Newer springs, bouncy ride

[essar5]

Hey all. I installed new 2" lift Alcans springs 4 months ago and also picked up new OME light/medium shocks for front and rear. The ride is bouncy enough to make people car sick when sitting up front. My first thoughts are the shackle angle is almost vertical so maybe I need shorter shackles, nope, they are stock length!
I figured the only other alternative is to move the spring hangers back some to allow for a better shackle angle. I decided to email Alcan with pictures of my shackles to see if they could suggest anything less drastic. They replied and said that Bilstein shocks are what they would recommend for their springs. The springs they made for me are exactly like stock, just 2" of lift added in, same amount and thickness of leaves throughout.
If this is actually a shock issue, which Bilsteins would you recommend? Would you agree that these shackle angles look good for new springs? Alcan thinks they are. Sorry for the bad phone pics.

 

[robustbambi]

I just ordered some bilstein 5125s but i havent installed them yet. 5125s only come in an (eye,eye) type configuration (look like your ome rear shocks). So youll need to also get 2 stud adapters so that you can fit the shocks up front, which needs a (post,eye) shock. not a big job at all, but i think they cost $20-$50 each for the adapters.

If i were you, i would skip over the bilsteins and look at the ironman foam cell shocks. Those are what i have currently and i LOVE them, the only reason im getting rid of them is because they are too short for the extra lift i just added. I think i saw cruisercorp had them for like $80-90 each, but i may be wrong. You WONT need any adapter for the fronts either since they were actually made for our trucks. They are a firmer shock, which i like because my truck is also my daily driver.

And your shackle angle looks fine. its not a 45 degree angle but neither are most of the trucks on here, i know mine aren't.

Good luck.

 

[essar5]

Thanks for the info, I will look into the Ironman shocks. Does it seem likely that the OME light/medium shocks are to blame for the bounce? Seems hard to believe that they would be this bad but I'm not much of a suspension guru either.

 

[90FJ]

Robust, sell him your old shocks?

 

[robustbambi]

Thanks for the info, I will look into the Ironman shocks. Does it seem likely that the OME light/medium shocks are to blame for the bounce? Seems hard to believe that they would be this bad but I'm not much of a suspension guru either.

If the OME shocks arent bad, maybe your occupants just aren't used to leaf springs bumpy ride? Kids perhaps?

 

[essar5]

Nope, no kids. Everyone notices the bounce, me included. Even get comments about it when I pull in off the street. I never got the carsick thing until last weekend when the wife looked green on a 2 hour drive and I was getting the nausea towards the end. It's pretty much out of control as it is, thought it might improve over time but it hasn't.

 

[klinetime574]

Shackle angle looks okay to me.

What tire pressure are you running? Any extra weight in the vehicle?

Take it offroad. Flex it out.

 

[essar5]

Running 35 psi up front and 30 in the rear. I only carry about 100 lbs of gear on trips. One road I went up last month was so crazy I split my stock rear bumper up the middle since it is acting as the rear crossmember right now. Lots of off-camber flexing up there.

 

[essar5]

This weekend I think I will pull the shocks off and look them over. Maybe do a neighborhood test run without them to see what that feels like in comparison. Almost tempted to buy some low end shocks from Autozone to compare. Any way to rule out the tires without mounting new ones? It was never bouncy with the old worn out stock springs though. Is there some way to install shocks wrong? Seems really straight forward to me...

 

[klinetime574]

All shocks have different ratings.

A weaker one would provide no damping, a robust one would make your back hurt, and the perfect shock won't even make you think about it. Nitrocharger shocks are used with their "heavy" suspension to be used with loads. Front bumper, rear bumper, sliders, roof rack, lots of gear, etc.

If the shocks Alcan recommends are Bilstein I wouldn't go buying a cheap pair of autozone shocks.

The way I think about it: OME springs = OME shocks, Alcan recommends Bilstein = Bilstein shocks

 

[90FJ]

those shackle angles look steep, get a stiffer shock or a new truck... these aren't Cadillacs.

 

[Joe_E]

Are your shackles too tight?
If they are tight and don't swivel on frame or spring freely it will cause major bouncing regardless of shocks.

 

[essar5]

Are your shackles too tight?
If they are tight and don't swivel on frame or spring freely it will cause major bouncing regardless of shocks.

I wish they were, that would be a quick fix. Thanks for the tip.

 

[lcwizard]

Running 35 psi up front and 30 in the rear. I only carry about 100 lbs of gear on trips. One road I went up last month was so crazy I split my stock rear bumper up the middle since it is acting as the rear crossmember right now. Lots of off-camber flexing up there.

That's a good way to rip the body mounts off.
When you say bouncy I think Jack in the Box bouncing up and down, swaying
side to side because the springs are way to soft and under damped.
Is bouncy in this situation too soft or too stiff and unyielding?

 

[lcwizard]

How many leaves in the front pack?

 

[essar5]

That's a good way to rip the body mounts off.
When you say bouncy I think Jack in the Box bouncing up and down, swaying
side to side because the springs are way to soft and under damped.
Is bouncy in this situation too soft or too stiff and unyielding?

It is the Jack in the box bounce, up and down. It is stiff, unyielding and doesn't travel more than an inch or 2 during the bounce sessions. No body roll to speak of since I got the sway bar back on.

It is a stockish leaf pack with 5 up front and six in the rear, counting overload leaves.

 

[elmariachi]

What you are describing does not sound like a "stock spring just 2" taller." I will almost bet that the spring rates on your new springs are mucho higher than OEM. Couple a really stiff spring with too soft of a shock and you get the bounce. If its all new equipment then its either that or insane tire pressures or both. I suggest you get the exact rates for those springs and then speak to ARB in Seattle and determine if they match the OME shocks. Springs and shocks both need the right ratings to work together properly, brand ' matter really. Word of caution, adding a stiffer shock to those springs might dampen the bounce, but you could be left with a very stiff ride.

 

[lovetoski]

What size tires are you using? If stock, then I think recommended tire pressure is 28 or so in the front.

Also, please add a pic of the front springs. One option might be to remove one leaf.

 

[essar5]

What you are describing does not sound like a "stock spring just 2" taller." I will almost bet that the spring rates on your new springs are mucho higher than OEM. Couple a really stiff spring with too soft of a shock and you get the bounce. If its all new equipment then its either that or insane tire pressures or both. I suggest you get the exact rates for those springs and then speak to ARB in Seattle and determine if they match the OME shocks. Springs and shocks both need the right ratings to work together properly, brand ' matter really. Word of caution, adding a stiffer shock to those springs might dampen the bounce, but you could be left with a very stiff ride.

Correct. Bill at Alcan warned me that these would be close to stock though a little stiffer. I don't know the exact spring rate that was built into them but I am going to find out if possible.
I do understand now that the shocks I picked are not a good match for these springs. I will just have to quit denying that and do something about it.

What size tires are you using? If stock, then I think recommended tire pressure is 28 or so in the front.

Also, please add a pic of the front springs. One option might be to remove one leaf.

Tires are 31x10.5. Dropping the pressure does help some but I dislike the feel of the lower pressure on the street and the Armstrong steering really starts to suck when you are squeezing into parking spots.
I have thought about pulling a leaf out but I just can't get excited about that idea. I wouldn't mind swapping a leaf or two though if I had some extra leaves lying around but I doubt that my current shocks would be up for that either.

Pardon the long U Bolts...I still need to pick out some shims and stuff them in then cut the bolts down.

 

[essar5]

Here's something I didn't know until yesterday. I was looking over my shackles and noticed that there was a difference in the thickness of the plates. After seeing that I decided I would swap them front to rear. After seeing how much wear was on the thicker plates from the bushings (it removed the CAD plating and was working on the metal beneath) I started to get optimistic. Bushings still looked new.
Drove it to work this morning and there is a nice difference in ride quality. I might still look into getting some Bilsteins but right now I am thinking these are going to work fine once the springs work themselves in some more. What was happening was once torqued down to spec they were just too tight and didn't allow the shackle much movement due to all that friction, grease or no grease.

I have SOR Tri-shackles, the fronts are 3 1/4" and the rears are 3 1/2". I knew I should have put the longer ones in the rear and thought I did. I wasn't going to swap them for a 1/4" difference but glad I noticed the difference in thickness on the plates.