Suspension ???

[JCronnelly]

Has anyone tried putting in the rear leafs from a 3rd Gen truck into a first gen truck? I was wondering if this would soften up the ride.



John

 

[1stgen4evr]

The spring length is different which accounts for the difference in the ride. It could be done but there are other ways to improve the ride which don't require changing the spring mounts.



James

 

[JLEONARD]

You can springs made to do do just about anything you want with regard to ride and capacity. Check out a custom spring shop in your locale.

Jay

 

[CLamb]

I don't know about 3rd gens but my 1st gen rides a ton better than my 2nd gen truck does lol.

 

[JCronnelly]

Jay, thanks. James what suggestions do you have other than what Jay had to say.



John

 

[tugboatphil]

my 1st gen rides a ton better than my 2nd gen truck does lol.

CLamb, I don't think I ever heard that one before. I had a chance to drive my stepdad's 97 3500 and it was like riding on a cloud compared to my 93... . and that's on West Virginia roads!! :-laf

 

[Kiohio]

I will tell you...

The 3rd gen rides like a dream, compared to my 1st gen and my '97 Turd F350 4x4.



KO

 

[cojhl2]

Springs!!!! I must not have that optional accessory!!!

 

[Bob4x4]

I will tell you...

The 3rd gen rides like a dream, compared to my 1st gen and my '97 Turd F350 4x4.



KO

And I can tell you my 3rd gen with Carli suspension with 3" king shocks rides like a dream above stock.



Sage did a 1 off suspension for his Mothers 1st Gen years back.



Bob

 

[CLamb]

I think my first gen having 304K of work has something to do with it. It really does ride smoother than my 00 3500 does. The 92 doesn't have the rear end "hop" on sharp bumps that the 00 has.

 

[Kiohio]

If you've seen some of my posts lately you'll see I put a flatbed on the truck.

This has made it ride much better. The bed is heavier than the sheetmetal original.

The overloads on the truck must have been alot of the cuprit, being copressed helps.

It has new shocks already.



KO

 

[1stgen4evr]

"James what suggestions do you have other than what Jay had to say. "



John, I ran air bags on my high miles 93 till late last year. It now has standard springs, not because I dislike the air bags but because I planned to put the bags on a different truck. (the crew project) The bag set was from Kelderman (sp) air lifts that fit on the rear of the springs. I did NOT like that setup and moved the bags over the axle. I didn't get the configuration right at first and had to tweak that a bit but I was VERY pleased with the ride for some 400k miles. There are sets available that are basicly bolt on now that fit the bags over the axle. You can take half of the spring group out (or just use a half ton set and retain the original for use later) and still have enough capacity with the ability to pump the bags to whatever you want. The bags had the long term effect of lifting the front (because of a very heavy hitch loading) so that my front springs have not sagged like some I know of.



The only thing I should have done to complement the change was to add a spacer at the center bearing in the drive line. That will be the configuration of the crew, along with a dana 80 that has disc brakes and fwd on the front axle which I will also add bags to.



The air bag ride is in my opinion as good as can be had.



James

 

[JCronnelly]

James,



Thanks for the info.



John