4x4 ride is horrible

[crazyduetoiowa]

I have a 1991 chevy s-10 4x4 with a towing package helper springs and rear air shocks(with 10psi in them). the rear shocks have 25 k on them. This truck rides like a radio fyler wagon! If i replace all 4 shocks with good gas shocks would that help my ride? My dad says no but i have a neighbor whos says differnt and offered to help install new shocks! would it be worth the money? I can only think it could help!

Any help or Hints advice would be great!

Thanks Derek

[timberdoodle]

new shocks will help, but not solve the problem, shocks mainly help with the resounding bounce up and down of the chassis. Are the helper springs and/or leaf springs brand new? New leafs are very stiff. Especially with a short truck like the s10. Removing the helper spring-if you dont need it- would improve the ride a bit.

[crazyduetoiowa]

the leaf springs are not new, ive had the truck 2 years and 11k miles so i dont know. what would you do if this was your truck? i really dont need all the towing junk. Ill just make two trips to home depot if its a heavy load!

[timberdoodle]

well if by towing package, you just mean the trailer reciever hitch that bolts to your frame? As for those helper springs, i would take them off, if you have the kind that tighten up the other springs, that could make the ride very stiff. If you have the other kind that is just an extra thick spring, it may not improve the ride very much. Do you mean you have air shock absorbers or you have air suspension bags in the rear? If you have air shocks, i would pull them out, the ranchos work fine, or you can put in bilstein or something, this would help the ride out a bit but wont soften the blow of bumps very much.

[crazyduetoiowa]

hey i went out and looked at the back end. I have 3 normal leaf springs then this thing it clamped onto the springs close to the bumper my neighbor said i had halper springs once so i assume thats them. I no expert! I have AIR SHOCKS it says in my records the previous owner put air shocks on the rear. Not sure why he NEVER used the bed of the truck its like new!

[timberdoodle]

http://www.hellwigproducts.com/helpe...gs/medium.html if your helper spring looks something like this one, i would certainly remove that. What this spring does, is pulls up on the rest of the pack, so the steel springs become a lot stiffer and make for a stiffer ride. The shocks, will not help so much with improving the ride. Shocks more or less help with the bounch after you hit a bump-so that you dont get seasick from your car bouncing around. Other than that, you have a very light small truck and it will be a stiffer ride compared to say a big truck, or a car or something of that nature. Hope this helps a little, let me know what you think