Loose cornering

bmoehrle

I have a '01 Silverado 5.3L 1500, and when I turn a corner I can tell the the pickup is leaning, and then when I straighten back out I can feel it slightly rocking left to right, it is really soft.
My question is: I was thinking about adding a leaf spring in the back to stiffen up the suspension. Has anyone done something similar, either leaf spring or air-ride pillows. What would be better, what would help me out the most in giving me a stiffer suspension??

Thanks,

Ben

ryanbab

shocks could help

I put some HD bilsteins on mine and the overall handling is much better.

sebring95

will make a big difference. I've seen factory shocks burned in 30K miles. Either way, my guess is monkeying with the rear springs isn't going to do much because most of the weight transfer is up-front. Polyurethane bushings is another easy/cheap way to stiffen things up. I replaced the shocks on my '01 Cherokee at 30K miles and one of the factory units was bad, and they were all slow to return for the most part. I drive alot of very nasty fire-roads and usually at high speeds so I didn't figure the OEM shocks would last long. The new ones are a drastic improvement, even compared to when the OEM shocks were new.

zr2rando

If your still under warranty get the dealer to replace them , factory shocks frequently are very short lived. I have had factory shocks that had NO rebound resistance after only 10k miles. New shocks will probably do the trick. My current truck is a ZR2 with the OEM Bilsteins at 50k still doing good (even one of them leaked under warranty and was replaced), but every other vehicle I've owned I have replaced shocks during or right after warranty.
I have KYB gas-adjust shocks on a Nissan truck which are very good also (the factory shocks were KYB also but they were a oem grade shock, the ones I mentioned above)

quadrunner500

Add two rounds of wedge, take 1 pound out of the right rear...

jcmdie

As mentioned, first shocks, then if you want better arear anti-sway bar will help.

zr2rando

for Nascar fever to hit this one!
good one Quadrunner500 !
The Z71 pkg used to include Bilstein shocks, which was the main reason to even get the Z71 pkg in the first place, now they only put regular "heavy duty shocks" on them (Chevy very quietly made that little change), and a lot of people have been disatisfied with those. Its a pretty good marketing ploy I guess, sounds good, but your not really getting much for it any more.
My 99 S10 ZR2 has OEM Bilsteins and I love'em. We have a 95 S10 Blazer and we replaced the factory "DeCarbon high pressure gas shocks" with Bilsteins and love them too. If you choose Bilsteins, they are VERY expensive from the dealerships, I got them for $50 each at Autozone, well worth it to me, lifetime warranty, so if there ever is a problem, I will still never have to pay for shocks again.
see y'all
Rando

txyank1

to take the corner 10 mph slower.