I have an '87 K5. I have decided to go with the Tuff County EZ ride 3" lift springs. I have a winch and a winch bumper. I mostly do on-road driving, so ride quality is more important than off-road performance. I'm curious of your experience: Will the weight of the winch and winch bumper need to be offset with the HD springs? Will the EZ ride front springs sag significantly with the weight of the bumper and winch? I'd like the truck to sit level, however I don't want to overdo it and get a super harsh ride from the HD springs if they aren't needed. Thanks,
The regular springs are more than enough for my Suburban. I have a stock front bumper but carry a lot of weight on the roof rack. Just my opinion, but it would be a bummer to pay for EZ ride springs and not get a reasonably smooth ride out of them.
I have a 2" lift with regular springs and my 7 1/2 foot fisher plow only sink the front end about an inch.
I had 4" EZ Rides on my '79 (SBC with A/C). I added this winch bumper and brush guard. The shop over did the brackets and made the set up heavier than it probably should have. It was the best riding Square I've had. When braking hard, I did get some squat on the front which would cause me to have to correct the steering wheel to the left, maybe an 1/8 of a turn at most. I had a raised steering arm and the drag link was level when static. My current truck (K30) has the 3" HD's. I have a 454, A/C, bumper guards and dual batteries and it rides way too stiff. I'm probably going to remove the 4th leaf. I would venture to guess they are intended for crew cabs, not a standard cab truck.
FYI, I have since contacted Tuff Country. They confirmed the only difference between the HD and EZ Ride is the 4th leaf. He said if I removed that spring I would have and EZ Ride.
yeah we knew that but thanks for reconfirming. So that bottom leaf can be trimmed down to reduce spring rate a little. You can do this while it's on the truck. Jack up the front and set the frame on stands, so the suspension droops. With a 4" grinder and thin zip disc whack of 3/4" from the both ends of the bottom helper leaf. If you take all the way back as far as you go you have created a little 'zero rate'.
Sorry for a slight thread jack here- what about on stock rear springs? I've heard that some flip the overload leaf on the bottom upside down but have you ever cut that stock leaf down?
Yes you can do this to. Flipping it takes it out of the spring pack equation but then it's a 'catch' for brush, dead cats and such..
