tired of getting beat to death just driving down the road with my TC. The harsh ride cracked my shower wall, and knocked the door off the bathroom. Not to mention the wear on my spine! It was so miserable to drive on rough roads, I considered giving up on my big Arctic Fox 1050. My truck had the tired out, original leafs, with the overloads mounted on top of them, and one 3/4" thick leaf under the main stack.
Then I started thinking, when a car is loaded with more passengers/cargo, it rides smoother, just floating over the bumps. Why should my 1 ton not ride better with all the weight of the camper? Looking closely, I saw that with the camper loaded, the frame brackets were sitting on the overloads. And the main stack of leafs was flexed down onto the 3/4" thick bottom leaf. I figured those short, thick leafs are way too stiff to provide a smooth ride. So I put in air bags, and pumped them way up to get the frame brackets way off of the overloads. But it still rode like a lumber wagon because those little bags with 100 psi in them were too stiff! So then I dropped the air pressure in the bags until the frame brackets were barely above the overloads. And the ride got smoother! Not good enough, but an improvement. On bigger bumps, the brackets would bang on the overloads and provide a harsh landing. So I decided my next step was to replace the old leaf springs with new leafs which I bought from RockAuto for about $300. When I had it apart, I took the 3 longest leafs out of the old springs, cleaned them up and re-arched them in my press, and installed them into the new springs. So the 3 longest leafs were doubled up. THen I threw the overloads and the bracket in the scrap pile, and installed my new, modified springs with NO overloads at all, also omitting the thick short leaf that was at the bottom of the main spring stack. The goal was to get the main leafs dialed in to support the weight on the longest leafs. Longer leafs have more give, and should provide a smoother ride. While I had it apart, I replaced the Dana 70 rear end with a Dana 80, which has much bigger brakes and a higher load capacity.
The result: unbelievable. Like night and day. I put about 10-30 pounds in the bags, just to level it out. It rides REALLY smooth for a 23 year old 1 ton dually! Plus it has much more braking power. I have driven it about 15000 miles this way, and it does sway more, but not bad. I have the sway bar that came with the axle to install yet, that should help. And the Bilstein shocks are way too soft to provide proper control. So I need to get something stiffer, with more control, but not so stiff as to ruin the ride.
All in all, I spent about $600, including all new brakes in the dana 80, new U-bolts, and factoring in what I sold the dana 70 for vs. what I paid for the 80, and having the driveshaft shortened. And I spent 2 weekends of some pretty hard, dirty work.
Well worth it in my opinion!
