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Softer suspension? 3500 extended passenger
October 26th, 2013, 2:42 PM
#21
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Nope. I was spot on.
Anyone who tells someone to go ahead a disregard the manufacturer's tire pressure rating on the door sticker is out of line. You are promoting an unsafe practice, and I'm going to call you on it.
Maybe you should call a dealer and ask them about running 2/3rds pressure in the rears....
Anyone who tells someone to go ahead a disregard the manufacturer's tire pressure rating on the door sticker is out of line. You are promoting an unsafe practice, and I'm going to call you on it.
Maybe you should call a dealer and ask them about running 2/3rds pressure in the rears....
Lowering the tire pressure may or may not be safe, it depends on the situation. If it's fully loaded, probably not safe. If you're never going to have more than 500# in the back of the van, it's probably safe as ever.
A set of rear tires filled to 80 psi with 500# in the rear is going to have no handling benefit over a set of rear tires filled to 60 psi, or even 50.
That is, assuming the weight distribution is 60/40, or even 55/45 (I presume it's closer to 60/40 when unloaded).
October 26th, 2013, 2:45 PM
#22
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Checking with the Tire manufacture is also a good resource, granted the door panel label is important, it could be for what was originally installed on the vehicle, if those tires have changed in type and rating, the tire manufactures specs should be used.....
Here is a snip-it from Goodyear's site on adjusting tires for softness:
the full context can be found here: Goodyear Tires
"IMPORTANT: It's a common practice for RV owners to lower tire pressure in their search for a smoother ride. This is not only dangerous, it's relatively ineffective, as the difference in ride quality is not significant. When minimum inflation pressure requirements are not met, tire durability and optimum operating conditions are compromised. Tire inflation pressure should always meet at least the minimum guidelines for vehicle weight."
EDIT: I will add that in certain circumstances that temporarily lowering tire pressure to below minimum is common for getting traction in snow/ice situations
Here is a snip-it from Goodyear's site on adjusting tires for softness:
the full context can be found here: Goodyear Tires
"IMPORTANT: It's a common practice for RV owners to lower tire pressure in their search for a smoother ride. This is not only dangerous, it's relatively ineffective, as the difference in ride quality is not significant. When minimum inflation pressure requirements are not met, tire durability and optimum operating conditions are compromised. Tire inflation pressure should always meet at least the minimum guidelines for vehicle weight."
EDIT: I will add that in certain circumstances that temporarily lowering tire pressure to below minimum is common for getting traction in snow/ice situations
These same tires are rated at 50 psi on the front. If you rotate them front to rear, are they unsafe at 50 psi front? *it depends on the loading*
All that said, I don't think changing the tire pressure is going to change anything with the ride smoothness anyhow
October 26th, 2013, 3:37 PM
#23
Calling the dealer is like calling an everyday doctor... they give you the same canned answer "the book" tells them to give, so they don't get sued.
Lowering the tire pressure may or may not be safe, it depends on the situation. If it's fully loaded, probably not safe. If you're never going to have more than 500# in the back of the van, it's probably safe as ever.
A set of rear tires filled to 80 psi with 500# in the rear is going to have no handling benefit over a set of rear tires filled to 60 psi, or even 50.
That is, assuming the weight distribution is 60/40, or even 55/45 (I presume it's closer to 60/40 when unloaded).
Lowering the tire pressure may or may not be safe, it depends on the situation. If it's fully loaded, probably not safe. If you're never going to have more than 500# in the back of the van, it's probably safe as ever.
A set of rear tires filled to 80 psi with 500# in the rear is going to have no handling benefit over a set of rear tires filled to 60 psi, or even 50.
That is, assuming the weight distribution is 60/40, or even 55/45 (I presume it's closer to 60/40 when unloaded).
I never said it would have handling benefits. I said not to lower the pressure in an attempt to achieve some measure of ride smoothness.
So many people have chimed in on this tire pressure thing its ridiculous.
Either follow the sticker on the door panel or don't. I do, and I would never run 50 psi on my rears, and or 80 psi on the fronts. When i rotate the tires....I adjust the pressure. I plan on getting the max life out of my tires, so I am not going to screw around with what should be "okay" with regards to tire inflation.
October 27th, 2013, 1:15 AM
#24
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i desire only that Cadillac quality ride on my 2009 Chevy 2500 Express Conversion Van RWD and appears best option is to get what Strutmasters recommended.. these are the products that i would use on it if it was mine: sumo spring will cushion the front end when hitting bumps and the roadmaster kit will soften the rear . plus all new shocks will help soften the ride too (they have an advance shock that replaces and works better than airbags). Their 4 kits will cost me $745.00.
November 25th, 2013, 7:41 PM
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I have an extended 2500XL low top 9 passenger. I had the exact same problem and solved it. I tried 3 or 4 gimmick items before I got to the bottom of it.
I went to a spring shop and they re-sprung the bottom short helper spring so that there is a 2" gap between it and the spring above it at it's outer edge. Prior to that it was tight to it and acted as a catapult. This helped a lot. In addition I had an airride air bag system installed in the rear. I only run them at about 25 psi and it this helps a lot as well.
My van is from an upfitter very nice and sharp looking. Issue was the rear bench seat had a lot of spring in it. I had it rebuilt and this deadened the bounce back also. It took my interior craftman three tries to get it real good. The trick is to make it so it does not bounce back but that when you ride for 6 to 12 hours your behind still feels very comfortable. It is very tricky to get it right. I am in Central NY and can have you talk to the guy I had do this work or I can ask him what he did again and explain that way.
It was some work but well worth it. If you are in my neck of the woods you can give it a try.
The only issue I have left is a lot of wind type noise in the front cabin. Can't seem to improve that. I also had several rattles here and there any my interior guy tracked down everyone and now the main cabin is quite and rattle free.
I went to a spring shop and they re-sprung the bottom short helper spring so that there is a 2" gap between it and the spring above it at it's outer edge. Prior to that it was tight to it and acted as a catapult. This helped a lot. In addition I had an airride air bag system installed in the rear. I only run them at about 25 psi and it this helps a lot as well.
My van is from an upfitter very nice and sharp looking. Issue was the rear bench seat had a lot of spring in it. I had it rebuilt and this deadened the bounce back also. It took my interior craftman three tries to get it real good. The trick is to make it so it does not bounce back but that when you ride for 6 to 12 hours your behind still feels very comfortable. It is very tricky to get it right. I am in Central NY and can have you talk to the guy I had do this work or I can ask him what he did again and explain that way.
It was some work but well worth it. If you are in my neck of the woods you can give it a try.
The only issue I have left is a lot of wind type noise in the front cabin. Can't seem to improve that. I also had several rattles here and there any my interior guy tracked down everyone and now the main cabin is quite and rattle free.
November 26th, 2013, 7:20 PM
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Hm... so basically they shortened (or moved) the helper spring? I didn't know there even was a helper spring in these things (that's just a coil spring on top of the leaf springs?)
So in essence they made it into a progressive rate spring?
So in essence they made it into a progressive rate spring?
November 26th, 2013, 7:42 PM
#27
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Keep in mind that's on a 2500... But yeah sounds like he has it figured out. His post is your answer.
A leaf pack has one or two leafs that are called the "helper spring". They don't go to work unless the other leafs compress onto it. So by re-arching them they don't come into contact when compressing with a light load. When the van is fully loaded they will still work... very smart.
A leaf pack has one or two leafs that are called the "helper spring". They don't go to work unless the other leafs compress onto it. So by re-arching them they don't come into contact when compressing with a light load. When the van is fully loaded they will still work... very smart.
November 27th, 2013, 9:56 AM
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Keep in mind that's on a 2500... But yeah sounds like he has it figured out. His post is your answer.
A leaf pack has one or two leafs that are called the "helper spring". They don't go to work unless the other leafs compress onto it. So by re-arching them they don't come into contact when compressing with a light load. When the van is fully loaded they will still work... very smart.
A leaf pack has one or two leafs that are called the "helper spring". They don't go to work unless the other leafs compress onto it. So by re-arching them they don't come into contact when compressing with a light load. When the van is fully loaded they will still work... very smart.
November 28th, 2013, 11:06 AM
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Seems like not the way to go for wanting a Cadillac quality suspension ride. My van is a 2009 Chevy express 2500 conversion van (CV) and all these $50,000 CV are all crappy suspensions!! What good is it to convert and do nothing for having luxury suspension. As i mentioned in early post i am serious about getting only that Cadillac quality ride and appears best option is to get what Strutmasters recommended.. these are the products that i would use on it if it was mine: sumo spring will cushion the front end when hitting bumps and the roadmaster kit will soften the rear . plus all new shocks will help soften the ride too (they have an advance shock that replaces and works better than airbags). Their 4 kits will cost me $745.00. Seems to me messing with springs is a cheap way to go and not the right way because you want to do much more than just stabilize the up and down movement you also want to stabilize the direction of other movements such as sway. As for the up front cabin wind noise i think it's coming from those stupid side mirrors they need defectors?
November 29th, 2013, 7:08 AM
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Express Van 2500 ride
Thanks for the tip regarding the mirrors I will look at those next.
For the strutmaster roadmaster active suspension I tried those and they didn't work for me at all. I tried several products like this and unfortunately none of them did much for me. The combination of the air bags I installed in the rear along with the modification of the helper spring to provide the gap did the trick for me 100%. I also reconstructed the bounce in the rear bench seat. This made a big difference also. This included changing the foam to high end luxury memory foam and tripling the ties under the seat. Comfort was maintained while taking out the trampoline effect.
I also upgraded the front shocks with Bilsteins. This eliminated the bouncing up and down in the front end that I was seeing. I also put their 9600 gvw rated shocks in the rear but they were to stiff and hurt the ride so I removed them.
For the strutmaster roadmaster active suspension I tried those and they didn't work for me at all. I tried several products like this and unfortunately none of them did much for me. The combination of the air bags I installed in the rear along with the modification of the helper spring to provide the gap did the trick for me 100%. I also reconstructed the bounce in the rear bench seat. This made a big difference also. This included changing the foam to high end luxury memory foam and tripling the ties under the seat. Comfort was maintained while taking out the trampoline effect.
I also upgraded the front shocks with Bilsteins. This eliminated the bouncing up and down in the front end that I was seeing. I also put their 9600 gvw rated shocks in the rear but they were to stiff and hurt the ride so I removed them.