Suspension super stiff

[Sleeperc10]

Hello everyone, I have a 1971 k10 long bed 4x4. I recently purchased it and it came with a 2 in lift. It has rough country E-Z ride lift springs in the front and 2 in blocks and stock springs in the back. the truck is ungodly stiff and super super bouncy. it bounces so much that it makes me car sick to drive it. It also has a lean to it and by lean i mean the right side sits about 4 inch's lower than the left side. what is making it so stiff and lean?

[andrewmp6]

Are the shocks new and are they the right size for the lift?Most trucks do lean a little mostly to the drivers side but 4 inches is a little much.

[Campbel45]

Sounds like some sagging springs. You may wanna check out your shocks and spring bushings too. When I picked up my truck it felt the same way. but then again I had 2" blocks in the front too... made things a bit squirrely

I bought tuff country's 4" EZ ride with front and rear springs w/ shocks all the way around for around $550 during their summer sale. For some reason their 4" lift was cheaper than their 2". This was from SDtrucksprings.com

Anyway havent got to test them out yet but i've never heard a bad review on tuff country's springs

[Sleeperc10]

The shocks and lift kit are about 2 years old and it leans low on the pass side so driver side is high.

[Campbel45]

hmm maybe your shackle bushings are frozen and not wanting to move?

[JPBrecheisen]

A lean of 4 inches is a lot. Like andrewmp6 said, most truck tend to lean to the drivers side a slight amount. Almost all my trucks are about 1/2-3/4 inch lower on driver side over the front axle. They're usually pretty even in the back. 4 inches though, is excessive.

I would check body mounts as well. Sometimes body mounts can give the appearance of a lean. I've had un-even trucks have both suspension sagging issues and body mount issues. Combined they make the truck lean from side to side which is of course, unsightly.

I would do a thorough inspection of the suspension. Look for those frozen shackles at the pivot points. Also look for broken leaf springs. I've seen that before a few times. I'd also remove the shocks and see how much resistance there is in them. If you can compress and extend them fairly easily by hand, they are not doing much of anything when they are installed on a 5k plus pound vehicle.

You might check the tire pressure as well. Not sure what tire size you're running, but when most average light ruck tires get up around the 40 pound range, the get pretty stiff and make the suspension do all the work. Having them around 34 pounds will let them give a little so the suspension isn't all you have. This might help the bouncy part a tad, but if you have a lean of 4 inches, I'd say look through those springs and shocks really well. I'm sure the lift (new/fresh) springs in the front and the stock (worn) springs in the back isn't helping much either. I'm certain they have different characteristics which might be causing some of the issues.

Sometimes its just one spring that does it. Its possible you have one of the rear ones that's weak causing it to sag. Chassis roll under high engine load/torque is to the passenger side. Maybe the right rear spring is just tired from a long life of working/pulling?

Forgot to mention the shocks. When the truck is at normal ride height, the shocks should be at their center of travel. If you have the right shocks for the lift, then they should be ok, but on my 62 I had to do some math when I got the shocks since they don't offer a stock shock that "fits". I measured the distance between the upper and lower shock mount at ride height. I came up with 17.5 inches. I then searched numerous shock specifications until I found a shock where the distance between its full extended length and full compressed length was 17.5. It ended up being a KYB shock. You might give that a look also to make sure the shocks aren't topped out in the front from the lift springs.

Try measuring each corner of the truck. If the lean is worse in the front, your problem might be in the front. If its worse in the back, the problem might be in the back.

Good luck with it.

[LONGHAIR]

It always freaks me out when people say "stiff" and "bouncy" at the same time when describing suspension. They are complete opposites.
I guess it comes from old trucks where part of the suspension is indeed the seat? Because it seems that car seats are more firm and don't feel that way....
Truly bouncy suspension comes from soft springs that are not being properly controlled by the shocks.

As the others have said, inspect the springs and the swing shackles. Broken leaves or rust-frozen mounting bolts can wreak havoc with both ride height and suspension travel.

[andrewmp6]

And a solid axle 4x4 will never ride as smooth as a car or ifs 4x4 will.