1989 pickup 22RE very bouncy on any road imperfection
 

My truck is stock but for some reasson is very uncomfortable when going over any speed bump or road imperfection. Feels like I'm in a low rider bouncy all over the place and the rear feels too stiff. I'm suspecting someone may have messed with the rear suspension but not sure how to tell.

Is it possible someone may have added an additional leaf spring so the truck can carry more load?

Sure, someone could have added a leaf or did something else to the rear and it sounds like your shocks are tired i.e. the bouncy feel.

aren't tired shocks more like a stalled boat on water - feeling? soft and unstable.

I see the set of leaf springs when getting under the truck but not sure how many are supposed to be there for this particular 2WD truck? or do they only come in sets and additional single leafs cannot be added to the set?

It sure sounds like bad shocks on the front.

Inspect the front hocks- ANY oily dampness or drops of oil on them, they are bad.

If they are dry, make the front of your truck bounce up and down by hand as hard as you can (push down on the bumper then pull up on the bumper several times to get a good, hard bounce) and let go at the top of a stroke- good shocks will COMPLETELY stop the truck oscillations within two strokes (the second stroke should be half as high as the first).

If either of these items fails, change the front shocks before you worry about other possible problems.

Always change shocks in pairs and the same model.

Shocks don't just make for a good ride, they also keep the tires on the ground (critical safety item especially in wet weather), they help the tires from getting bad wear spots, and they keep the suspension from cycling too much and wearing out fast.

worn shocks? really?

also when going over a huge speed bump (we have many where i live), the rear seems to bounce the most hence reasson I think something is wrong with the rear.

Feels kind of like the front goes over the speed bump ok at more than normal passing speed (testing purpose), but then the rear pushes my body upward/forward violently.

Definitely sounds like worn out shocks.
Either of those will work, 1st is easier.

Take a look at your rears too, from my experience rears tend to go before fronts.

Your springs are what support the vehicle.
Your shocks dampen [control] the springs bouncing so they don't keep bouncing [like your truck is doing].

I went under the truck and shocks seemed okay from the outside. i will have to take them off tomorrow morning to make sure. but more importantly i noticed the bottom leaf spring don´t seem to belong there. it´s too thick and is not inside the set. I´ll take a pic and post it for you guys to judge

check

[IMG]http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/m...-13-29_650.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/m...-13-39_789.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/m...-13-51_403.jpg[/IMG]

is this normal?

Looks normal. The spring on the bottom is an overload spring. When the truck bed gets overloaded to the point that all of the other springs flatten out the thick bottom spring will take the weight. Pick up trucks tend to have a stiff rear spring rate when empty so that they have the capacity to carry more load when needed.

Throw about 6 cement blocks back there (adjust as needed, don't forget to tie them together with something), you will be smiling.
My 88 only has two leaves and an OL. Is this a LWB?

i dont know man but.. this thing is just plain uncomfortable. will check shocks but doubt thats the problem

those shocks look factory. they're old. replace them and i bet your a happy man

will do

when you compress good shocks they are supposed to slowly decompress - come back up, correct?

whats LWB?

two leafs and an OL are supposed to be stiffer, correct?

Long Wheel Base, IOW long bed vrs short bed.

The more leafs, the more load carrying capacity. But when the bed is empty, stiffer ride.

Like what was suggested, but some weight in the bed and road test.

John

okay I checked the rear shocks and they seem ok. compressed and expanded how they should. a little stiff to compress and took about 45 seconds to expand uncompress.

I know for sure the rear shocks are good in my case. they have plenty of tension to compress them, an example I was having a hard time compressing both when reinstalling them using one arm. I also checked them for any valve play and all good. And they expand on their own completely even upside down within 35-45 seconds.

However I did discover the driver side shock was not installed properly. The top bolt had broken off and someone welded a stud and used the wrong washer and nut to tighten it. I should taken a picture for a better explanation; basically you have the factory stud thats about 3/4 of an inch in diameter where the shock bushing slides into, right. so there's a back washer on the 3/4 diameter stud, shock/bushing, front washer and bolt to tight everything. In my case the 3/4 stud has a 3/8 diameter extension welded to it (i guess they decided to add a stud and instead of removing a probable broken bolt) and the coned shaped front washer is missing. Instead there's a regular washer and is not close to near touching the shock bushing once is tight.

not sure if that would make any difference but I'm planning to use a 3/4 front washer so that I'm able to tighten the shock/bushing a little better since the 3/8 front washer isn't even near touching the shock/bushing when tightening them.


the factory washers have an coned angle that gets them closer to the shock/bushing. a flat washer wouldnt work. but in my case the welded stud won't allow any 3/8 washer wether is flat or cone shaped to be near. the weld wont allow it. so i have no choice but to use a big washer.

It probably won't make a difference but at least the shock will be tight.