Ride and handling are two different parameters, but since they are somewhat interconnected and controlled by some of the same parts we'll talk about them both.
For the purpose of this discussion I'd like to start by defining "Ride" as the way the vehicle performs over bumps in the road while driving straight ahead. The ride can range from luxury soft like floating over the bumps to very harsh where even the smallest bump causes you teeth to clatter. I'll define "Handling" as the way the vehicle performs around turns and to quick movements of the steering wheel like in changing lanes. We'll also touch on reaction to accelleration and decelleration in handling. Handling can range from poor, where the vehicle is in danger of rolling over or darts all over the road without steering input, to excellent where you hardly need to slow down to make a corner or where you can practically just think about making a manuever and the vehicle does it.
As with anything in life there are choices and comprimises to be made, so you must first analyse how your truck will be driven the majority of the time and what type of ride and handling is most important to you. You would suspend a truck differently for off road rock crawling, high speed boulevard cruising, tight quick manuevering, or even show tricks like dropping it in the weeds when parked or lowrider type jumping contests. What is optimal for one specific use may likely mean that it won't be ideal for another. It's give and take.
The suspension and steering system controls both the ride and handling and can be divided into "design": the type and geometry of the system, and "components": the parts that make up the system.
In this discussion, I'll only briefly touch on design since one is usually locked into a particular design once the truck is up and rolling. If there is enough interest we can do another topic separate from this one comparing the positives and negatives of the various designs. I will primarily concentrate on the components since they are relatively easy to change and in a hot rod we are combining components from various sources that were not necessarily designed as a system, and thats where we can make or break the ride and/or handling of our trucks. I will only mention design where there is a difference in the result of changing certain components or parameters, or where design can be adjusted or corrected.
To start you must first understand and accept that the suspension and steering combine into a SYSTEM and as such each part affects the all the other parts; that is for every action (change of a part) there will be a reaction (positive or negative affect on the ride and/or handling). It is not something that can be decided or changed in isolation like the engine, transmission, seats or paint color.
Next we will get into the components. first the suspension, the parts that keep us from hitting the roof with our heads on every bump, then we'll get into the steering, where design will be brought up in some do's and don'ts, common mistakes rodders make or why beam axles are hated so. Then finally adjustments you can make such as alignment and wheels/tires.
Stay tuned and be prepared to join in with questions and sharing your own experiences and knowlege.

 

This is interesting, please post the discussions at the top of the forum if you can so they will allways be easy to find.

 

If it interests enough of us, Rodney, it will stay up top of its own accord. Sounds like we might want to take notes. academically, himmelberg

 

Frank,

really good topic and one where I need a boat load of education... 'course I'm locked into the Mustang II with power rack... but I'm sure you can enlighten me on how to tune it for optimum pleasure... I'm ready to be edumacated. I DO enough to know what I don't know... so that's a start

john

 

Sounds good. I look forward to the discussions. jvmcc

 

I'm probably like John. Half of what I think I know is probably untrue. I know many of my previous suspension part purchases have NOT delivered the desired result.

I think we are on to something good here lately. Let someone knopwledgeable lecture for a day or two, then fire away with the questions. Seems like a more efficient way to learn.

And I thought AX's name is Chuck? Is it Frank? If so, sorry about that.

 

Great topic! As a rookie, I need all the learnin' I can get to make myself useful.

 

right on target. serve us the good stuff.

 

I'm one of those people with a last name that's also a first name: Chuck Frank. I answer to both or most anything else...
DMAN I wrote up a good portion of discussion on springs and the computer just ate it!
Stay tuned I'll be back with more info shortly.

 

I think there's another complicating factor when it comes to the 53-56 F100's (and possibly others) - From what I've heard and seen, the frame of the F100 was designed to flex as part of the chassis. Many of the modifications made to these frames aren't taking this into account.

 

I'm dyslexic... I knew it was Chuck but switched it inbetween my head and fingers...

sorry

nhoj

 

I do believe your on the right track here. These ol Trucks were designed and built the way they are for a specific reason, and before we go and "Improve" on Henery's perfection we need to understand why things work the way the do.
By the way, The way the engines mount does have an effect on the handeling and the ride, its all tied together

 

The major component in a suspension system is the springs, so we'll start there.
The springs serve several functions: first they keep the oil pan and gas tank from dragging on the ground, second they provide controlled give to moderate the shock of sudden changes in the road surface, third they make the occupants of the vehicle more comfortable and better able to control the vehicle. We tend to only consider one spring as suspending each corner of the vehicle, and that's primarily true when talking about the ride, but there are two other "springs" that come into play to a lesser degree but are still important for handling, the mis-named "bump stops" and the tires. We'll talk about each of those later under tuning. Springs can be of various designs: multi and mono leaf, coil, torsion bar, airbag etc. but they all serve the same purpose to provide a point of easy give between changes in height of the pavement and the chassis and then return to it's original position to be ready to do it again. In a perfectly flat world with paving contractors more concerned with the smoothness of the roads than in providing themselves with perpetual work we wouldn't need springs. The at rest position of the spring is called it's preloaded position or length. The distance up or down from that position that it still capable of doing it's job is called it's working range, and the stiffness is measured by how much additional weight is required to move it's at rest position 1 inch. The unit is #/in. but racers and spring manufacturers will shorten it to just #. When you hear someone refering to a spring as being a 400# spring, they mean it takes an additional 400# of load to move the at rest position of the spring 1 inch. Most single element spring stiffness is linear thru it's working range, but multi-element or specially designed springs can be made that are progressively stiffer as they move towards the extremes of their workng range. The multi-leaf spring is the most commonly used progressive rate spring.
It's pretty intuitive that a softer spring will provide a softer ride. The problems start when we modify or adapt suspension systems or springs from other lighter vehicles that cannot or does not support the new load at its designed preloaded position, and quickly runs out of working range over bumps. This spring bind or bottoming out effectively removes the spring from the suspension system resulting in a very unpleasant sudden jar to the occupant/cargo and potential damage to other parts of the vehicle as well as loss of control. Never try to LOWER your truck by using softer springs, cutting coils, or adjusting the preload on a torsion bar setup. The one exception is in the case of the OEM leaf springs on our trucks. They are true progressive springs and are designed to support not only the truck's weight, but also the possible cargo load of an extra 1/2, 3/4, or 1 ton in the bed without bottoming out. If the most you will ever be carrying is a couple of lawnchairs and a cooler full of beer, you can safely remove every other leaf or so to reduce the spring's stiffness at the extremes of the working range without appreciably reducing it's at rest position. Don't go overboard and try to lower the truck by removing so many leaves that they start to bow upwards, it will bottom out and/or break the spring very quickly.
Note: no matter what the manufacturers try to say otherwise, a tapered monoleaf spring is NOT a progressive design! They may look "trick" but are not designed under sound principles of spring physics.

 

I have a 1949 F-3 turn to F-1 ,with a 86 chevy frame splice in . the truck drive like sports car, turns ,holds the road ,its a dream to drive. till I hit a hole in the road. so are my spings to soft. on the back roads with all the turns its blast to ride and at high speed...

 

Take a look under a stock 86 Chevy. What is the angle of the lower control arm relative to the ground? Is yours the same? If yours squats more, then your springs are likely too soft. Did you remove the rubber bump stops during the installation? What shocks are you using?
We'll be talking about shocks next...