Making it Ride Nice

[Oberon67]

I like my box-stock 1981 C10. It's your basic farm truck with a 250 I6 and the 3-speed manual.

I'm happy with the handling of it, too. The only option on mine is factory power steering, which means zero steering effort. It tracks straight and steady on the highway; I don't have to keep adjusting to keep it between the lines, unlike some old Fords I've driven.

But the ride is very trucklike, as you would expect from such a beast. The suspension is stiff and I get a lot of road noise and vibration transmitted up into the cab and especially through the steering column.

So I'm wondering what's the best way to soften the ride just a bit and make it smoother at highway speed. I don't need to change the stance, don't need to raise or lower it... I just want to make it ride better as a daily driver.

Part of my thinking on this involves the shocks. I'm pretty sure the ones on it now are factory originals, and therefore no shocks at all.

So I should replace them... but with what, specifically?

[Oberon67]

I know... I'll just let about 40 percent of the air out of the tires...

[tinydb84]

I believe Monroe's Sensa Trac shocks have the same design as Bilsteins. That's what I would do.

[69gmcc10]

Tires will also have a huge role in ride quality, probably more than anything, but you probably aren't going to get new ones until the tires you have are worn out, besides balancing and an alignment, so focus on the other parts first. your shocks being replaced are a must, monroe sens-a-tracs are an excellent and option, real good value. If that isn't enough then I would replace the cab and core support mounts with new rubber ones, if they were never replaced they are toast. Next, move on to worn steering components and then engine/trans mounts on the truck.

[tinydb84]

How much work do you want to do?

You could go with a softer spring up front, remove the overload spring out back, replace all the bushings. Both will cause a slight drop in height (might not be noticeable).

The column shouldn't vibrate that much. Check to make it is tightened. These trucks are old and loud. You could go with a good sound deadener (mat, ccf, and mlv) and it will quiet it down and absorb some of the vibrations.

[Already Gone]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I believe Monroe's Sensa Trac shocks have the same design as Bilsteins. That's what I would do.

Are they still available form Monroe. I put a set on my last truck in 2013 and want to replace the shocks on my present truck but cant find any listing for Sensa Tracs anymore.

[69gmcc10]

Originally Posted by Already Gone

Are they still available form Monroe. I put a set on my last truck in 2013 and want to replace the shocks on my present truck but cant find any listing for Sensa Tracs anymore.

You can still find a few sens-a-tracs for sale that are old inventory. Monroe changed the name of them to OESpectrum, same part number same design, just a different name.

[Sturvin]

I just put sensa-tracs on my truck about a month ago. Seems to handle and ride pretty good, speed bumbs and curbs feel a little sharper but it floats all over the place a lot less than my old shocks.

These are for my 69 2wd so your sizing may be different.

Fronts - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mon-58241st
Rears - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mon-58527st

I should also note that at the same time I completely rebuilt the front end, installed all new polyurethane cab mounts and installed a CPP front sway bar. So it is a lot of things that added up. These are on relatively new Cooper Discoverer HT's so they are by no means a high performance tire, but they do ride nice.

[ElKotze]

NAPA still sells the sensatrac shocks, made by Monroe, they just put a NAPA sticker on it. I put them on my '68 and I liked them so much I also put them on my '06 GMC Crewcab. Excellent ride for the money. I would also recommend poly sway bar bushings and regular rubber cab mounts. Day and night difference!