Silverado 2500 suspension help

[vaquero]

I am in need of some suspension consulting and was wondering if anyone had any names of places in Northern Arizona for 4X4 suspension help that know about Chevy's. Truck is a 2011 2500HD, gas engine, extended cab, 6' bed, 4X4. I have an older Outfitter pop-up truck camper that seems to be in the 3000 lb range all geared up. The whole enchilada hovers in the 10K range, gross. Have put on 5600# air bags (Air-Lift) in the rear, which helps a lot, and have one year old Rancho 9000XL shocks. I am pretty much blowing through the damping so I'm all over the road. New tires (275/65/18- goodyear dura-trac) and even went up a weight rating on them for piece of mind. Have considered new sway bars. Hellwig makes them for front and rear, but instead of just throwing $$ at it in random areas it would be nice to approach the entire set of problems as an integrated approach.

The rig is a pig for sure, even on wonky pavement, so I am going over options. Not trying to rock crawl or anything like that. Just like to camp in the woods. Add to that pulling a small moto trailer and it gets downright not fun to keep track of.

Any help is appreciated

 

[1stDeuce]

Have you replaced all four shocks with 9000's, or just the rears? The factory front shocks on these trucks are pretty soft... And did you use the p/n that Rancho calls out for the front, or some p/n that "fit"? A shock designed for the front of an IFS rig needs to be quite a bit stiffer than one for a solid axle. If a shop put on some 9000's that "fit", rather than the correct ones, the front would be way soft, even with the shocks cranked right up.

Also, the steering on the 2011+ trucks is a little quick for my taste, and on the shorter trucks, has a rubber damped relay rod IIRC. My take was that it caused the truck to be a handful to drive on rougher roads, particularly when loaded or towing a trailer. If your truck got that linkage, it might be part of the issue if you're talking about squirrely handling, not just ride quality. A 3000lb outfitter would be pretty heavy... I'm running a fairly heavy CCSB, but with a 8.5' haulmark, which isn't a terribly light camper. My truck does pretty well with airbags and cheap Gabriel shocks... Too stiff if anything. You shouldn't be much different, so something is up.

Do note that with a truck camper, you'll get some rocking at low speeds over really rough terrain. It's just the downside to having the CG so high.

Define better what you mean by "all over the road" and we'll see if we can figure out what's up.

 

[PJorgen]

Sounds like my truck is pretty similar to yours. I've got a 2012 GMC 2500HD extended cab 4x4 with the 6L gas engine. I have a FWC on the back and it grosses out at about 8800 lbs. I did put 305/60/18 ST/Maxx tires on it, Load range E, load index 121. The suspension is totally stock and I have no problems with handling either on or off road.

I'm not in a hurry so all my off-road driving is pretty slow. At 10k lbs you'll need to take it slow as well.

 

[rotti]

Sounds like my truck is pretty similar to yours. I've got a 2012 GMC 2500HD extended cab 4x4 with the 6L gas engine. I have a FWC on the back and it grosses out at about 8800 lbs. The suspension is totally stock and I have no problems with handling either on or off road.

X2
I have almost the same set up, 2012 chevy 2500HD crew cab, gas and a FWC Hawk with a gross of weight of 9,000 lbs. As mentioned above, my suspension also is totally stock and I have no problems with handling either on or off road, in fact I think it drives like a dream. I think your just way over your max payload. If in your shoes, I would look at a custom spring pack or 3500HD overload setup. Also, take your fully loaded rig to the scales and find out just how heavy you really are.

 

[PJorgen]

X2
I have almost the same set up, 2012 chevy 2500HD crew cab, gas and a FWC Hawk with a gross of weight of 9,000 lbs. As mentioned above, my suspension also is totally stock and I have no problems with handling either on or off road, in fact I think it drives like a dream. I think your just way over your max payload. If in your shoes, I would look at a custom spring pack or 3500HD overload setup. Also, take your fully loaded rig to the scales and find out just how heavy you really are.

Good point - get an accurate weight on your rig. The GVWR on my truck is 9500 lbs, so if you're truly at 10k and only 500 lbs over you shouldn't be having serious handling issues. It might be something else, could you have bent or broken suspension or steering components?

OTOH, if your estimate is wrong and you're actually 2000 lbs over, then you need to do something with your suspension

 

[pappawheely]

X2
I think your just way over your max payload. If in your shoes, I would look at a custom spring pack or 3500HD overload setup. Also, take your fully loaded rig to the scales and find out just how heavy you really are.

I agree. You have to know what you are working with. I have worked for a couple shock companies and have been out tuning with the best. The #1 thing is to get the spring rate right. All the bags, add a leafs and bolt on gizmos are just band aids. Get your spring rate matched to your weight and a decent shock. It will handle like a dream.