bad ride after lift.......need help!!

[Mike Caldwell]

Clay, a tip would be to visit superlift's dent and scratch store on ebay...you can get some stuff with a scratch in the powder coat or surface rust etc. for a greatly discounted price.

 

[Clay Campbell]

wow, never heard of that, thanks alot, ill check that out

 

[Chad Merry]

The scratch and dent store is where I bought the lifted knuckles/spindles. They had surface rust on then and they sold then for 200. I took a wire wheel to them and painted to look like new. That saved me 500.00 off the lift kit.

 

[Clay Campbell]

i thought we couldn't use lifted knuckles or spindles on the 4x4's

 

[Yardsale]

i thought we couldn't use lifted knuckles or spindles on the 4x4's

This is correct. They really mess with the alignment of the axle and hub center.



Spindle lift implies Jorge's truck is 2WD.



I'm not sure why you need the shock extender. From what you have provided, you have changed the resting height of your truck and not changed the amount of travel. If this is true, you have effectively shortened the shocks at rest, and they are two inches closer to bottoming-out than without the extension. Not good.



Is the rough ride on compression?

 

[Jorge Burke 2]

my ride is rough in the front. and the reason i put the extenders on was because i cranked my torsion bars up 3.5 in

 

[Yardsale]

Yes, in the front, but is the ride rough when the front is going up (extension of the shock) or going down (compression of the shock)?



Now, "cranking-up" the torsion bars changes only the resting height of the truck (lowers the wheel with respect to the frame). It does not change the amount of travel. Travel is fixed by the geometry of the control arms, the length and where they are attached to the frame and hub assembly. If no changes to these have been made, then the travel is the same as before the "cranking", and the stock shock length and travel is correct.



Are you using the same shocks as before the changes?



I may be wrong, but if I am correct, what is happening is that the shocks have been compressed two inches by the extensions when the suspension has not thereby effectively "robbing" you of two inches of shock travel when the wheel travels up. Bang!



Another possibility is as others have suggested - too much cranking. The torsion bars are tweaked far beyond what they have been designed to handle and the ride would feel like a spring diving board. As an experiment, try de-cranking two inches to see of that makes a difference.

 

[Mike Caldwell]

Yardsale I think he's just counteracting his lift by lifting it 3.5" he's effectively reduced the downward travel 3.5" and by putting in 2" extensions he's compressed the shock back so that he only reduced the travel by 1.5". Does that make sense or do I have my head up my bum, it happens every so often. :unsure:

 

[Jorge Burke 2]

well my ride was bumpy before i put the extenders on and then i put the extenders on and it helped but was still bumpy, then i cranked it down about a little over an half of an inch and it helped but that was the lowest it could put it , any lower will make my front real lower than the back. i just dont like the ride and i cant put it back to smoother ride then it would put me to low in the front.

 

[Clay Campbell]

chad how did you do the knuckles/spindles on your 4x4 i thought that could only work on 4x2's

 

[Yardsale]

Now, now, now, Mr. Rugby - none of THAT talk ;-)

 

[Chad Merry]

All the lifts available for front IFS suspension use lifted spindles/knuckles, what ever you want to call them. Here is pic:





[Broken External Image]:

 

[Chad Merry]

Also when you crank up your torsion bars you are making the suspension tighter, which makes the rde alot more harsh. It has absolutely nothing to do with the shock extenders.

 

[Jorge Burke 2]

so pretty much the best thing to do is to get coilovers like yours?

 

[Dan Long]

The TT doesn't actually make the torsion bars stiffer or tighter, but the angle of your lower control arm to the road surface is increased, which reduces the leverage the control arm has on the torsion bar. This makes it seem as if the bar is stiffer.

 

[Jorge Burke 2]

so the softer bars wont help??

do you have any suggestions on what i should do?

 

[Dan Long]

Softer bars might help a little, its hard to say. What shocks do you have? If you're still running OEM shocks, you need to ditch them first. If you offroad or tow a lot, get Monroe Reflexes. If you stay mostly on the pavement, get Monroe Sensatracs. The Sensatracs will give a softer ride.



Another option is to ditch the SOA and TT, and add a 3" body lift and shackles in the rear. This will give you the closest to the factory ride, but I'd still get rid of the OEM shocks.



The ultimate option within reason is to do the coilover conversion. They will ride better than torsion bars and probably handle quite a bit better as well.

 

[Chad Merry]

This is the same thing I told you on the explorerforum. No matter what type of shocks you have, it will not make any difference at all. You could take your shocks and the ride will not change at all, you may bounce a little longer when hitting a bump. Your torsion bars are so tight that your suspension is no longer working. And when you do the TT mod you tighten the torsion bars, which creates a more downward force on the LCA's. When you go to tight you are essentially removing your shock and putting in a piece a solid tube.



If you want a little better ride back loosen the torsion bars a little bit.