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gmc suspension

dannypdannyp Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in GMC
i'm looking for comments on 2000 sierra gmc soft
ride suspension, 1500 p.u. thank you
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    ovalleyovalley Member Posts: 135
    If you are used to driving a truck, it's too soft. At speeds under 55mph, in normal conditions, it is confortable. If you drive faster and especially on twisty back roads, it bounces too much for me. However, I think a truck should ride like a truck not a car.
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    edd4edd4 Member Posts: 22
    Are you talking about 2W Drive or 4X4? I have a 1500 4X4 with the soft ride and I believe it is firmer than a 4X2 soft ride.
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    mledtjemledtje Member Posts: 1,123
    I got a 4x4 with the Firm Ride suspension. It was too soft running empty. Loaded it was very wimpy. I tried Z71 shocks, and they were OK empty but too soft loaded. I now have Bilsteins and They are OK loaded and quite firm empty.

    Mike L.
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    Firm Ride is awesome all around.

    Very Solid and not mushy.

    Course a 2500 and a 1500 are two different worlds.

    The 2500 Rides better at all payload levels though..

    - Tim
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    quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Sorry, but 2500 is a slug. Stiff springs, skinny shocks = bounce!

    1500 Z71 with air bag springs is the ticket, progressive action, level ride, plush!
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    gwmooregwmoore Member Posts: 230
    Oooh, I can't wait for Tim's reply
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    1500 with Air bag springs??

    hmmmmmm

    I know he is somewhere on this board!

    ...what do you know about a 2500....you own a 1500 ace...I've driven this truck 11K already in 6 months...trust me...I know how it rides..

    If it's too bumpy....I could always toss your 1500 in the back to soften the ride??

    LOL

    - Tim

    GW,
    I'm not gonna blast Quad....he's OK in my book....(even if he doesn't know what he is talking about)

    hehehehe
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    quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Making me feel ashamed for what I said.

    Okay I'm sorrrry....

    2500 rides good, more like a Dodge!
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    quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    What is it about adding a few more leafs to the rear suspension, heavier axles, stiff sidewall truck tires, and skinny shocks are going to do to the ride?

    It's going to make it bounce. That's what they do.

    But stiff springs and soft shocks supporting a heavier chassis just mean the truck moves around more on its suspension, at lower speeds, thus bounce.

    Now Tim, we've been through this. Plane Jane told you what you are driving, a Tank. Nothing wrong if you like driving a tank, as she does, and you do.

    But while I prefer a locking differential to leather seats, clearly you don't....so you see we are just going to have different opinions about it.

    But to everyone else...the best ride comes on the 1/2 ton truck that has soft springs. The advantage of bigger shocks on the Z71 and Z85 comes at higher speeds.
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    I'd rather keep the first comment than be compared to a Dodge!

    A tank?...yes and no..

    Solid...yes....Tank..no..

    The Z85 shocks with all the extra heavy stuff makes for "some" bounce...but bounce isn't really the right word. More solid feel for the road is a better term...On some wash board roads...or series of holes...it can hit hard...but it's more in control. it doesn't hit a hole and jump to the side like a softer suspension would.

    The 585 extra pounds make for a better ride also.
    Hell....The 1 Ton Cube van we have drives even better than both!...why?....the extra weight makes a better ride.
    Less bumps in the road will felt as a bump due to the extra weight....understand any of this?

    We have had this talk a dozen times or more....we both know you should have got the 2500...(LOL)

    I would have never taken the 2500 path if I didn't want to try the new 6.0. When I did....I realized I was buying the wrong truck all this time.

    - Tim
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    kind of that advantage comes at higher speeds.

    It does handle so much better than my 1500 on the highway.

    Very solid.

    As mentioned everyday my drive to work is half highway at high speeds and I take 5-6 trips Northward on the highway for 400 or so every year.

    I feel better knowing that if I had to stomp on the brakes at 80 and swerve...my truck will not lose control due to the front end taking a dive to the side cuz it was too washy.

    NOOO...that's not my reason for a 2500....but it makes you feel better.

    - Tim
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    quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    It's not just an issue of one being stiffer than the other.

    You have to consider two directions, up and down.

    Equipping both 1500 and 2500 with the same Z85 shock, the stiffer spring of the 2500 offers more resistance to compression, but less resistance to rebound, since the spring is working against the shock.

    Your 2500 wheel drops down into every hole, giving you a solid feel going slower speeds, and lots of suspension movement. The 1500, has more rebound damping due to the softer spring, and rolls across the top of holes and ruts, no bounce.

    The 1500 hops, the 2500 drops.

    Memo to self: Add Tim to Dodge truck owners mailist group. :)
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    ovalleyovalley Member Posts: 135
    Any of you guys replaced the "solid smooth ride" shocks on your 2wd with stiffer shocks yet? I would like to upgrade mine. Comments or suggestions appreciated.
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    ...But I'm not buying it.

    I have feeling of "hits" so to speak when bumps/holes come about....but there is No "bounce" as you would like to think.

    Yeah it can get harsh over severe terrain...but not over normal road conditions.

    If the 1500 suspension is so much better...then why did you add bags?
    You had mentioned it sagged too easy when adding a 4 wheeler?....perhaps it is too "mushy"??..(Hey..didn't someone here say that before??)

    I know you would like to think it (2500)is out of control and bounces you all around....but it doesn't.

    On rare occasions I think it seems harsh dry...but overall I like it better than any 1/2 I ever owned. I just like the ride and feel better...period.


    What do we care anyway??...we both have what we want..right?.....or did you really wish you had gotten the 2500?

    - Tim
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    quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Didn't mean to say the suspension was better, just the ride.

    Why did I add air bags? For a level ride. No complaints about mushy Z71's. If you pump up the air bags to the the same spring rate as the 2500, with no compensating load in the cargo bed, you get bounce just like the big truck. But when you add just enough air to offset a load, then it rides, feels almost the same as when empty. They make them for your truck too. This months issue of Truck Trend states that adding as little as 1000 pounds in the bed of a Silverado 2500, or Ford F250 is enough to cause the headlight aim to rise where oncoming traffic will flash their brights at you, and that the high-beams are useless in this circumstance.

    Did I really want the 2500? A bit uncharacteristic for the Wiley Coyote to get per-snipity with quadrunner, but I will answer with honesty anyway. No. My mind was made as soon as I found out it didn't have the aluminum heads. Doesn't mean I don't find some things appealing, like the exclusivity of something rare, in short supply. Gasoline is like that now too. Would love a 300 hp 6.0L vortec, but with AL heads. It's coming.

    Have to agree with you about one thing, this truck rides nicer than any 1/2 ton I have driven too.
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    Made it sit about level...so I'd imagine that the headlights would be in ones eyes..but oh well..get behind me!

    Even dry when I pull up behind people I sometimes pull a little to the right of them or the headlights are lighting up their side view.

    I'll have to buy a set of cast Heads now to replace the alum.ones on the next truck..

    hehehee

    - Tim
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    quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    You can't always carry more just because of a higher payload rating.

    I can put lots more popcorn into the long bed.

    Who loves ya, baby?
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    mgdvhmanmgdvhman Member Posts: 4,157
    is that how the cast thing goes??

    BS you can't haul more...

    In a half I could only take a yard of some materials...and still be over.
    I can do it safer in a 3/4...if not take a yard and a half..(like Crushed limestone...about 2800 lbs a yard)
    Perhaps even two yards of topsoil?

    I always had more room ....jusu not the capacity.

    last spring got 3 pallets of Retaining wall bricks and 3 pallets of pavers.
    1 pallet was about 3400 lbs....space wise I could fit 2 1/2 pallets...but load wise I'd be screwed. You couldn't even take 1 pallet with a half ton.

    Any more questions??

    ....and I don't know?.....who does Love ya?
    LOL

    - Tim
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    meredithmeredith Member Posts: 575
    After 30 or more days of inactivity....

    this topic is being "frozen." It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.

    Front Porch Philosopher
    SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host
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