btggraphix wrote: This has been an interesting thread. I am just begining to try to research if I want to put an air ride (Link? Kelderman? others?) suspension on my 4500. Not so much for improving the ride for my benefit but for the benefit of the camper I am carrying....i.e. to not beat it to pieces on my truck. It survived the first owners' trip to South America so maybe it'll be OK as is.
But glad it's staying civil enough to survive so far.
PopBeavers wrote:
Matthew_B wrote:
Air ride would be wonderful. Coil springs would be a disaster. Coil springs can't be as progressive, so either they are real harsh empty or mushy when loaded.
The mountain bike industry has figured out how to build shocks with internal progressive coil springs.
On a mountain bike, you want it to ride soft an cushy when the terrain is moderate. But when you jump 20 feet into the air, you want a strong shock to absorb the impact.
It might not be practical or it might be too expensive, but progressive coil springs do exist. Maybe not for trucks.
Actually, I think the mountain bike (mono) shock and forks came more from dirt bikes than anywhere else (a natural progression in my mind.) I think mountain bike pioneers finally realized they could build a bicycle following dirt bike engineering and make something great. But Steve is probably right that the rising rate springs were around even before the 'modern' shocks and forks on dirt bikes/mountain bikes started using them.
You are quite likely correct. I was responding to the statement:
"Coil springs can't be as progressive, so either they are real harsh empty or mushy when loaded."
DS is a mechanical engineer and races mountain bikes in the pro class. He gets free bikes from various companies to test. When he breaks them they change the design. He was once explaining to me the advantage of progressive springs.
I have never seen him ride a bike more than 20 feet off the ground or clear a gap longer than 30 feet. Those types of bikes do not have "normal" suspension.
I have a friend that used to do a lot of dirt riding in the 60s and 70s. I always admired his Ossa Stilleto. He was looking at my son's mountain bike and commented that DS's bicycle had way more technology in the suspension than his motorcycles ever did.
Wayne in San Jose
TV1:2002 Chevy 1500HD 4wd Crew Cab,Valley Odyssey brake ctlr,McKesh mirrors
TV2:2008 GMC 2500HD long bed 4wd Crew Cab,GMC brake ctlr,GMC mirrors
TT:Trailmanor 2720
Honda 2000
Yamaha WR250R,Polaris Sportsman 700 X2,Polaris Scrambler 500
I have yet to see anyone without a tc/camper towing/work truck actually use their 3/4-1 ton for anything other than daily driving. There should be a law that is you buy one you have to tow or haul something with it. They could easily make a coil springed 3/4 1-ton for the diesel equivelent of a ricer.
tcdave wrote: The only problem with coils on 1/2 trucks is that people are going to buy one thinking that they can pull or haul anything. If you give people room to load stuff, they will fill it full. I once saw a rear coil Avalanche lose controll while towing a trailer. Not pretty. But the reason was obvious, not enough suspension to control the trailer. I'm sure that cost a pretty penny!
Do you think it would be possible for me to load my jeep trailer with enough weight behind the axles to cause my 1 ton dually enough grief that I could lose control?
05 Dodge 3500 4x4 DRW Long Bed 4dr
07 Lance 992
III so far.
mrblaine wrote: Do you think it would be possible for me to load my jeep trailer with enough weight behind the axles to cause my 1 ton dually enough grief that I could lose control?
With the camper on, no. With the camper off, you bet.
It's generally a bad idea to have negative tongue weight though. You sure don't want to uncouple when the jeep is behind the axle!
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