Lowered Ride question

[mbzaungst]

Just finished my 72 project, lowered 4-6 with Western Chassis parts. (not good quality in my opinion)
Front is 2'' spring and 2 1/2 spindle
Rear is 4'' Spring and 2" block with adjustable panhard

Alignment is done and drives great down the road, issue is when rear hits small bumps it feels like there are no shocks on the truck. Almost get 2 bumps for 1.

Better shocks? wrong set up in rear? Front seems to ride and handle very nice. Any help is greatly appreciates>

[68Stepbed]

What shocks do you have? correct length shocks are important when lowering any vehicle. If the shock angle is off, or the shock is compressed too much, it can bottom out and have a heavy "bounce back" type of rebound.

[Mbeef61]

How close are your bump stops? You may not have much travel.

[mbzaungst]

Shocks were ordered with the kit I have not measured exact length yet.
I cut bump stops in half, and still no difference. I did not c the frame I believe I have enough travel. The shocks were too short to hook up until I put box on the truck however.

[mbzaungst]

I did use a shock relocation kit as well so they are at the right angle according to them. They are Western DS-2 shocks

[ga-stepside]

I have 4 inch Belltech springs but only 1 inch blocks. I did not cut the bump stops I am running Belltech Street Performance shocks S2208 with shock relocators and have no suspension issues. Those 2 inch blocks might be too much for the shocks you have.

[BCOWANWHEELS]

Get use to it also you,ll go thru a hanger bearing a year

[mbzaungst]

So your saying its just the way it will ride ? And whats the hanger bearing comment about ?

[BCOWANWHEELS]

yes, the geometry is now way off in drive line

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by mbzaungst

So your saying its just the way it will ride ? And whats the hanger bearing comment about ?

It depends on if you have a one or two piece driveshaft. Two-piece shafts have a carrier bearing that attaches to the frame. When lowered, the driveline angle changes and puts this bearing in a bind, causing it to fail. However, if it's a one-piece shaft, this won't be a major problem, but you'll still need to double check your angles and possibly use wedge shims to get the correct pinion angle.

As for the shocks, measure the distance from eye to eye AT RIDE HEIGHT, then jack it up, unbolt the shocks and measure again with the wheels off the ground. Then, put it on jackstands, use a tie down strap between the rearend and frame and completely bottom out the springs. Write all these measurements down. Now, with the shocks out, measure them at full extension. Then, compress them and measure compressed(you may need a helper for this). Write these down also.

Here's where simple math comes into play. compare the differences of full suspension drop vs. full shock extension, then full suspension compression vs. full shock compression. See how far these numbers are off to determine if the shocks are within a tolerable operating range.

I did this a few years ago on my setup and found out the shocks were way out of range. The problem you'll run into, though, is that shock companies don't offer shocks by dimensions, only vehicle specific part numbers. That leaves limited options.
Option 1: Leave it alone and deal with bad ride quality.
Option 2: Take your measurements to a parts store and see if they'll let you
open boxes and find shocks that fit. This is very frowned on at
chain stores since the shocks are either wired or banded to full
compression for easy packaging.
Option 3: Order "drop shocks" from somewhere like CPP, DJM, or
McGaugheys, and hope they fix the issue.
Option 4: Pony up the dough for a set of Ridetech HQ series shocks with the
measurements you need. https://www.ridetech.com/products/sh...h-body-shocks/

[mbzaungst]

Thank you for the detailed information. I will get to work on this stuff immediately. I had concerns with length of a 1 piece driveshaft. I do need to check pinion angle for sure.

[c1971]

Also be careful that your shocks are not too short and basically not extending far enough when the suspension becomes unloaded. Just as bad of a ride if they were too long and bottoming out.

[mcampbell]

I have dropped a 72 blazer and a 70 long bed to 4/ 6 both with Early Classics parts. As part of the kits they sent new rear shock upper brackets. These brackets re-positioned the shock upper mount location which then made the shocks more vertical. They ended up almost horizontal after the drop kit was installed.
Part of the reason I noticed a much better ride was likely because the previous owner had lowered the Blazer by heating the coils and every bump tried to shorten my back a few inches. I really worried about going that low with rough roads in Utah but the ride was fantastic with the kit all set up and shocks standing up not laying down.
On a 4/6 dropped 85 suburban I fought a driveline issue that was more vibration at different speeds than a ride quality over bumps issue. finally solved with wedge shims under the rear axle mounts to change the pinion angle.
Good luck.

sorry just re read and saw you have the shock relocators

[Ironangel]

Either C-notch your frame or lose the lowering blocks...That's "Option 5"