Blazer/Jimmy 4x4 ride

[duke10]

Curious how a stock 4wd Blazer rides compared to my other trucks. Is the ride real rough and bumpy?
I have a short bed 72 GMC 4wd that rides real stiff and bouncy, a 70 long bed CST that rides like a Cadillac and a 70 GMC Custom Camper that also rides really nice.
Are the Blazers and Jimmys like a long bed 4x4 or a little bit better?
I have been looking for a Blazer or Jimmy that fits my entire family.
Thanks for any input

[Classics Fan]

I have a 71 Jimmy Custom with 117,000 miles. New rear leafs, Skyjacker Hydro 7000 shocks on all four corners and steering stabilizer, riding on 31x10.5 El Dorado all terrain tires mounted on Eagle alloy wheels. Stock non- lifted suspension otherwise. It rides like you’d expect: firm on smooth roads and downhill from there. I use mine for around town and short (<50 mile) trips on highways though I would be comfortable longer trips. It makes my 2016 F150 Platinum seem crazy luxurious when I get back in it!
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[truckster]

By Blazer rides like a truck with a short wheelbase. In other words, it's not smooth on rough roads. There's one road in the neighboring city (University Avenue in Provo, in case anyone's interested) that's made of concrete with expansion joints spaced just right to make my Blazer ride like a bronco - not the Ford kind, the bucking kind.

[Jeff1971]

The guy I bought mine from said it was like driving a jackrabbit.

[rsavage]

It has a wheelbase that is 104" as compared to a 115" wheel base on a shortbed. Mine has a 2" spring lift, 32" X 11.50 Mickey Thompson tires, and brand new rancho shocks. It rides smoothly on smooth roads, but is "jouncy" and "bouncy" on bad roads, speed bumps, bad railroad crossings, etc. The 71 I had was stock height and slightly smaller 31" tires. It rode slightly better but not by a lot.

[CO71Blazer]

As long as the roads are good it rides fine. The roads in Colorado Springs are not good...

[68panelman]

It'll ride pretty much the same as your short bed GMC

[mister.freeze]

4" lift 3/4 ton springs and 33's on mine, bilteins in front and pro comps in the rear. all 4 tires come off the road regularly on houston's city streets. Almost never go more than 45 mph either. it is what it is.

[OldCreek]

All the above....

And smiles for every mile.

Bouncy, noisy, windy and loving it.

Take the top off and never put it back on.

Wil

[truckster]

Originally Posted by OldCreek

All the above....

And smiles for every mile.

Bouncy, noisy, windy and loving it.

Take the top off and never put it back on.

Wil

Exactly.

[blazintowers]

So what is the best solution to take some of the bouncy/bucking out of it? I like it and all, but when off-roading and hitting big bumps or ruts almost get bucked right out of the seat! Any good suggestions for shocks? single or double for taming it a bit?

[Jesse B.]

Originally Posted by blazintowers

So what is the best solution to take some of the bouncy/bucking out of it? I like it and all, but when off-roading and hitting big bumps or ruts almost get bucked right out of the seat! Any good suggestions for shocks? single or double for taming it a bit?

I suspect some folks may have shocks that are too soft, but without knowing the shock valving they are running, I would just be guessing. It could be a number of things. As far as my own experience, I have a four inch "soft ride" lift kit and I initially had Bilstein shocks with the standard 255/70 valving and my front and rear bounced and bucked all over the place, kind of like the one poster's description of driving a jackrabbit. I replaced these shocks with Bilsteins that have their heaviest valving of 360/80 (front and rear) and it substantially improved the ride quality. I do not remember the part numbers of these shocks, but they are available. It still bounces a bit too much for my liking in the front while on rough rural roads, but I drive it at speeds up to 80 mph on the highway and it is smooth and stable. I am currently in the process of adding air bump stops to the front to absorb some of the excess bouncing when on really rough roads. I probably won't be done with that for a couple of weeks. I'll post up results when I'm done. So the answer, yes, firm shocks either single or double should greatly improve the situation in my opinion.

[hemi43]

The only thing that is not adjustable is the 104" wheelbase. Everything else can be changed to your liking.
2" lift with 12.5X33's and I have no problem driving in traffic at 80 MPH with my hands off the wheel. I've mentioned before a dozen times, if you want these trucks to drive well, RUN HIGH CASTER. I have 6.5 degrees and about 3/16 toe-in.

[rsavage]

Originally Posted by hemi43

The only thing that is not adjustable is the 104" wheelbase. Everything else can be changed to your liking.
2" lift with 12.5X33's and I have no problem driving in traffic at 80 MPH with my hands off the wheel. I've mentioned before a dozen times, if you want these trucks to drive well, RUN HIGH CASTER. I have 6.5 degrees and about 3/16 toe-in.

Camber is adjustable with the upper ball joint sleeve. Are you using wedges for caster? Driveline angle? These Blazers are not a problem at highway speeds because 80mph roads are generally smooth. City streets, Country washboardy roads are a different story.

[Jesse B.]

Originally Posted by rsavage

Camber is adjustable with the upper ball joint sleeve. Are you using wedges for caster? Driveline angle? These Blazers are not a problem at highway speeds because 80mph roads are generally smooth. City streets, Country washboardy roads are a different story.

Are you guys suggesting that caster angle will affect the bouncy ride that people are talking about above? If so, please explain.

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by Jesse B.

Are you guys suggesting that caster angle will affect the bouncy ride that people are talking about above? If so, please explain.

Caster will improve keeping the truck going straight down the road but will have no effect on the ride, and yes, I used angled shims because it's the only way to adjust caster.
Spring stiffness will dictate how hard of ride you will get, and shock selection will determine how bouncy of a ride you'll get. That's a pretty basic explanation because all components will affect handling/ride. Running your tires at full recommended pressure will take some of the bouncyness out, but it's just the nature of these short wheelbased vehicles.

[blazintowers]

thanks to everyone for the great info here, really appreciate it! looks like I will be upgrading shocks in the near future. (thanks jesse b.)

hemi43, what do you mean by "run high caster"? does that mean a lot of caster?


thanks again!