I know this is a boring post, but I need someone to clear something up for me. I recently replaced my shocks front and back with AC Delco. It feels like it made the ride worse. My truck used to ride more like a suburban and now it rides like an old farm truck. Loaded with my fifthwheel seems to ride OK, but unloaded is almost brutal. I don't want to drive it with out a load. Are the AC Delco really the problem? Anyone else experience this?
AC Delco shocks
- Thread starter davisenvy
- Start date
I haven't ever used the ACDelco shocks, but it does sound like that might be your problem. There are a lot of shock choices for these trucks, depending on what kind of ride you want. You might want to read some of the suspension threads on here, and try different shocks.
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Much softer. The ACDelco acted like they wouldn't compress when driving, but I could compress them by hand. The ride was absolutely awful. The bilsteins are a firm ride, but very enjoyable. I'll not make that mistake again.
Softer ride, hard to say what the valving is on the compression and rebound. The Rancho's have very little rebound control and give me a donkey dance ride when I drive on the long clover leaf type exit ramps at 40 mph over the posted limit, no white knuckling just annoying. This is where the a QA-1 shock or equal with adjustments on the compression and rebound would be great...
ranchos "adjustment knob" controls both rebound and compression when you turn it. the actual shock valving may lack enough internal valving for some peoples ride preference (usually in rebound to control the spring/unsprung weight). ranchos actually have a pretty good rebound control when cranked way up but the compression stroke will break you back. a well valved shock like a fox/king shock will also solve this problem.
I agree. I think the bilsteins are awful. I'm much happier with my Rancho 9000s.
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How a truck rides is all based on opinion. everyone has a preference and no two people will agree. some want a little softer, some a little harder, some say its way the f**k off. until you go to the extremes of both ends to know what you have to deal with, you will never truly know if the ride can be to your satisfaction.
THIS is my biggest issue with a custom tuned shock setup. i can set them up perfectly for me and variety of different situations but to match the valving to the owners preference is damn near impossible because 9/10 times they can not accurately describe to me what it is they want or what its doing. so then it turns to "na his shocks ride too stiff/soft for me". you cant log a shock like an engine tune..... that would be so damn awesome if you could
oh and for shits and giggles as well as to totally counteract everything i stated (cause im a smart ass), blisteins were the best riding shock i bolted to my truck, rode very smooth (this was at a time when fox had not come out with drop in shocks yet and king had just released theirs)
THIS is my biggest issue with a custom tuned shock setup. i can set them up perfectly for me and variety of different situations but to match the valving to the owners preference is damn near impossible because 9/10 times they can not accurately describe to me what it is they want or what its doing. so then it turns to "na his shocks ride too stiff/soft for me". you cant log a shock like an engine tune..... that would be so damn awesome if you could
oh and for shits and giggles as well as to totally counteract everything i stated (cause im a smart ass), blisteins were the best riding shock i bolted to my truck, rode very smooth (this was at a time when fox had not come out with drop in shocks yet and king had just released theirs)
In other words for me they suck and I've read so many opinions on how they are valved, overall they still suck. But you don't know till you install if you're gonna like them. The only way the truck rides and drives worth a shit is when I have about 1200lbs in the bed evenly loaded.......:thumb:
Like this, had to take it as I'm no longer using it, for sale 4x8 Tuffy Products full pull drawer setup.......
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yup. kinda shitty.
you can get close explaining what you are doing with the truck like drag racing or off roading or something major like that to get you in a realm you should choose from but for the finer details, the ONLY thing you can do is learn about shocks and how they work. then by some adjustable ones (internal or external) and valve them to your liking. Even then, you will be limited due to spring rate
