Sulastic Springs

[FishOnOne]

Wondering if anyone has any experience with these springs?

Link

[Groover]

"Can you quantity how much wallow? "

While I too would like to see an answer to this question I have to ask "Do you have a way of measuring wallow?" and "Under what load conditions?"

I fear that even if were measured most of us would have a hard time relating a number to our driving experience. Also, a high CG load like a slide-in camper or a load of firewood is going to cause a lot more issues than a low CG load like weight on a trailer ball or a load of gravel. I would think that if body roll is a non-issue for your load and the way you drive then the Sulastic springs won't hurt you too much. If you are getting noticeable roll now I think that it will definitely be increased with Sulastic springs.

Keep in mind that roll is caused by torque about the roll center of the vehicle. Roll center is pretty much the height where the leaf springs attach to the truck, generally near the bottom of the bed. The farther your load is above that point, the more roll that it is going to cause. I suspect that some of the issues with the old GM trucks with coil springs was that the panhard arm was attached to the frame lower than the leaf springs were and maybe had too soft of bushings on the panhard arm.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

FishOnOne wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

carringb wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
I personally would never put these things on my truck. I don't want the feeling of a wallowing whale when I drive. Too big of a trade-off for "me".

When we would circle track race the rules would not allow solid bushings in the spring eyes and A arm ends. So to get rid of the bloated whale feeling we would drive a handful of 8 penny nails into the bushings. :B Man did that help things! Set several track records with that setup. :B

They do not cause any wallowing. At all.

Sorry, but ANY rubber mount flexes. Anytime you have flex you have wallow. There's a reason performance application use metal or Delrin in bushings or mounts.

Can you quantity how much wallow?

Nope, other than to say the more load you have the worse it gets. Had a coil wish bone half ton once and if you put a 1/2 a cord of wet wood in the back it was ugly. A leaf spring of the same year would handle WAY better because they didn't have a ton of rubber in the wish bone bushings. Ever hear of the G body shuffle? Some of that is because of all the rubber they have in the control arms.

Also the longer you stretch things out the worse it gets. Long shackles and stuff like that are bad.

Do what you want. "I" would never run these things on my truck. But then again, I don't have to, I have a Chevy with IFS. :B

[Redwoodcamper]

I would like to see some measurable results on how much it improves the ride. A side by side video or two at least. I've built rock crawlers with hiem joint rear shackles for maximum flex and they drove down the road ok. I understand the need for rigid bushings, especially in steering parts. My wife's wrx that I autocross I run very stiff suspension bushings and subframe connectors. But I wouldn't worry at all about the flex of these in my one ton. The steering alone has so little feel and the 35 in tires take away any precision or feel. Body roll isn't uncontrollable as long as it's predictable.

[FishOnOne]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

carringb wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
I personally would never put these things on my truck. I don't want the feeling of a wallowing whale when I drive. Too big of a trade-off for "me".

When we would circle track race the rules would not allow solid bushings in the spring eyes and A arm ends. So to get rid of the bloated whale feeling we would drive a handful of 8 penny nails into the bushings. :B Man did that help things! Set several track records with that setup. :B

They do not cause any wallowing. At all.

Sorry, but ANY rubber mount flexes. Anytime you have flex you have wallow. There's a reason performance application use metal or Delrin in bushings or mounts.

Can you quantity how much wallow?

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

carringb wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
I personally would never put these things on my truck. I don't want the feeling of a wallowing whale when I drive. Too big of a trade-off for "me".

When we would circle track race the rules would not allow solid bushings in the spring eyes and A arm ends. So to get rid of the bloated whale feeling we would drive a handful of 8 penny nails into the bushings. :B Man did that help things! Set several track records with that setup. :B

They do not cause any wallowing. At all.

Sorry, but ANY rubber mount flexes. Anytime you have flex you have wallow. There's a reason performance application use metal or Delrin in bushings or mounts.

[carringb]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
I personally would never put these things on my truck. I don't want the feeling of a wallowing whale when I drive. Too big of a trade-off for "me".

When we would circle track race the rules would not allow solid bushings in the spring eyes and A arm ends. So to get rid of the bloated whale feeling we would drive a handful of 8 penny nails into the bushings. :B Man did that help things! Set several track records with that setup. :B

They do not cause any wallowing. At all.

[transamz9]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
You can. But then if the track bar is solid it will transfer a bunch of shock to the cab again.

Then you also still have roll problems. Then you can get a anti-roll bar; but those things really stiffen up things.................and on it goes.

There is a reason Cadillac's have rubber mounts for everything and race cars have solid mounts for everything. They are pretty much at opposite ends of the ruler when it comes to ride quality and pretty much at opposite ends of the ruler when it comes to handling.

Pick your poison.

My track bar don't any shock to my cab.......

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

You can. But then if the track bar is solid it will transfer a bunch of shock to the cab again.

Then you also still have roll problems. Then you can get a anti-roll bar; but those things really stiffen up things.................and on it goes.

There is a reason Cadillac's have rubber mounts for everything and race cars have solid mounts for everything. They are pretty much at opposite ends of the ruler when it comes to ride quality and pretty much at opposite ends of the ruler when it comes to handling.

Pick your poison.

[transamz9]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
I personally would never put these things on my truck. I don't want the feeling of a wallowing whale when I drive. Too big of a trade-off for "me".

When we would circle track race the rules would not allow solid bushings in the spring eyes and A arm ends. So to get rid of the bloated whale feeling we would drive a handful of 8 penny nails into the bushings. :B Man did that help things! Set several track records with that setup. :B

One could install a track bar to take care of the slop.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

I personally would never put these things on my truck. I don't want the feeling of a wallowing whale when I drive. Too big of a trade-off for "me".

When we would circle track race the rules would not allow solid bushings in the spring eyes and A arm ends. So to get rid of the bloated whale feeling we would drive a handful of 8 penny nails into the bushings. :B Man did that help things! Set several track records with that setup. :B

[Cummins12V98]

^^^^^^^^^^^^ HA, I noticed the exact same thing it looks like there is plenty of side to side movement.

[transamz9]

It looks like a pretty good product. The one thing that I would be concerned with is that towards the end of the video where he had the spring full screen you can see side to side flex. I would think that the truck would feel a little loose especially loaded heavy with an RV on it. I guess you could add a pan hard bar to stabilize it.

[WTP-GC]

I researched these a few years ago for my older TV. Decided not to get them due to reading a significant number of negative reviews. I can overlook some minor complaints, but I can't overlook someone who says their shackle flipped over because of a rough road condition, causing the vehicle to become Immediately immobilized. If I recall correctly, there were multiple reviews along the same lines. Perhaps they've improved the product now...??

[FishOnOne]

carringb wrote:
Yup. Works as advertised. Just beware they are designed to reduce harshness. They are not intended to make the springs rate softer and more plush.

I am due for a new set, after ~8 years. Just like rubber torsion axles, the load bearing material eventually fatigues. It can't come apart, but they end up just sitting on the travel stop and act like a regular shackle. I do plan on emailing them to see if they'll warranty it.

As a side benefit, they are much stronger than the OEM shackles. Some of heavy camper vans eventually tear up the stock shackles. The Sulastics have about 5x the steel mass of the stock shackles.

Thanks for the feedback Bryan