Finally getting back and serious about this. Just made a 2K mile trip and really want to get this fixed before next year's trip.
My Suburban belonged to a Bell Tech sales rep. No way of knowing for sure who installed the lowering kit. May have been lowered by Bell Tech since he was an employee but whoever did it did a excellent job. I was looking for a Suburban to do the conversion on when I found this one.
What I am running into is the suspension is bottoming out. Metal pad on the axle is hitting the bump stop in the notch on big bumps. It does have helper air bags and that makes a big difference, especially when I am loaded down. But I don't want to run it all the time with a lot of air in the bags to stiffen it up.
Even so, sometimes when I hit a transition from bridge to road or a big pothole it will bottom out. Sudden dip or bumps in the road will bottom it out too. It takes something out of the ordinary, it is not a everyday thing, even with the bags empty. But if you doing 65-75 on the interstate it can really hit hard!
Here is a photo of the area where it hits.
As far as I can tell springs are not sagging but there is only 2-3/4" travel, metal to metal. The small pancake bump stop is dried out and cracked, so it needs replacing.
I want to replace this with something that will provide more cushion when it hits. I have been looking at replacements and I am thinking something thicker will have more cushion. Because of the limited travel I don't have a lot of room or will hitting the stops constantly. So I am trying to find that middle ground. I have found two I am looking at.
This is probably a very close replacement. 1" thick and 3" in diameter. It is thicker than what it there but not a lot. But I don't see it adding much more if any cushioning. Of course the old one is pretty worn so I could be wrong.
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/9.9117
This is one I am leaning toward unless someone knows something I don't and why I should not use it. At 1-3/8" it is taller so it will hit sooner but I am thinking that shape will make it softer than a solid square one of the same thickness and provide more cushioning.
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/9.9119
They are cheap enough to swap out if they don't work, but really would appreciate anyone experience with this.
PS Just ran upon these. They 'look' like they might have more cushioning than any others I have found. Size is just right at 1.26" Tall x 2.5" OD. But the price is must higher than Energy Suspensions urathane.
http://www.belltech.com/bump-stop-kit.html