We just bought a 3500 Extended passenger van (2009 model year).

We never transport a massive amount of stuff in it, just the family, so every time we hit a bump, the entire family dang near flies out of their seat. It's rather annoying. I've sat in the back, and man it's absurdly bouncy.

Does anyone know of an aftermarket (or factory option even) suspension that I could have changed out on this sucker, with progressive rate springs and/or variable rate damping based on the amount of travel (does that even exist?)

Basically, I would like to be able to drive this passenger van and make it somewhat reasonable to ride in. Any ideas?

 

That's a tough one. The 3500 is heavy duty, so weight is what will smooth it out. What is your tire pressure at?

Only option I can think of is to have a spring shop remove a leaf out of each of the rear spring packs. Lots of aftermarket shocks out there, but I don't think they will necessarily smooth out the ride... could try that first.

 

I wonder if they used it for towing so they would have made sure its spurng harder.

 

The only thing you can do is change it to air suspension. Not cheap though I'm sure. You can't run sifter tires or mess with removing springs, as that would make the van unstable, and perhaps void your insurance.
You could put some weight in the back to dampen the springs effect....

 

If you are in a reasonably large city there should be a shop that does springs and can modify your existing spring packs. You could lower the air pressure (check front tire load vs rear tire load at a trucking scale) to match that in the front, but the Tire Pressure System will alarm then (don't know if you can have that re-flashed in the computer). I wouldn't expect the shocks to make a significant difference.

 

Yeah, the tire pressure is the standard (what is it, 80/50?) I forget exactly what it is, I haven't touched it, and the tire pressure system hasn't gone off. I looked to see what it said in the manual and said "oh ok". I didn't think I could lower the tire pressure with these gigantic tires could I? It seems THAT would make it much more unstable than changing the fronts to progressive rate springs, and doing something different in the back.

I saw something a while back that strutmasters sells, an "active suspension" kit, they claim it will make the ride softer, I have no clue how that is the case, but...
Chevrolet Express Vans Suspension Parts & Kits | Strutmasters.com

 

Nobody has any thoughts on their stuff?

 

Its a 3500, 1 ton suspension. Its made for a lot of weight. Its what they do if they're not loaded down. I have a dually and it s a 3500 - same thing but not as bad in the cab of a truck as it would be in the back of a van.

Its all in the suspension. You need to change the suspension if you want something different. You would need lighter springs. Might be better to find a different van.

You could always airbag it but there is cost and labor involved and then you always have to wonder about replacing airbags at some point. Airbags are for hot rods and/or guys that dont mind always tinkering with a vehicle. Prob not the way to go with a family transporter.

 

You can get Airbags for trucks. Not just hot rods, but yes, expensive.
Like I said earlier, you cannot reduce your tire pressure. Running anything other than what the sticker says is a bad idea.
I would just put a couple bags of sand in the back and forget about it. Save your money.

 

Would the 1500 springs be any softer? I can't imagine they would be, and the only difference between the two vehicles is the extended wheel base, I couldn't imagine the spring rates of a 1500 (if it's softer) causing huge disturbances on a 3500?