Will Stable Loads help my set up?
I have air bags and on board compressor as well as the Energy Suspension extended bump stops for my 981. The bump stops engage sooner but seem pretty soft so I'm not sure if they're helping much. When...
Forum Discussion
The simple answer is yes. The expanded answer is:
I'm not a fan of air bags because they have too much rebound for me. I have a set of Firestones that have been in the garage for 6 years. You can have them.
What I am a fan of is old fashioned spring steel: dumb old leaf springs and, if needed, Stable Loads. Almost no rebound or recoil which you get out of air bags and coil springs if not majorly supported with shocking. Most leaf spring trucks have a thick, stiff lower overload spring that is the last resort to bottoming out. Many 350's and 3500's have one or two upper secondaries (upper overloads) which are graduated when depressed to take some of the load off of the main spring pack. The Stable Loads simply make the upper secondaries come into play sooner with less squat as a result. My 2500 came with upper secondaries in a Camper Package and A friend offered his 1 ton secondaries and I added that set of uppers to the mix after some experimentation. Dumb old leaf springs and the combination of extra secondaries and Stable Loads has made my suspension very,... well,.. stable. Almost re-bound free. Of course I have the usual other accoutrements of adjustable shocks and a factory anti-sway bar, which help marginally.
Truck springs are always a compromise. You want a 'good' ride quality when running light (unloaded), and the sheer heft ability to carry some heavy loads when needed. So, this requires a set of springs that are (i hate to use the word) progressive. The rate changes as you add weight.
I just ordered a pair of add-a-leaves to go on the bottom of the spring pack. This may be gilding the lilly, but I'm always up for suspension experimentation, which I've done on Jeeps/Land Cruisers/IH's and trucks for decades. So until they come and I install them, here is the current setup. Warning! Old leaf springs are kind of like sausage making: you don't want watch. The rusty orange hue is from the soda and salt on our trip over the Mojave Road a year ago. Yes, i did pressure wash the underparts when we got home, but this stuff is really caustic/rustic. And, YES, we're doing the trip again, only in reverse, in a couple weeks. After taking these pix a couple days ago, i crawled back under there and unloaded a can of WD-40 on all those rusty looking parts. An overview:
So, what exactly are we looking at? From the spring perch up we have:
stock 4" lift block
a 7/8" thick factory bottom overload spring
an 1/16" shim
3 main leaves
a 1" spacer block
a thicker 500 pound rated upper secondary (my original 2500 secondary)
2 thinner, together 500 pound rated secondaries from a Dodge 3500
The new add-a-leaves will go directly above the 1/8" shim on the bottom of the main pack. Something you don't see is the centering bolt. It's 18" long and goes through the entire spring pack, bottom to top. This ear Dodge uses one centering bolt, whereas the '03 and newer use two centering bolts, which is a good idea. The newer Dodge springs also lose the 4" lift block (which only adds to axle wrap anyway)
Where's the Stable Load? the rear most is that black blob in the pic below: notice the 1/2" air space before they come in contact with the upper secondaries:
The business end of last resort on the overload. You can see by the imprint the suspension does not bottom out very much. Some Chevys use this lower overload spring and replace that rubber stop with a thicker angled block and call it good.
Even people without upper secondaries on their truck can go to a junk yard and grind off some brackets from a 3500, take the upper secondary springs and blocks and do a homemade 3500 suspension. The holes are in the frame already for this purpose, even if you do not have secondaries.
Just a little grist for your suspension mill.
regards, as always, jefe
I'm not a fan of air bags because they have too much rebound for me. I have a set of Firestones that have been in the garage for 6 years. You can have them.
What I am a fan of is old fashioned spring steel: dumb old leaf springs and, if needed, Stable Loads. Almost no rebound or recoil which you get out of air bags and coil springs if not majorly supported with shocking. Most leaf spring trucks have a thick, stiff lower overload spring that is the last resort to bottoming out. Many 350's and 3500's have one or two upper secondaries (upper overloads) which are graduated when depressed to take some of the load off of the main spring pack. The Stable Loads simply make the upper secondaries come into play sooner with less squat as a result. My 2500 came with upper secondaries in a Camper Package and A friend offered his 1 ton secondaries and I added that set of uppers to the mix after some experimentation. Dumb old leaf springs and the combination of extra secondaries and Stable Loads has made my suspension very,... well,.. stable. Almost re-bound free. Of course I have the usual other accoutrements of adjustable shocks and a factory anti-sway bar, which help marginally.
Truck springs are always a compromise. You want a 'good' ride quality when running light (unloaded), and the sheer heft ability to carry some heavy loads when needed. So, this requires a set of springs that are (i hate to use the word) progressive. The rate changes as you add weight.
I just ordered a pair of add-a-leaves to go on the bottom of the spring pack. This may be gilding the lilly, but I'm always up for suspension experimentation, which I've done on Jeeps/Land Cruisers/IH's and trucks for decades. So until they come and I install them, here is the current setup. Warning! Old leaf springs are kind of like sausage making: you don't want watch. The rusty orange hue is from the soda and salt on our trip over the Mojave Road a year ago. Yes, i did pressure wash the underparts when we got home, but this stuff is really caustic/rustic. And, YES, we're doing the trip again, only in reverse, in a couple weeks. After taking these pix a couple days ago, i crawled back under there and unloaded a can of WD-40 on all those rusty looking parts. An overview:
So, what exactly are we looking at? From the spring perch up we have:
stock 4" lift block
a 7/8" thick factory bottom overload spring
an 1/16" shim
3 main leaves
a 1" spacer block
a thicker 500 pound rated upper secondary (my original 2500 secondary)
2 thinner, together 500 pound rated secondaries from a Dodge 3500
The new add-a-leaves will go directly above the 1/8" shim on the bottom of the main pack. Something you don't see is the centering bolt. It's 18" long and goes through the entire spring pack, bottom to top. This ear Dodge uses one centering bolt, whereas the '03 and newer use two centering bolts, which is a good idea. The newer Dodge springs also lose the 4" lift block (which only adds to axle wrap anyway)
Where's the Stable Load? the rear most is that black blob in the pic below: notice the 1/2" air space before they come in contact with the upper secondaries:
The business end of last resort on the overload. You can see by the imprint the suspension does not bottom out very much. Some Chevys use this lower overload spring and replace that rubber stop with a thicker angled block and call it good.
Even people without upper secondaries on their truck can go to a junk yard and grind off some brackets from a 3500, take the upper secondary springs and blocks and do a homemade 3500 suspension. The holes are in the frame already for this purpose, even if you do not have secondaries.
Just a little grist for your suspension mill.
regards, as always, jefe
