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Got McGauphy's drop kit installed


adams2003

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This morning I washed the truck and I figured since I cant use the 16 spare tire anymore I might as well take it out of the back of the truck ( I had it in the bed of the truck insted of underneath). Well when I opened up the back I noticed that I forgot the orginal suspension in the back as well. So I took everything out of the back, washed it and took it to the exhaust shop to have my new Corsa exhaust put on. Picked up the truck drove it home and when I got it home I started looking at the truck. First thing I said was "what the hell, the truck is even now". So I started looking around it and the truck has a pretty even stance now. I guess the added weight from the spare tire and the suspension parts made the back of the truck dip down a little. I really didn't think that a little weight like that would make it drop down like that but it did.

 

The part of the driveway I took the pictures on is slanted to the left side of the truck, but if you look at all the pics even though the left side is a little lower and the right side is a little higher, the front left and back left are even and the front right and back right are also even. Here's the pics, tell me what you guys think.

 

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how does the exhaust sound ?? It is what you expected or wanted ??

Basically I was looking to eliminate the interior resonance insid the truck. The new corsa does that very well, there's no resonance at all now. The sound is very different however from the other exhaust I had. Not sure if I like the new sound yet, but I guess well have to see once I get used to the new system.

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I was just thinking that if your truck is that soft in the rear, I wonder how the weight transfer will be. I get wheel spin primarily in the front because when I launch, the truck heels backward. I think some good rear shocks, adjustable, may be in order for you in the rear.

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Looks much better. I have the same problem that you do, if I pretty much put any load in the bed it sinks right down. Not to mention bottoms out on every dip, bump, patch, or hole in the road.

 

Hows it riding being that low? I know when I originally had mine slammed like that I got a lot of vibration and noise. Whats your secret to making it work being that low?

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I was wondering how they ride also. Do they bottom out and do they sag when you have payload or passengers in the truck. Does anyone know what the difference in the McGaughy's ss specific kit is as opposed to the 1500 kit.

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I was just thinking that if your truck is that soft in the rear, I wonder how the weight transfer will be. I get wheel spin primarily in the front because when I launch, the truck heels backward. I think some good rear shocks, adjustable, may be in order for you in the rear.

That's what I was thinking ben. Any suggestions on a brand of shock? Anybody?

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Looks much better.  I have the same problem that you do, if I pretty much put any load in the bed it sinks right down.  Not to mention bottoms out on every dip, bump, patch, or hole in the road.

 

Hows it riding being that low?  I know when I originally had mine slammed like that I got a lot of vibration and noise.  Whats your secret to making it work being that low?

Truthefully im getting a little more road noise now, but not much. I do however have the same problem of bottoming out. It seems to bottom out atleast once on a 15 minute drive. I also think that some better shocks might help the truck bottom out less though.

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I was wondering how they ride also. Do they bottom out and do they sag when you have payload or passengers in the truck. Does anyone know what the difference in the McGaughy's ss specific kit is as opposed to the 1500 kit.

Again, a good set of shocks should take care of my sagging in the rear with a load in the back or passengers.

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I was just thinking that if your truck is that soft in the rear, I wonder how the weight transfer will be.  I get wheel spin primarily in the front because when I launch, the truck heels backward.  I think some good rear shocks, adjustable, may be in order for you in the rear.

That's what I was thinking ben. Any suggestions on a brand of shock? Anybody?

Never heard anything bad about Bilsteins, and lots of good. I've attached a small novel from a friend who is a suspension expert. It was a response from him regarding when I was lowering my Avalanche and increasing the tire size from 17" to 20". There's some good stuff in there about lowering and shocks that might be helpful to you.

 

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First, Bilsteins are built to very exacting standards, so they are notoriously stiff for their first 1,000 miles or so; after that, they 'break in' and become more supple. Once they are broken in, their damping charcteristics will not change for the life of the shock. That is the beauty of them; unless a seal blows, they simply will not wear out.

 

Second, you have 'compromised' your ride in a number of ways: going to a 'plus three' wheel and tire combo took away a substantial amount of compliance, but this compliance is purely pneumatic (in other words, air, which is about 78 nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon--all expandable gases which change properties with the introduction of heat caused by sidewall flex and rolling resistance) and thus only controlled by the dynamics of the construction of the tire. Air is undampened compliance; by lowering the sidewall height and the total volume of air inside the tire, you put more control of the vehicle dynamics into the shocks and springs, but you have also already stiffened the ride considerably.

 

Third, By lowering the truck, you took away a large percentage of travel (maybe 20-25%). When you do this, you have to stiffen the springs or the truck will bottom excessively. Progressive rate springs help because the softer initial rate allows for a modicum of ride comfort while the stiffer ending rate resists bottoming; however, because these progressive rate springs are, by their very nature, stiffer springs, they will not allow you to easily utilize what travel you have left.

 

Fourth, the increased spring rate also causes the vehicle to 'rebound' faster, which will make the ride 'feel' harser. On this last point, Bilsteins, of all the shocks on the market, will best compensate for that quicker rebound because of their speed-dependent internal valving. But, this valving is 'set' at the factory and cannot be changed without having Bilstein revalve them. You can have Bilstein set both the compression and rebound valving separately, but it will cost you, and to an extent it is a crap shoot. (They usually chage about $60-$100 per shock for that service, and they will help you determine what settings you might want, but ultimately you have to decide and instruct them on exactly what you want.) Konis, Tokicos, and GABs are a few of the brands that allow you to separately adjust compression and rebound damping.

 

In Konis case, depending upon application, you can do this adjustment without removing the shock from the vehicle; other times, you have to remove the spring from the car or truck. In many ways, Konis are as good as or better than Bilsteins, but they do wear out over time; their performance deminishes with mileage, which is really why they make the compression and rebound damping adjustable in the first place--it was racers who figured out how to use this feature to their advantage. Tokicos are notoriously cheap, almost gimmicky, and in most cases not worth the money. GABs are racing shocks and very stiff even at their lightest settings. I've always maintained that Bilsteins are the best shocks, period. Bearing all this in mind, I'm not sure that the self-adjusting feature of your Boge rears will conpensate for the increased damping needs caused by the 3" lowered rear; in other words, they may be causing some of the harshness because they are rebounding too quickly.

 

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I was just thinking that if your truck is that soft in the rear, I wonder how the weight transfer will be.  I get wheel spin primarily in the front because when I launch, the truck heels backward.  I think some good rear shocks, adjustable, may be in order for you in the rear.

That's what I was thinking ben. Any suggestions on a brand of shock? Anybody?

I've been looking at QA1s for a while now. One of the best out there from what I have read and fully adjustable. Only downside is they are $132, or so, a piece. Rancho sells a RS9000 for about $85 that would probably cover the same requirement. Summitt sells both.

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