Forum Discussion

Area13's avatar
Area13
Explorer
Mar 01, 2014

So installed my new Upper bump stops, question...

I haven't had my camper on it yet, but when I take my next trip what's a good place to start as far as distance between my overloads touching my new bumps? Should they be just touching, buried a little into them or not quite touching? I have airbags to adjust as needed. I have about 15-20 PSI in them right now.

Also, I replaced all 4 upper bumps with energy 2 1/2" bump stops. The bumps closest to the cab (front ones) are only about an 1- 1 1/2 from touching now and the rears are about 2- 2 1/2". I'm thinking once I load up, my fronts will be touching and the rears won't? Anyway, thanks for any input.
  • My Stable Loads clearance is about 1/2 inch rr, and 1/4" frnt. above the secondaries when the truck is empty. A little bump is O.K. A big bump and it is jarring. With the camper on and loaded the 3 secondaries settle right on the Sta. Lds. and settle all the springs a bit, but not close to bottoming out on the lower overload spring. Tomorrow I'll put the add-a-leaf at the bottom of the main spring pack and see where everything lands. I'm ready to trim the Sta. Lds. if necessary.
    In your case, do some experimenting. You want the better unloaded ride you get with the stock springs and no secondaries or air bags in play (of course with a minimum inflation), but the rather even load distribution on all the leaf springs you get with the TC on. It sounds to me like your upper secondaries will take less of the load than the main spring pack than they should with that 1-1/2 inch gap at unloaded. If you inflate the air bags to level the ride you may lift the upper over loads right out of the picture, negating the less-rebounding ride you get with an even load on all the springs and not a lot of air in the air bags. You will find out soon enough.
    Every single rig has it's own 'quality' of spring sets, even among the same make and model. Yes, i think some incremental experimentation is in your future
    Here's the 'before' on my rear suspension:

    That black block is the rr Stable Load with about 1/2" clearance.

    Here is the frnt. dr. side Sta. Ld. with about 1/4" clearance.

    regards, as always, jefe
  • If the stops are a little above the spring, there is a little slap I can feel. Engaged provides immediate support and IMO, provides the best anti jello ride.
  • OK, thanks for the replies. I'll try my next trip with the bumps engaged a little.
  • We have similar pickups. I like it better when my upper overload spring are in play. The rig just rides better. My Fox may be a little heavier so I run a larger higher load rated tire but the rest of the pickup sounds the same. I think I am around 35-40 psi in the bags with the camper on loaded.

    Dan
  • Yes, they should engage the springs a little to have more points of stability. Front + rear + airbags instead of just airbags.
  • So set the bags so the bumps are touching at all times?
  • I think that sounds pretty good and close to what I remember about mine. (I just recently traded trucks.) I believe the rears will be touching. Your Snowriver is probably at least as heavy as my Host and your truck springs are probably the same as mine was.