Looking for a SOFT ride
 

Stock '83 4x4. Stock sized tires. I put some KYB GR-2 shocks on it all around to replace the old Mountain Riders and it rides extremely rough. I've posted about this before thinking it might be the springs but now I'm thinking it's the shocks.

On gravel washboard roads it will start to shake like a damned tambourine and it becomes scary as it utterly compromises control of the vehicle, even at speeds under 10 mph. The truck will basically start to shake itself right off the road. On smooth open road she rides like silk but any and all bumps are telegraphed straight to my spine and it's really annoying. Maddening, really. Speed bumps will put my head into the roof at any speed over a couple mph. It's ridiculous to try to operate the radio on anything other than completely flat pavement because my hand will bounce all around.

The truck couldn't have been this bad from the factory, could it? I realize it's a solid front axle on a light vehicle and will never feel like a Cadillac but there must be an improvement possible, yes? Are KYB GR-2s considered a stiff shock on this truck? They were sold to me as stock replacement but I tend to think something softer would be better. What should I try?

Was it like that with the old shocks? Honestly though it sounds about normal these trucks just ride rough if somebody thinks i'm wrong feel free to correct me but IMO its sounds normal.

It rode rough with the old ones too but I don't know if it would have bounced on washboards as bad. Frankly, it sat for about a year before I got it back on the road a couple weeks ago and I don't remember. But the reason I got new shocks was to try to fix the rough ride, so...

I had an '80 for a long time and it didn't behave this poorly but it did have 31" tires. Could that extra bit of unsprung weight have softened it up that much? And if so, it makes sense that a corresponding reduction in dampening should improve things on this truck with slightly less unsprung weight, doesn't it?

look how flat your front leaf springs are, if there arched upwards they hit the bump stop at any and every bump causeing your rough ride, solution? new springs and shocks

^^^ Forgot about that :ignore: haha def check your springs

If it didn't do this before you bought the new shocks.................

On the other hand, have somebody really work the suspension...push down hard on the front and rear bumpers and make sure the leaf spring shackles are frozen. Make sure they're moving. Mine rides REALLY rough, but if you're not exaggerating, that does sound like a bit too much...

its's the shocks...

when i had my 79 i went through this same issue.

bought rancho rs 5000, installed and went to the store hit a two or three inch bump and it felt like my back was hit with a sledge hammer. needless to say they came off as soon as i got home.
went back to 4wheel parts where i bought them and asked for my money back. store credit was all i was offered.
started looking around and finally the counter guy found multiple shock application rs 5000 shocks and you could feel the differance. you could barely push the standard shocks down by hand, but the multiple app shocks(soft valved) you could push them slowly up and down.
the ride was amazing, you could hit speed bumps almost any speed (except slow) and the tires would go up and down but the truck would not move(bounce) at all.
i went for the roughest roads i could find and the truck just would not bounce at all.
when i jumped the truck it would land and stay on the ground.
it would also flex much better offroad.

only problem is rancho doesn't offer the multiple application shocks anymore, but lesson learned,
find soft valved shocks OR adjustable shocks you can soften the compression up for a smooth ride.

the shocks are valved stiff to haul weight so be prepared for the truck to squat with a
load, only drawback.

My truck has a 3" lift with two shocks per wheel and I ran different types / brands of shocks over the years when I raced my truck. I tore my truck down in 1990 and built it into a show truck but maintained the same suspension. My wife has a bad back so if I wanted her to go with me in the truck I had to smooth the ride out. I ended up installing Rancho 9000XL series adjustable shocks and that solved the problem; the wife can now go anywhere with me in the truck. I know everybody has their own opinion yada, yada, yada! about shocks but the adjustable shock feature lets you dial the suspension in for the ride you want. I would look at any brand of shock that has adjustment features and compare.

It's a pre 84 Toyota. It's going to ride like a truck.

Want a soft ride get a Prius. :hillbill:

:wabbit2:

^^ Straight axle and a smooth ride is like Fat Chicks and skinny jeans...they just don't work together.

Well when I get it figured out I'll let you doubters know how I did it. Thank you donomite49 for your account--it is encouraging. I'll find some soft shocks and see how it goes.

i agree, check the shock valving. the rear shocks should be fairly light valving for a truck (60/170 if you run bilsteins) whereas 4runners and other suv's should have a little heavier valving (70/255 if you run bilsteins). i made the mistake of getting the wrong valving on mine so i know it makes a big difference! also check to make sure your rear springs are not riding on the overloads, that will also make it ride VERY rough

well,if it helps,ill be doing my 80 longbed this weekend,im going to try 3" procomp spring up front,bilsteins 5100s all the way around with a zuk mod in the rear(because i already had the springs from before just to try it).

you could always go and try OEM Toyota shocks since they're usually considered "soft" compared to aftermarket shocks and they're the ones that are technically supposed to go on your truck since it's all stock suspension. they're even relatively inexpensive compared to some aftermarket shocks.

The stock first gen toyotas are a really rough ride. Having a long bed will help. Seems like swapping out the stock leaves for ones with more flex will give you a much softer ride.

Basically with well thought out modifications and a decent amount of money, you can have an IFS-like ride. But with stock leaf springs, it's just going to be rough. Sounds like getting softer shocks will help, but I'll bet it'll still be pretty rough. Not having ridden in your truck, I can't tell you if what you're experiencing is normal first gen handling, or if you've got some crazy stiff-suspension issues going on. There's just no way for us to tell you.

i think it was 83,or dropzone that told me before,you want a soft ride get some nice plush seats!hehe

Just get the Adjustable ranchos and be done with it. They are a great shock. I had them for a long time. The investment is worth it.

But seriously, rears up front and chevys or something in the rear, with adjustable shocks is going to give you a nice ride. Basically, modifications. I just don't see it happening with the stock setup, even with aftermarket parts. You'll need to do some welding and fabricating to get a smooth ride.

cman1, it was probably dropzone. Sounds like good advice!

Yes, I am prepared to accept that the stock leaves are incapable of delivering the ride I want. One idea I have is to remove all the leaves from the pack but the one that locates the axle and then put a coilover in the position of the shock. The much greater ease of fine tuning the coil spring would make things pretty simple. The one requirement I can think of would be to reinforce the shock mount to make it load bearing capable and modify it to accept the eyelet configuration of a coilover.

don't try to reinvent the wheel.
go with the 63" chevy springs with good shocks and be done with it.
http://www.nwtoys.com/content/135-ch...-swap-faq.html
without the double shackles.

untill you do the spring swap just get some rancho rs 9000 adjustable shocks.