Soften the Ride!

Hi! new to the site.....was looking to see if anyone has experience with the sulastic shackles...apparently they make one for a Toyota Tundra that will fit the front of a K10 with some modifications.

I've replaced front and rear springs/shocks with standard 1/2 ton equipment, but I feel I need the truck to ride a little smoother to really enjoy this as my daily driver.

thanks all!

Front Sulastics? That’s a novel idea that I have not considered. My front springs are new lift springs, pretty sure Rough Country because they’re rough for sure.

Shackles are cheap dude.
Y U haz to modify?

The guys at sulastic said mods would be necessary, as they do not make a shackle for the front of a k10... but one intended for a Toyota Tundra would fit with some modifications.... Thats as far as I got.... not gonna bother with mods unless someone tells me sulastic shackles definitely worth it

Looking at the picture of them, I'm not really sure how those would possibly work on the front. You have a solid mount at the front that it obviously wouldn't fit on, and the back shackle it would be replacing doesn't look like there would be enough room at the back to mount at. Not only is the upper mount halfway up the frame, but the frame dips down right there and already almost hits the spring eye with stock length shackles. If you want a smooth ride I'd suggest springing(see what I did there) for some softer tough country EZ-ride springs or the custom ORD's. Also, if you still have the factory sway bar mounts on the front, they could be binding up and causing part of your harsh ride.

gonna check the sway bar stuff... I don’t think softer springs are gonna do much better....I think it’s just the nature of leaf springs and solid front axle
Thanks

enrico said:

gonna check the sway bar stuff... I don’t think softer springs are gonna do much better....I think it’s just the nature of leaf springs and solid front axle
Thanks

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Softer springs give a softer ride, no matter the spring type. Leaves, coils, torsion... softer is softer.

My road is ruff and sometimes I wish I'd not put in the BB springs when I put the BBC in and just went with softer springs. Even if it would sit lower in the front.

enrico said:

gonna check the sway bar stuff... I don’t think softer springs are gonna do much better....I think it’s just the nature of leaf springs and solid front axle
Thanks

Click to expand...

I'm not really sure you thought through this statement before you made it. 1/2 ton springs and 3/4 ton springs are identical except for spring rate. If you think a K20 and a K10 ride the same... you probably haven't ridden in a K20. Most lift springs out there have WAY higher spring rates and make the truck ride terrible. The rough country springs are notorious for this. The Tough Country EZ-Rides and the Skyjacker Softride springs have about half the spring rate of the rough country and similar high rate springs.

You could always just drop a Big block in there to soften up the front a bit too.

Rougher, older springs will also not let the leaves slide as well against each other and any other frozen or binding attachment points can also negatively affect the ride. Also one of the biggest factors can be good quality shocks. Not necessarily bilstein or Fox, but just good quality OEM type replacements will help the ride a bunch. The cheap as heck Gabriel or Monroe isn't really gonna cut it and will not ride very well.

Do you still have rubber bushings in your shackles? I have heard that going to poly bushings makes the ride nicer due to actually letting your shackles and springs go through their proper motions, and not binding against the stock rubber components.

thanks guys for all the input...wish i had known about the Tough Country EZ-Rides ...i purchased my springs from general spring in NJ....like i said, standard 1/2 ton springs. i actually had 3 leaf in the front and 4+1 in the rear.....ended up with 2 leaves in the front and 3 + 1 in the rear....dont get me wrong, the ride improved quite a bit, but not to where i am comfortable using it every day. after about a week, i start to feel it in my lower back....i do alot of driving on ****** NY roads.

more flexible springs wil soften ride definitey. more number of springs in a leaf pack will cause less flex and stiffen it and cause harder ride.. so you want the opposite if you want less hard ride.. that just how it works. and leaf springs and solid front axle is just inherintly gonna ride harder than anything else, its a truck not a car.. just saying.. but there are many different mods and custom shackles and many more other different parts and pieces etc. that can be swapped to to help soften the ride, even with the leaf packs style suspension,..,