Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Just finished up the first test drive with my KORE pace system installed. I got the front coils, rear mini-packs, HD bump stops, and Bilstien 5100 shocks.
Love it. Not the holy grail of smooth flawless suspension travel but theres a reason Fox Shox cost what they do and Bilstien 5100's cost what they do!
Having a little extra time on my hands I decided to put things in one at a time and try them to see what made the most difference to ride quality.
Baseline test involved a run up the gravel road I live on. It has washboards up to about 8" at various points.
Truck is an '01 with camper and tow packages. Front springs were stock, rear springs were stock with firestone airbags running 20 psi air pressure. Tire pressure was at 50 front, 45 rear in Toyo M55's. I was running the Bilstien HD shocks. At 35 mph the bigger bumps would just about knock your head on the roof and the backend wanted to get very sideways. Not pleasant.
Next test was the same stretch of road with the Stock overload pack and lower overload spring removed, airbags removed, and minipacks installed. Stock front coils were replace with the KORE springs. Still running the standard Bilstien shocks. The front springs made a HUGE difference on the big bumps. The smaller washboards still seem to get transmitted to the driver but it feels much more planted on the ground. Can't say that the rear minipacks were any better or worse on this test. The rear end still wants to get sideways when you really get to pounding over the washboards.
Third test ws with the New 5100 shocks installed. Once again the front end really showed a big improvement. These shocks were much easier to compress by hand on the bench than the HD Bilstiens. The rear shocks felt very close to the HD's. On the big washboards the back end still wanted to get loose. I really didn't see much improvement there. The front end is now planted solidly on almost everything. Smaller washboards still make themselves known to the driver.
Lastly I dropped tire pressure to 40 front and 35 rear. This calmed down the whole truck over the smaller washboards and helped keep the backend a little more planted in the big ones. If I was driving predominantly on Dirt I would go another 10 lbs lower on tire pressure.
In conclusion (finally?) this setup does exactly what it is advertised to do. It gives you an affordable way to get your truck ready to run some pretty nasty gravel roads with much more control. For those of us looking for an improvement in ride that are not worried about lots of rear wheel travel I think removing the stock overload packs and running the airbags might be a better way to get what we are after. I'll have to haul a few cords of firewood around to see if I like the rear mini packs as well as the air bags. The front springs and shocks are a definate must have item. And as an added bonus the truck really looks much better with the extra 2" in the front.
Phil
Love it. Not the holy grail of smooth flawless suspension travel but theres a reason Fox Shox cost what they do and Bilstien 5100's cost what they do!
Having a little extra time on my hands I decided to put things in one at a time and try them to see what made the most difference to ride quality.
Baseline test involved a run up the gravel road I live on. It has washboards up to about 8" at various points.
Truck is an '01 with camper and tow packages. Front springs were stock, rear springs were stock with firestone airbags running 20 psi air pressure. Tire pressure was at 50 front, 45 rear in Toyo M55's. I was running the Bilstien HD shocks. At 35 mph the bigger bumps would just about knock your head on the roof and the backend wanted to get very sideways. Not pleasant.
Next test was the same stretch of road with the Stock overload pack and lower overload spring removed, airbags removed, and minipacks installed. Stock front coils were replace with the KORE springs. Still running the standard Bilstien shocks. The front springs made a HUGE difference on the big bumps. The smaller washboards still seem to get transmitted to the driver but it feels much more planted on the ground. Can't say that the rear minipacks were any better or worse on this test. The rear end still wants to get sideways when you really get to pounding over the washboards.
Third test ws with the New 5100 shocks installed. Once again the front end really showed a big improvement. These shocks were much easier to compress by hand on the bench than the HD Bilstiens. The rear shocks felt very close to the HD's. On the big washboards the back end still wanted to get loose. I really didn't see much improvement there. The front end is now planted solidly on almost everything. Smaller washboards still make themselves known to the driver.
Lastly I dropped tire pressure to 40 front and 35 rear. This calmed down the whole truck over the smaller washboards and helped keep the backend a little more planted in the big ones. If I was driving predominantly on Dirt I would go another 10 lbs lower on tire pressure.
In conclusion (finally?) this setup does exactly what it is advertised to do. It gives you an affordable way to get your truck ready to run some pretty nasty gravel roads with much more control. For those of us looking for an improvement in ride that are not worried about lots of rear wheel travel I think removing the stock overload packs and running the airbags might be a better way to get what we are after. I'll have to haul a few cords of firewood around to see if I like the rear mini packs as well as the air bags. The front springs and shocks are a definate must have item. And as an added bonus the truck really looks much better with the extra 2" in the front.
Phil
i have been looking into that system and i have almost the same truck 01 QC LB camper package with firstone air bags. What gears are you running? im running 4:10s so those 315s should drop the RPMs alittle i hope. Any pics 
