Bilsteins on order!

[NapaBavarian]

had to go down 3 pages to find this one... but the shocks are on the living room floor at the moment, 42* outside, 72* inside, they'll be on the floor for a bit

 

[hheynow]

42* outside, 72* inside, they'll be on the floor for a bit

Ain't this weather lousy? Remember front blue boot down and rear blue boot up. Enjoy!

 

[NapaBavarian]

I'd be enjoyin it a good bit better if I had my diesel cherokee built and running on WVO, but that is next summers project, as $$$ comes in 'cuz I'd be in the sieras snowboarding

 

[NapaBavarian]

On and tested funny, now she stays in her own lane! the ride isn't cushey soft, but not harsh either, the roads in napa county are bad, and the road home is one of the worst so the truck does a bit of rocking over the constant bumps, not as harsh as before, but when the road gets worse the ride dosn't, the sections that were killing me at 20-30mph are quite smooth now, and small to moderate potholes are far less noticable steering turn in is a bit quicker and more precice, even with the truck in need of a new front end

Overall I'd say it isn't as nice as I'd like, but for a truck it is :draw :draw copacetic...

 

[The Warden]

funny, now she stays in her own lane! <snip> steering turn in is a bit quicker and more precice, even with the truck in need of a new front end

How do shocks affect the steering? Or did you also replace a steering stabilizer shock that someone added aftermarket?

Hmm...wondering if the old (they were on there when I got the truck) shocks might have anything to do with my steering wandering?

 

[NapaBavarian]

Basically less body roll and movement, with old junk shocks the body moves arround more and that affects the way that the tires contact the ground, it changes the load on the tires, a big problem mid corner, and when the tires don't sit square and firmly on the ground unplesant things happen.

On a rough corner the bigger issue is having the tires bounce off the the ground, or even bounce up and reduce the weight transmited to the ground, even for a fraction of a second, means the other tire needs to hold the entire front end in place, if you are a conservative driver you may never notice it, however if you drive at a slightly brisk pace (not even fast, just not slow) on the same road every day and are very aware of the way the truck moves then it is easy to spot.

With the tires constantly and solidly on the ground one smooth steering movement takes you all the way through the corner, with bad suspension constant corections are needed to keep the truck on your line through the corner(For those not familiar with the term "line" in this context it refers to the imaginary line that you choose to follow through the corner before you enter the corner, not the lane markings)

The rear axle was the bigger issue, and get this, last set of shocks were gas in the front and hydro in the rear, ***??? The rear axle was hoping off the ground, even with several hundred pounds in the back, the rear of the truck would then reposition its self several inches to the outside of the corner so the front end of the truck was pointed in a new direction and requires repositioning to compensate, rear end movement has a significant impact on the handeling of the vehicle.

I'm not sure if that clears things up or confuses them more I basically took what I learned making my BMW 325is fast and applied it to the truck.

 

[NapaBavarian]

Just reread your post, shocks are probably not the cause of the wandering while driving straight, I would guess allignment or worn steering components.

 

[The Warden]

FWIW, my steering wandering is still present after replacing the steering gearbox, the wheel bearings, and both outer tie rod ends and having had the truck aligned twice. The shop that aligned the truck and did the tie rod ends said that the rest of the front suspension looked good. From the best I can tell, I don't have any play in the steering column (I know that the slip joint in the lower steering shaft can be a problem, but it looks tight on my truck)...so I'm out of ideas at this point. My front springs are worn enough that the front wheels have a fair amount of negative camber; would that have anything to do with it? I might also have gotten a bad rebuild on the gearbox...not sure either way, though.

*sigh*

 

[OkieGringo]

Have you tried to replace the rag joint or universal joint on the end of the steering column shaft? That helped mine A LOT. OkieGringo

 

[NapaBavarian]

I would expect negative camber to make it handle better, does the back end of the truck sit higher or lower than the front? With the truck at a stop and the engine running how much play is there in the steering wheel?

 

[yARIC008]

About the shocks. There are some big bumps around here, a few you have to do like.. 45 mph over and it makes you feel like you're on a roller coaster, you get like half a second of free fall feeling over them. When i put on bilsteins, it almost completely eleminated that. Now the tires and truck stick to the ground. I was really suprised in how much it helped. I got the heavy duty shocks in the rear and the normal ones for upfront, if i did it again i would have went all heavy duty.

But just getting the normal ones on was more than a chore. Those things are TUFF to get compressed to get on the truck. I had to jack up the frame so the suspension hung as low as it could, then take another jack to help squeeze the shock the little bit of the way it had to compress to get on.

 

[hheynow]

...so I'm out of ideas at this point.

Does your truck have a track arm? Mine does and the track are bushings were toast. New poly bushings from Energy Suspension made a world of difference. Now it tracks straight. BUT, if you have other front end issues ...solve them first.

 

[NapaBavarian]

I jacked the front up by the crossmember and set jackstands under the frame, the fronts just fit and needed to be alligned with a drift, the rear I jacked up by the trailer hitch and then had to lift the rear axle an inch because the springs were drooping too much.

 

[The Warden]

Have you tried to replace the rag joint or universal joint on the end of the steering column shaft? That helped mine A LOT.

Yes, I replaced mine...it helped quite a bit, but there's quite a bit left. Forgot to mention that...that was actually the first thing I changed. Before the rag joint got changed, the play was BAD...

I would expect negative camber to make it handle better, does the back end of the truck sit higher or lower than the front? With the truck at a stop and the engine running how much play is there in the steering wheel?

I think the rear of the truck sits slightly lower than the front, but it's almost level. I haven't tried checking steering wheel play with the engine running, but with it not, I think there's 2" or so of play (and more with the power steering pump playing a role).

Does your truck have a track arm? Mine does and the track are bushings were toast. New poly bushings from Energy Suspension made a world of difference. Now it tracks straight. BUT, if you have other front end issues ...solve them first.

I don't think I have a track arm...what exactly is it, again? I'm thinking you're referring to the arms that go aft from the axle to the frame (which I always thought were called radius arms)...and my truck does not have those; the U-bolts holding the springs to the axle keep the axle from moving back.

In case you couldn't tell, my knowledge on front suspension is very limited...

 

[NapaBavarian]

I've noticed that trucks that sit lower in the rear are a bit looser handeling, not sure if it is coincidence or possibly the change in caster angle.

That seems like a lot of play, I'll check mine tomorrow.