Lots of body roll...

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skyline223

skyline223

10 Year
Joined
Aug 31, 2015
Threads
11
Messages
103
Location
Memphis, TN
I have about a year of rolling my OME lift on my 80. After sorting through lots of driveline geometry fun, she runs smooth down the road and performs great on the trail. I'm left with one complaint: since I have installed the lift the truck has a crazy amount of body roll. Taking a sharp turn over 25 mph the thing literally feels like it is leaning sideways. Granted the problem was worsened with the addition of a roof rack and RTT.

What are my options to reduce body roll? Stiffer shocks? Swaybar modifications? Open to all suggestions. My lift was purchased through Man-a-fre. OME competition coils and drop brackets. Shocks are OME Nitrocharger that were included with the kit but not positive which ones. I usually hear people say that their truck handled better after an OME lift yet mine handles worse?

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I've driven quite a few lifted 80s over the years and never thought any had much body roll at all. At least compared to other lifted trucks I've had in the past. If I were you I'd make sure all your swaybar components are in good condtion. Check all bushings and the spherical joints on the front. Did you install rear swaybar drop? If everything looks good, might want to look into the whiteknuckle swaybars?
 
What are you comparing it to? Compared to a BMW daily driver? It is after all a lifted, HEAVY suv with a fair amount of weight up high. I had essentially the same setup for many years and never felt like it had too much body roll for the type of vehicle it was. Now compared to my Evo that would corner flat at 90mph, the Cruiser felt like a wallowing slug. But with that suspension its not exactly meant to be driven like a sports car, nor will it perform like one.

There are better suspension options. Adjustable shocks would help a lot since you could dial in the stiffness. Take a look at the Stage 4 CDC Icon shocks that come in the Slinky kits. I know I can comfortably go faster just about everywhere wince I got the Slinky suspension. It does handle very well for a big heavy SUV with very predictable behavior. There are also heavier sway bars. I would look at the Whiteline rear swaybar.

There's also the option of adjusting your driving style.
 
Box Rocket said:
What are you comparing it to? Compared to a BMW daily driver? It is after all a lifted, HEAVY suv with a fair amount of weight up high. I had essentially the same setup for many years and never felt like it had too much body roll for the type of vehicle it was. Now compared to my Evo that would corner flat at 90mph, the Cruiser felt like a wallowing slug. But with that suspension its not exactly meant to be driven like a sports car, nor will it perform like one.

There are better suspension options. Adjustable shocks would help a lot since you could dial in the stiffness. Take a look at the Stage 4 CDC Icon shocks that come in the Slinky kits. I know I can comfortably go faster just about everywhere wince I got the Slinky suspension. It does handle very well for a big heavy SUV with very predictable behavior. There are also heavier sway bars. I would look at the Whiteline rear swaybar.

There's also the option of adjusting your driving style.
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I am comparing it to how it handled pre-lift as well as my DD which is a Chevy Silverado 3/4 ton. The body roll is exponentially worse in comparison to those two benchmarks. Thank you for the recommendation on shocks and swaybars. The ICON shocks have been on my radar for a while, perhaps I'll take them into stronger consideration in wake of this issue.

My driving style has never been remotely aggressive or "sporty" - I'm OK with accepting the truck the way it is but if there are options to improve, I'll always be interested. To me, the amount of body roll has presented itself as a potential safety issue. I'm convinced that if I had to make a hard swerve to miss an animal above 30 mph I'd be in bad shape.
 
Corbet said:
Take off the RTT.

Springs too soft?
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Yeah.. I need to come up with a better rig to get the RTT off when it isn't being used. No doubt that would help.

I wonder about the springs sometimes. The comp springs seem to be a less popular options among mud members.
 
skyline223 said:
I am comparing it to how it handled pre-lift as well as my DD which is a Chevy Silverado 3/4 ton. The body roll is exponentially worse in comparison to those two benchmarks. Thank you for the recommendation on shocks and swaybars. The ICON shocks have been on my radar for a while, perhaps I'll take them into stronger consideration in wake of this issue.

My driving style has never been remotely aggressive or "sporty" - I'm OK with accepting the truck the way it is but if there are options to improve, I'll always be interested. To me, the amount of body roll has presented itself as a potential safety issue. I'm convinced that if I had to make a hard swerve to miss an animal above 30 mph I'd be in bad shape.
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Same here.
 
f
skyline223 said:
I am comparing it to how it handled pre-lift as well as my DD which is a Chevy Silverado 3/4 ton. The body roll is exponentially worse in comparison to those two benchmarks. Thank you for the recommendation on shocks and swaybars. The ICON shocks have been on my radar for a while, perhaps I'll take them into stronger consideration in wake of this issue.

My driving style has never been remotely aggressive or "sporty" - I'm OK with accepting the truck the way it is but if there are options to improve, I'll always be interested. To me, the amount of body roll has presented itself as a potential safety issue. I'm convinced that if I had to make a hard swerve to miss an animal above 30 mph I'd be in bad shape.
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Gotcha.
Well, there are definitely suspension components out there that will improve your situation. I'm a firm believer in matching the springs to the shocks and vice versa. When I had OME springs I ran OME shocks because they were engineered to work together. Now I have Slinky springs and I run the Slinky/Icon shocks because they were engineered to work together. There are a number of ways you can go. The Slinky stuff has been the best bolt in suspension for the 80 I've ever ridden in. Best performance of any aftermarket bolt on lift in all situations that I've experienced. Not saying that's you're only option but it's a good one.

It doesn't surprise me that it doesn't feel like your Chevy truck. That's because the Cruiser actually has a suspension that's moving. Every full size pickup (particularly the 3/4 ton and 1 ton versions) are very stiff. They are set up to handle the weight of towing and heavy loads. Doesn't surprise me a bit that there isn't much body roll in your truck when it's probably empty most of the time.

If you don't want a full suspension swap I'd at least look at the Whiteline sway bar. And take the tent off when you're not using it.
 
Too much body roll makes me wonder if the vehicle is overloaded for the springs chosen. Plus the shocks are supposed to handle a lot of that roll for you. The RTT and roof rack will make a BIG difference if you take those off when not needed.

I made a post about commonly overlooked suspension components, including the sway bar drop brackets front and rear. See here: Dobinsons suspension components breakdown for 80 series
 
For the record, I've got Slee's 4" springs, heavies in the rear. And his shocks w/remotes.

Still have plenty of body roll but much more predicable than the softer Ironman springs before.

It's a heavy truck with a high center of gravity. Body is going to lean hard in a corner regardless. But firmer springs will help.
 
I had the OME heavy lift on my 80 prior to my Slee 4" - the heavy was great even unloaded, winch & winch bumper as only load.

That RTT would make me go to the heavy coils immediately - that is weight in the worst possible spot.

I run Slee 4" heavy FR , Slee 4" heavy progressive RR now too - love it.

I do need to ditch the Nitrochargers yet, but my 80 just had the job description changed so another issue.
 
Thicker swaybars.
Proper coil springs for your truck's weight. You should not have excessive wallow or bottom out over medium/hard hits at speed. Knowing your trucks constant and loaded weight is good to know and also where it is distributed (front back high low).
Add more weight inside your truck.
Sliders and skidplating can offset the RTT and rack also.
Adding 200# above the roof means you would need a good amount of weight at or below the frame to counter that weight up top.

Oh and wheel spacers could help a tad too.
But, a nice set of Icon or Fox shocks with exterior tuneability so you can increase Low Speed Compression would do a lot.
 
skyline223 said:
I have about a year of rolling my OME lift on my 80. After sorting through lots of driveline geometry fun, she runs smooth down the road and performs great on the trail. I'm left with one complaint: since I have installed the lift the truck has a crazy amount of body roll. Taking a sharp turn over 25 mph the thing literally feels like it is leaning sideways. Granted the problem was worsened with the addition of a roof rack and RTT.

What are my options to reduce body roll? Stiffer shocks? Swaybar modifications? Open to all suggestions. My lift was purchased through Man-a-fre. OME competition coils and drop brackets. Shocks are OME Nitrocharger that were included with the kit but not positive which ones. I usually hear people say that their truck handled better after an OME lift yet mine handles worse?

View attachment 1424931
Click to expand...

I had the same issue and it turned out to be bad bushings on the sway bars, it was 110x better after that, also the previous owner put on OME Heavy Springs to handle the weight of the heavy bumpers. Standard lift springs seem to become sloppier the more stuff you add on. Consider heavy springs if you feel unsafe
 
If you like the way your suspension flexes on the trail but want to add roll stiffness, add thicker stability bars (and make sure you have good bushings) assuming such an option exists. Ensure that you keep the front stiffer than than rear to help fight the tendency for the rear end to swing around. Torsional stiffness increases with the diameter to the 4th power so a small few mm increase in diameter can make for a large increase in roll stiffness.

If the bars curl and twist around too many components to find a suitable replacement - or - If you find your vehicle bottoms out or otherwise feels like the springs are just too soft, then upgrade the springs and reassess. If still too much roll you might need slighter stiffer stability bars but not nearly as much as if you upgrade the bars alone.

Adding weight and widening the wheel track won't increase roll stiffness.

Frank
 
Stupid question; does it still have the swaybar(s) attached? I have the 3" OME medium lift and do not experience significant body roll.
 
I have been slowly but surely replacing a lot of the "little" things that make the truck drive nice and tight. Drop down brackets and new bushings for rear sway bar and end links, a couple control arm bushings, castor corrector bushing in front control arms, fabbed up some drop down blocks for the front sway bar, new sway bar bushings each time I made an install the ride got a little quieter and handled better, but nothing has helped BETTER than the new ball joint (tie rod ends) that I have installed so far, I recently did the two on the back side of the front, and it was like driving a new car again..mine worn out joints would rattle when I hit bumps and steering on the highway was crazy to say the least. I am installing the front today..after I take the torch to those little bastards..LOL I really don't have a ton of mechanical experience and didn't really suspect the tie rods were crap until I started replacing all the little stuff, I could grab the tie rod and move it back and forth with very little effort, they should be stiff if they are good( another assumption) , that may be giving you some of that roll or at least making it another issue worse. So..replace the tie rod ends..I bought them of SPECTER OFF ROAD for I think $100-ish, they look just like the original part and they are from japan very good quality. make sure to get a tie rod fork and have a 10lb maul on hand to take those bastards out, also the threads on mine were reversed on one side. hop that helps. later!
 
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