I really have never messed with anything like this before. I've only had s-10s and c-10's . i know nothing about ackerman and bump steer and drag links an r rods to tell you the truth. I'm covering my license plate in that pic. The guy i bought it from said he added a extra leaf to raise the front a little. Maybe I should pull it?
Rear bounce and body wobble
- Thread starter Tyus
- Start date
I really have never messed with anything like this before. I've only had s-10s and c-10's . i know nothing about ackerman and bump steer and drag links an r rods to tell you the truth. I'm covering my license plate in that pic. The guy i bought it from said he added a extra leaf to raise the front a little. Maybe I should pull it?
Haha,, trying to do a little bit of everything at once. Yes covering license plate
Corley
New Member
That bounce on the rear MAY also be partly because of flat spots on the tires. If they are older, the materials used tend to flat easily, and most markedly in colder weather. Even some newer tires can get some pretty nasty flat spots when it sits. If it turns out to be a really bad problem, just take the weight off of them whenever it sits for a few days and see if that helps. Front suspension looks way too stiffly sprung, like Gerry says. Typically, with radious rods you won't see too much travel in the suspension since both wheels try to go up and down at the same time due to axle twist (caster) induced on bumps. (The axle is really a big sway bar.) Still, this spring looks way stiff. Nice looking ride though...
Sometimes the arc is such that you have to compress the longest leaf to get the tiebolt to reach through all the leaves to get the nut started. You can accomplish this with a couple of c-clamps. You may want to look into filling in the space where the leaf or leaves have been removed with a steel spacer. The spacers will lessen the amount of drop you get from removing them. If you suspect flat spots from setting, you might try airing the tires up pretty tight and driving enough to work it out. Any driving should help. If you can separate the spring and remove the leaves without taking it off the shackles it might save you some wrestling. After unbolting from the spring perch, jack the frame up letting the axle and spring seperate from the perch. From here you should be able to loosen the tie bolt, might want to put a c-clamp on here, and remove the leaf. If you put a spacer back, it should be wider than the spring perch bolts to help keep it in place.
good luck,
Ted Brown
Member
Well I would say your tires are probably your #1 problem, First, take the shocks off both ends and stand in the middle of your car, bounce with your body weight to try and get the whole body to move up and down, if it does not do this about 1 1/2" then take leaves out of the springs until you get the whole car to bounce even, both the front and rear, if one end moves more than the other, take another leaf out of the stiff end, keep this up till you get a good baby buggy effect... Now hook the shocks back up... I also see that you have the front shocks mounted in front of the axle, they should be mounted behind the axle, I see you have a bracket tying the upper and lower front radius together, that is a perfect place to bolt another bracket to hold the lower shock pin... You will have to build a bracket to hold the top of the shock now that it is back farther, it will ride a ton nicer this way... I once bought a set of Mickey T;s rear tires, they almost shook my car apart, they got so flat when sitting, and my car was not heavy enough to flatten them out... So I took them back and that's when i got the tires I have still, they work GREAT! in every way, ride, traction, you name it they work super...
The rear has coil spring set up not leafs
one finger john
Active Member
Now you tell us.
Sorry, it says on the first page
Is there a recommended spring rate that people use as a rule of thumb on these?
Any info on this?
Allen
Member
Suspension page go to---------[ cheap coil overs ] you will see it?!!! and RPM.
putz
Member
You don't need to take the eyes loose that is the hardest part getting those back in. Put frame on jack stands with front tires just off ground with floor jack hold the front axle so it will not drop holding a little up pressure on axle. Remove the ubolts lower jack and remove the center bolt holding the leaf pack together and remove leafs then reinstall the center bolt. and ubolts.Hope this helps.
Keeper
Active Member
Don't feel overwhelmed. I went through the same thing when I joined up, though I did not have a working bucket to work with.
Start with one thing, then move on. If you try a bunch of things at once, you will never figure out what is working and what is not.
First thing I would recommend, is to take a deep breath, step back and do a through inspection of your vehicle. Check all the bolts, joints, welds, tires, rims, king pins, bearings. Then make a list of things you see that need immediate attention over those that can hold off a bit.
Who knows, you could find a loose bolt or bearing that is causing all your problems.
I have thrown tons of money at problems, only to find out that if I would have looked a bit deeper first I could have saved a ton of money with a small fix.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that there is a HUGE amount of talent and knowledge available on this board. Ask lots of questions!!
Start with one thing, then move on. If you try a bunch of things at once, you will never figure out what is working and what is not.
First thing I would recommend, is to take a deep breath, step back and do a through inspection of your vehicle. Check all the bolts, joints, welds, tires, rims, king pins, bearings. Then make a list of things you see that need immediate attention over those that can hold off a bit.
Who knows, you could find a loose bolt or bearing that is causing all your problems.
I have thrown tons of money at problems, only to find out that if I would have looked a bit deeper first I could have saved a ton of money with a small fix.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that there is a HUGE amount of talent and knowledge available on this board. Ask lots of questions!!
I appreciate all the help.
Im going to pull a front leaf tomorrow and unhook rear shocks to see how stiff the rear coils are and go from there.
When you take the spring apart, clamp the top leaf on each isde of the center bolt. Remove the center bolt and replace it with a longer bolt, (I use a length of all-thread and wing nuts). Then back the clamps off and finially the center bolt. To install just reverse the procedure. Sometimes there isn't much tension on the stack but they usually there is. The stack should be around 5" or so relaxed. Please be carefull.
Ron
Ron
Ok I ripped everything apart and pulled a leaf. Surprisingly it only took about 15 minutes. I was waiting for that one thing that was going to be a problem but it never happened. The suspension actually has some nice flex to it and it rides 1000X smoother than it did before. It seems like it contained the bounce a little along with the death wobble but didn't stop it though. I also pulled the rear shocks and they are both shot. I took both off and pushed them together and they didn't move. My question is , shock mounts are 16" on center. and the shocks that were on there were 12" collapsed and 19" open. What should I get for new shocks? Front shocks seemed to be fine. Thanks again.
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