A Hard ride

[Steve H]

Hi. Don't know if this is in the right section so please move it if not. I have fitted the Roughtrax springs and shocks to my Colorado as it has just passed 225k miles and thought it was getting a bit tired. Also changed because one of the Milner rear springs snapped on me when towing my caravan. My question is should the ride be so hard? The back end crashes over bumps and shakes the back door almost. The springs are supposed to be uprated Suplex jobbies but Roughtrax didn't say by how much. The back end now also seems to self steer so thinking need new bushes in the arms and panhard rod too. Would this be contributing to the ride at all? Any thoughts or advice gratefully accepted. Truck is my daily driver so want to get this sorted asap. I did think about taking it off and fitting Pedders to it but the springs and shocks were only fitted in March this year. I persevered with it thinking it might settle down a bit and the original suspension was tired and sagging.

 

[Shayne]

If the back end self steers you need to get the bushes replaced and then have the tracking done before even thinking about suspension . I have Pedders uprated for towing in the rear and +2" hd sport in the front which makes for a hard ride in my swb - but i like it . I put Monroe +2" from roughtrax on the mrs truck and its boringly comfortable .

 

[Steve H]

Hi Shayne. I am going to get the bushes done as its a weird feeling when cornering and the back end seems to want to go straight on. That's what I meant by self steering. MOT due at the end of the month so going to be busy. Although I have been underneath with a pry bar and cant get much movement from any of the bushes on the axle. Any way I have a poly bush kit on order so when it gets here will get started on it. Once that's done will see how it rides then. Resisting a lift kit at the moment though it would stop tyres rubbing on full lock

 

[Shayne]

Hi Steve if its comfort you want i would steer clear of heavy duty unless you have genuine reason to need it . To my mind Helen's truck only looks lifted when its next to something similar like a freelander or something .

 

[Steve H]

That's the problem I face. I tow a caravan at least once a month and don't want the back end too low or bottoming out. The Roughtrax kit I've fitted bottoms out even over small speed bumps without the van on the back. The milner springs were good but did give a harsh ride but these are even worse. I will get underneath and see how much clearance there is between the bump stops and the axle then try and find the measurements for a standard set up.

 

[Shayne]

Think i would drop the drawbar onto a bathroom scale to get the weight and then call pedders . It will help tremendously if you do this when the mrs is out

 

[Beau]

I kinda had the same problem as you at one point. Milner springs (unrated ones) was what I got. They were a stiffer ride but a little more firm and didn't bottom out when towing. However, I found they got week very easily over time and soon became very OEM like.

So if I had to chose again in a situation like yours. I would invest in some heavy duty air bag helpers, keeping either the OEM springs or a slightly unrated one in place. This means when you tow you simply pressure the airbags to make the back end slightly firmer. When unladen you release the airbag pressure for a softer ride. If you have a search, you'll see that many kits are available. Down side - cost of some of these kits can be expensive.

 

[Steve H]

Hi Beau. Glad you didn't suffer too much damage in the hurricane. Yes I did think a while ago about just buying OEM springs and fitting air bags but I needed the new ones quickly as we were going away in the van. I will be doing the rear axle and panhard rod bushes first to sort out the handling and will take it from there. Thanks again for the suggestions guys.
I will let you know how I get on

 

[Shayne]

Take a look at the van as well Steve the tongue weight can very easily be altered to put it way out of spec.

 

[Steve H]

Will do Shayne. Just need to get a set of scales first!!