2002 Silverado Suspension

[Motorhead]

Howdy Everybody,
I have a 2002 Silverado Shortwide, V6, 36000 miles. The rear end is very stiff and bounces around like a basketball, especally on a road that has a lot of dips. Does anyone make a set of leaf springs that are a little less stiff ? Or is the fix for this something other than springs?

[mudseeker]

i think all trucks no matter the year or make have this problem, trucks are just to light in the rear. a simple solution would be taking some 2x6's and blocking off the wheel wells and load some sand bags or what not over the axle. or you could buy a truck bladder that fits around the wheel wells, you can fill it with as much water as needed, i think upto 400 pounds. you can still use your bed and you can leave it in during the winter. not sure how it will effect your mpg though.

[RAMSLAM]

Its definatley not a spring problem. It is the shocks inability to dampen uneveness in the road. You could try upgrading your shocks?

[bradrhale]

i have seen those bed bladders. those things are an interesting idea but i would be hesitant on loading too much in there. definetely nothing that could cut or puncture it. i have heard of people welding short pieces of railroad rails underneath the truck for added weight.

[64longstep]

how air pressure are you running in your tiers, and are your tiers balanced?

[bodean]

I tried the shock up-grade - no help at all. I tried putting passenger type tires on it - slight help. My '89 GMC road like a Cadilac compared to my late '99. GM has definately changed something when they went from the pre '99 to the current style. I believe the '99 and up rides worse than the pre '88's did, and those road rough as a cob also. I know several people who use to be die hard Chevy folks until they changed to the later model. My uncle swapped his company truck after only 3 months for a Ford because of the harsh ride. I recently had a tire dealer tell me that Ford started using smaller tires that required less air pressure to help improve the F150's ride. I know that 45 psi seems to be pretty high for a hi-profile tire. If I can't improve the ride on my '99 soon, it will be for sale. I really don't like the soft shift of the Fords or Dodges, but I can get over that quicker than I can a harsh bone jarring ride.

bodean

[49er]

Greetings,
Here are two ideas to think about.
Both were told to me by others.

Had a simular thing with my old '57 stepside.

Another stepside owner told me about lowering the air
in the tires to about 25 psi when empty. With no weight
this worked OK, but must put air back in when carying any load.

OR, bolt in a 4' x 6' sheet of 3/16ths or 1/4" diamond plate
steel in the bed for a minimum load.

kent

[bodean]

The tire dealer I talked to said that the tire manufacturer Ford was using at the time required 42-45 psi like the Chevy, but Ford began telling the dealers to only inflate them to 28-32psi. This hurt feul mileage a little, but improved the ride. I think I'll try 32psi and see if it makes that much difference. It worked great on my '89 and I could still get over 60K miles out of a 70K mile tire. 90 % of my miles are for commuting to work. I kept a 12v compressor behind the seat in my '89 whenever I needed to haul something heavy.

bodean

[Motorhead]

I had a 95 Silverado. The best it EVER rode was when I loaded a washer and dryer up for my parents and drove it across town--therefore, we have just proven that weight is a factor in making these trucks ride better.
If the weight of a load takes the **** and vinager out of the spings, giving us a smoother ride, does that not mean that a softer spring is the ticket? I know that shocks cannot be left out of the solution either--anything is better than the factory ****! So a solid set of shocks coupled with softer springs is what we are left with? Right?

[gejandsons]

Re-arching top spring may soften your ride & when loaded it will seat back on top of the other springs allowing the same loads to be carried as before.