Softer springs will soften my ride?

[araujo]

As with hundreds of titans being sold in Mexico, a local off road and racing shop down here in Baja, who has been in the business over 20 years says that he has replaced the springs in several trucks and that it has softened the ride quite a bit and with great results. According to him the springs currently being put on the 2x4 are the same lbs per square inch as some heavy duty service trucks and are a design flaw for the titan.


Anyone made any change such as this?

[PrerunnerGreg]

The spring rate is dependant on motion ratio. From what I've seen the spring rate of the 4x2 is about on par, but it certainly could use a custom valved shock.

[PHOEBISIS]

araujo,I've been curious about that myself-are they oversprung,and could I get a cushier ride with "softer" springs?I think the nice "tight" no sway ride we have a low speeds is because of the springs,but at higher speeds the shocks are more important,I think.Maybe that funny "ROCKING" we get at speed over expansion joints could be cured with different damping rates??.The small payload sure indicates that they aren't oversprung but...??Is this shop owner talking about the front or the rear springs?Does he do mailorder?Any idea on price?
PrerunnerGreg,what is "motion ratio"-never heard that term before?Any idea what the wheel travel is on the Titan?Thanks,Charlie

[PrerunnerGreg]

Moton ratio is the ratio between the tire and the inner pivot point to the inner pivot to the shock/ spring mounting point (the same in this case because it uses a coilover or strut). If the strut mount were 1/2 way between the pivot and the tire, and you want a "wheel spring rate" of say 300 lbs/in. then the spring would be 1200 lbs/in (law of inverse square). Obviously the rear leaves bring a different equation into works as the spring acts on a 1:1 ratio with a verticle force, but that ratio changes as the truck sways. Im guessing that the front has about 8" of travel stock using the stock strut. the rear should have about 9. I will do more research soon reguarding getting more travel from the front.

[Potroast]

Originally Posted by PHOEBISIS

Is this shop owner talking about the front or the rear springs?Does he do mailorder?Any idea on price?

err, I don't think the rear uses springs -- more like leafpacks. Deaver will custom-make them to your specs if you need it.

personally I wouldn't mess with em unless you're lifiting/droping.

[bestatchess]

You need to make sure you are dealing with somebody who knows what they are doing. You can end up with an axle windup problem even worse than stock.

[37L1]

Originally Posted by PrerunnerGreg

Moton ratio is the ratio between the tire and the inner pivot point to the inner pivot to the shock/ spring mounting point (the same in this case because it uses a coilover or strut). If the strut mount were 1/2 way between the pivot and the tire, and you want a "wheel spring rate" of say 300 lbs/in. then the spring would be 1200 lbs/in (law of inverse square). Obviously the rear leaves bring a different equation into works as the spring acts on a 1:1 ratio with a verticle force, but that ratio changes as the truck sways. Im guessing that the front has about 8" of travel stock using the stock strut. the rear should have about 9. I will do more research soon reguarding getting more travel from the front.

Pre:

Some Titan owners have been having issues with freeway "bounce" in California. Do you have a solution to cure their ills?

[PHOEBISIS]

Potroast,who is Deaver? How can I get in touch with him?
I was asking"front or rear springs" because the front and rear are so different-front coil independent, rear leaf spring with solid axle.My guess is that most likely it is the rear leaf springs that are "Oversprung"since they carry more of any added load.I guess all pickups are sorta "oversprung" since they are set up to carry a decent payload and to tow.
It sure would be nice to cure the ride problems with shocks-spring changes will drop the payload.Thanks,Charlie

[PrerunnerGreg]

Deaver is a shop located in Santa Ana, they build most of the leaf packs used on desert race trucks (one of mine encluded). If you call them ask for Jeff or Eric. Eric builds some packs that are getting up to 20 inches of travel. And thier race packs use a triple wrap front eye, spring wrap-up is no longer an issue.
Most trucks are typically over sprung in the rear and the leaves loose most of thier spring with only a couple inches of droop. Couple that with shocks that are typically over damped, ei; too much rebound resistance, and you get a harsh ride. A softer rear spring (with more free arch) with a tunable shock (NOT a rancho 9000 or procomp) and you could easily get a more car like ride, but at the expence of load capacity. If you add more wieght to the rear you could get even better handling and a bit more load capacity, but the overall vehicle weight would increase too.

[araujo]

Im talking about the front. Ill get the info this weekend and post it. Have a great three day holiday.

[PHOEBISIS]

Let us know when you get a chance Araujo.
Thanks for the info Prerunner Greg.I added 240 lbs of sand (in a big $7 31 gallon container) to the rear.It rides pretty good now,most of the expansion joint bumping is gone now.It isn't a very elegant solution-cheap,though.Thanks,Charlie