Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi there all i havn't been able to find a thread on how to make a leaf sprung sierra ride better.

I am on my way to having all the stuff to make my sierra the car i want.

Whats the best way to make them ride better without comprimising off-road ability.

i only have standard springs that have been re-set and standard shackles.

I have re-moved the extra leaf that was put in when re-set was done. 100% better now. Kids still complain its to ruff.

any sugestions

new shocks?
take another leaf out... how many r u running? 3 should be enough

There is piles of infomation here related to ride. What are your tyres set to? What condition are your shocks in. How high is your ride height (shocks bottoming/topping out?). Bump stop condition? Post up some detailed infomation.

Layto....

Um its a leaf sierra..Leafs are always going to be harder then coils on a sierra.

Mine was lifted. It was rock hard.

So i changed my leaf setup.

Spring length - shackle angle, shocks, spring rates (how many leafs), bushes, tyre pressures.

comfy seats will also make the ride more pleasant for the occupants.

but otherwise, as bluesuzy said - it's a leaf sprung sierra - it is never going to be super comfy on the road.

that said - you have a lwb, so it probably already rides better than most swb's around.

3 leafs in the front and 4 in the back. has the worst shocks in the world in it. not sure what they are out of but they bottom before the spring does.

i know what shocks to get but i wanna set them up once i have got all the springs and shackles sorted out

at this stage i am un aware of what extended shackles actually do.
Can they improve ride quality. which ones do i put in.

take another leaf out of the back and invest in some new good quality shocks

So does that mean don't bother with extended shackles. was goin to put shock hoops and long travel shocks all round.

the rear is aleady dropped more than the front and the 4th leaf only seems to be a spacer. pretty much flat. still remove it. i'll get a pic up

the smallest bottom one is prob a load leaf-they make the ride more harder...
just put some long travel shocks unless u want to do big mods

danssurf82 wrote:the smallest bottom one is prob a load leaf-they make the ride more harder...
just put some long travel shocks unless u want to do big mods

The load leaf shouldn't even be coming into use at ride height unless you have a heap of weight in the back or running flat packs. Therefore it won't effect the way it rides until the spring all but inverts.

Before you tell people to do it and that they 'should be right', at least put the disclaimer on your post that you either have or haven't actually done it yourself.

I found that with 3 leaves in the back of mine there wasn't enough axle control and it wrapped a fair bit. This LWB is SPOA isn't it? What is it running to control axle wrap? Just something to be aware of as you lower the spring rate by removing leaves.

the only true way to improve the ride in a Sierra is to the lengthen the wheelbase. The closer you are to axles the choppier the ride is. You could do a RUF and move the rear diff back some to help in that regards

What tyre pressures do you run? In a Sierra you really don't need anymore than about 20 psi in a largish tyre like a 31 or above, that will help.

A longer shackle can improve the ride somewhat as it effectively lengthens the spring. Don't go to much longer 2" is probably far enough. Getting your shock length right will help as well, bottoming out on your shock is going to make the ride harsh

Sounds like I've got the tyre pressure bout rite as i ran 15 psi last time i went offroad and it was heaps better. I'm runnin 33inch jungle treckers

Yes it is a LWB SPOA. i havn't done anything for axle Wrap but it will come with time. i mite try one more leaf out of the back i can always put it back in. as for weight in the back well lets just say i took a mate on the week end and now my floor is dinted in.

now i have a bit more info my plan is to run 2inch extended shckles and long travel shocks. I'm gunna set my shocks up so that full extension of my spring (at full flex) is full extension of my shock. As for bump stops I don't have any. Once i set up my shocks i will be aware of where they bottom. then i will set my bumpstops to 20mm below this point.

any other info/ advice would be much appreciated.
If i'm doin it all wrong just say

mines SPOA on 31's with room for 33's (although the guards would need "modifying"... my leaves are almost dead flat, probably only 1" of arc in them total over the whole length.. i run the 31's at 20psi and have no issues with the ride - HOWEVER (note the caps) - its a sierra - it weighs only 1000kg, half of which is unsprung weight, its going to be a bumpy ride...

if the kids are complaining then hire a babysitter and go have a blast without them =)

leary393 wrote: I'm gunna set my shocks up so that full extension of my spring (at full flex) is full extension of my shock. As for bump stops I don't have any. Once i set up my shocks i will be aware of where they bottom. then i will set my bumpstops to 20mm below this point.

any other info/ advice would be much appreciated.
If i'm doin it all wrong just say

You don't want your shocks to extend all the way or compress all the way, or else they are going to break pretty quick.

you may want to add a bit of weight to get the suspension working properly . If the car is very light the suspension will tend to bounce around rather than cycle through its travel soaking up the bumps.

The light weight of a Sierra is a bonus for many things but ride comfort isn't one of them. You need to strike a balance between too light and too heavy. The little bear had it sussed out

coil overs will fix your problem!

or some of the other suggestions!
longer springs have worked for me! until I get coil overs!

ashley

Things to help make a leafy more comfy.

firstly you need to get a good spring rate, softer is usually the key with a light sierra but in doing so make sure it's not bottoming out on the bump stops all the time. So take some leaves out if need be, or go a step further and put longer leaves in like in a RUF (search).

Good soft shocks with enough travel are also important, many people run commodore or hilux shocks cause they are cheap but these are usually much too stiff.

Wheelbase is probably the biggest factor and extending this can help noticably (i've done this myself) so search wheelbase extension and you may be able to kill 2 birds with one stone and do a ruf at the same time.

Tyres and pressure also play a factor, larger tyres tend to take hits better at the right pressure. But what most people don't realise is that larger tyres need less psi. A sierra on stock tyres should run about 22psi or so on the street so a sierra on 31's could get away with 18-20psi easily, don't trust tyre fitters they always over inflate for safetys sake.

shackle angle is also one of the most important factors, whilst extended shackles can give more travel which will improve ride comfort they often come at the expense of a good shackle angle. By playing with spring and shackle length try to aim for a shackle angle of 45 degrees or slightly flatter.

Shackle reversals on the front can also help absorb bumps (speaking from experience), they have their drawbacks though but work very well when done right. Do a search on this also if interested.

Lastly seating is important, sierra seats leave alot to be desired and retrofitting some seats from a swift gti or some other vehicle can be advantageous.

I hope I've helped.

you could also drive on the other side of the road and avoid the bumps? =)