Front suspension ideas?

T

tryblue

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Mar 20, 2009
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Front suspension hop on a leaf spring front Leafs are original. as well as shocks. I was thinking of maybe some type of a custom dual shock setup. not sure if that'll work and or what type of shocks to use. This is for a super street truck. a little back ground, normally when we break and or fix something we normally do it overboard to over correct the problem. so it doesn't come back. I just can't seem to get the truck to be as smooth as I would like it to be.
 
running a dual shock setup should help or running one good valvable shock that you can valve really stiff should also work good. if you run dual shocks you may even try to run the extra one were it is almost all the way compressed so it is in a stiffer valving and it should control the axle movement better then one setup to run at normal travel.
 
Most front leaf spring trucks (gassers and diesels alike) use a front traction bar setup just like the rear, except the bars are mounted off the top of the axle tubes instead of the bottom. That should take care of the hop issue. Most even have the bars angled downward going back right under the car to help push down on the frame so that it helps keep the front tires planted better.
 
suonds good thanks for the help, wonder how a traction bar on the top of the tube at that angle would help I'm trying to make sense of it in my mind. have any pics of that setup.
 
FrameSetup.jpg
 
get some bars like kino said. also make some bump stops and take all but 2 springs out, letting it sit on the stops. a lot of the gasser guys we pull with are set up this way and they rarely ever bounce. also try some drag socks with a 90/10 valving.
 
May just want to leave it at 3 springs instead of 2. Since most gasser classes are anywhere from 5500-6200lbs and diesels are normally around 8000-8500lbs, thats alot of weight up front.

With the bars on top up front, the rearend is trying to twist clockwise (by the driverside and that pic i posted). It will try to shrink the bars, which the bars will have less "give" this way, rather than being on the bottom where the rearend will try to stretch the bars. With them at an angle going downward as they go back, its putting leverage on the front of the truck pushing the frame down, thus planting the tires a little better.
 
Are you sure it's the front suspension that is causing the bounce? What type of rear suspension set-up do you have?
 
A hitch that is not setup right can cause a bounce also and sometimes make it seem like the front that is causing it. Good luck.
 
as of right now its a reinforced reese style, but will be changed this winter to a drawbar type have any ideas on hitch setup that works
 
I agree with all the post, 2 shocks, bars on the front, and a little more on the springs in the front...if you run 3 springs, cut the bottom one off right at the spring pad on the back side of the axle. So you will have 3 springs in front of the axle and 2 in the back and let it ride on bump stops.
Also a grabby clutch will cause a bounce...alot of people over look the clutch as the cause of a bounce!
 
some good ideas as I have had the same problem this year with my 1st gen front end bouncing!
 
The front of mine has never bounced since the day I started hanging weights on it. It's all stock except for I added some leafs to the pack.
 
SMOKIN93 said:
The front of mine has never bounced since the day I started hanging weights on it. It's all stock except for I added some leafs to the pack.
Click to expand...

This is the best way in my opinion. To the guys that have bounce, do you have lifts or add-a-leafs in the front? The worst thing I did to mine was add springs to the front. I changed back to stock and have run the stock front springs for 6 years and it pulls smooth as glass with hanging weight.
 
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