For a general trail offroad vehicle, what do you all prefer?

say you have the option of an additional 3'' of super stuff suspension or 3'' of travel with softer suspension? Messing with my rear spring packs I've given myself these two options, I can't figure out which one I prefer.

It's a LWB truck. It sits pretty high stock anyways. I'll easily fit 33s without any chance of bottoming them out either way (I still gain about 2'' or so with the softer leaves)

this is for general offroading, dunno if I'll go through a mud puddle, over rocks, up hills, etc. I just want a capable truck all around. The softer springs are going to kill my load capacity but I wont do much hauling in the truck anyways.

Thanks for any input you all can give.

 

I think in general the softer springs will do better for ya. For an all purpose truck... Since your not hauling with it anymore than the soft spring packs wont hurt you at all...

 

i'd choose the articulation over the lift.....

 

agreed to all of the above

 

Softer is always gonna be more capable. I say more capable because a softer suspension will allow the tires to stay on the ground where it can get traction. Rigid springs tend to leave tires hanging in the air. A tire in the air is no good. A tire in the air combined with an open diff can be a little embarrassing.\You already know that you will lose some heigth and load capacity, but sounds like it is worth the sacrifice. Gonna ride much better too.
Axle hop does seem to be a little more pronounced with softer springs, so shock selection can also be critical.

 

Alright, thanks all..

 

To get the best of both worlds, use a soft spring, no block, possibly a ladder bar, and make sure the shackle angle is right.
I've noticed that some aftermarket leaves leave some to be desired with the shackle angle, so setting it right will help alot with ride quality and flex.

 

flex is where its at

 

agree 99 gafabazillion percent!

you could have the softest springs in the world but if they arent setup right you will never experience your goal!

-cutts-

 

The shackles with my setup were a big part of it. I made my leaves flexier and I knew I did, but the truck still didn't flex at all. When the springs were off I could bend them by hand, didn't know what the hell was going on..

anyways, I had the truck jacked up and went to pull one side of the springs but this time loosened the shackle bolt first (I had intended on flipping the shackles around to see if that helped), the spring lowered and I figured out what the problem was, the shackles were so tight that they weren't moving. I greased the insides of the bushings and it helped a ton, now they rotate freely.

Still, with the shackle flip while using stock springs they hardly move even when greased, the springs themselves just don't give enough. Good for Ford having springs that can carry a load, but offroad it doesn't work out too well and ride quality is horrible without a load.

I have to see how it works offroad, but I just put spacers in between the springs. Rubber underneath the main spring at the center pin, two of the long springs then a leveling spring at the bottom. I worry most about the stress from the rubber cracking the main spring in the center, but I have spares and can rework the idea if it happens.

I've got the front of the springs clamped together. The two long springs are clamped together at the rear with the main spring free. It makes it so there is no movement in the springs when I get forward motion of the axle like when I'm driving forward, the springs level out really well when the top spring meets the lower springs (so the top spring doesn't invert) and when the tires are in the air the load is all on the single upper spring.
Sort of similer to the way they build parabolic springs, without the leaves actually being parabolic. I basically made a monoleaf except for when there if forward force on the spring or when the suspension reaches a certain low point, at least in theory.. the flat leveling spring is mostly for axle pitch (Don't know if it's by design or if I got lucky, but it's angled perfectly to give me a few degrees of correcting pitch) and a bumpstop in extreme cases, like if I ever decide to ramp the truck.

it's hard to explain but when I clamp all the leaves together it lengthens the top leaf enough that I can position the shackle to bend outwards towards the rear of the truck instead of inwards towards the front, with the increased stiffening of the springs it has very little travel but it also gives me a few more inches of ride height.

Wish I could find a longer main spring with a bigger arch and a longer shackle without spending a ton of money. I might email superlift or someone and see if they'll sell me individual main leaves.

edit: haha, sorry this is so long.. Don't know if you can all tell but I'm having a blast experimenting with the rear suspension on this truck.

 

pics?



gd10cl

 

I used the stock springs with lowered brackets and poly bushings. I don't remember the bolt torque specs off hand, but I think they are pretty low. I don't know if you are running the rubber bushings or not, but I think the poly bushings actually helped with what your are describing. Here's why: the rubber was adhered to both the spring and the bolt tube inside. When you clamp the shackle on the bolt tube, then movement has to fight the rubber in torsion. The poly bushings are independent of the bolt tube, so even if it is clamped tight, there is only minimal friction between the poly and the shackle. I also liberally greased the poly with aerosol lithium grease.

I am not sure how much flex you are looking for, but maybe this will help.

Good luck, and post up your results (w/pics of course)

 

i bolted my axles to my frame, i don't like articulation, its bad

 

that is great... actually no not really... pretty horrible on an offroad rig...

Thats kinda like saying i dont like power... I swapped in a honda 4 banger and sold the bbf for 200 dollars!