How to make a smoother ride
 

I’ve been reading about how to make a smoother riding truck but the more I read the more confused I am I was originally going to get new sky jacker soft ride spring with shocks all the way around but then I was reading that it’s not any better of a ride then some people say air bags with taking out some leafs out of the original springs I know it will not ride like a new truck but it’s awful right now the biggest thing for me is to keep or improve my towing capacity because I tow heavy a lot I’m on a budget too so nothing to crazy I also thought about Chevy springs also I really need some advice on what is the best thing to do

Wanting a smoother ride....and to also improve your towing capacity is a tall order.

Usually you can make it ride smoother [read softer]...but then it does not handle as much weight [read towing capacity].

Best to list what you have for a truck and the current suspension.

Do you have overload camper springs on your truck?
'89-90 truck? Or '92/'93?
Regular cab or Club cab?

You can read my "Saving a '91.0...." thread if you would like to read up on how I solved this problem.

I used a rear shackle flip, longer shackle, lowered the front of the rear leaf spring hangers, lost the OEM lift block, pulled one spring out of the rear pack.
I also ditched the air bag set up it came with along with the optional OEM factory over load / camper springs.
I swapped out the front springs for a used gasser aftermarket 2 inch lift spring W250 set 1/2 long shackles and more.....

Does it ride smoother. YES!
Does it handle a heavy trailer better? NO, but it does it well enough for the ratio of towing to daly driving I do with that truck.

It’s a 91.5 single cab w250 all stock suspension I think it has overload spring I would have to look for sure though I would not have to increase towing capacity but if I could maintain it would be fine it’s got 285/75/r16 tires on it I thought about letting some air out I’m not sure how much is in there since I haven’t checked it since I had new tires put on

Sounds like you have not tried anything yet to make it ride better. Do some work on your truck and check back.
TOO much air in the tires will make it ride worse than need be, if you do not need the tires at full load capacity PSI.

These 4wd trucks ride hard. I drive my 2wd more as a result.

I try to keep lower rear air pressure when running light. Say 30psi on a 285/75R16 ( on 7" wide Ford rim).

The longer Chevy springs didn't make as much sense to me as longer AND wider (3"). I chose 94-02 dodge springs and hangers because they came with the Dana 80 axle I upgraded to. And a shackle flip. If I was going to choose from scratch, I'd use the 09+ superduty leafs (even longer).

Did you have time to look over your truck?

Find out what PSI you are running in the tires the shop mounted and installed?

Do you have the extra camper springs on the rear?
Are they spaced off the bump stops when you are unloaded?

Hard for us to recommend the next step in improving things, when you do not know what you are working with as a base line.

Ok sorry about the late reply I’ve been busy with work my tires are running a 65 psi I have overload springs in the rear and unloaded the springs are 1/2 or so from touching the overload springs there’s not any bump stops on the truck

Do you have a pic of your overloads? If you have the style that connects with a u-bolt at each end of the springs they a notorious for riding rough, another thing on my 90 when I replaced the rear springs they had like a teflon type pad on the ends of the springs and that helped the springs work a lot easier.

1/2" is too close and will slap hard. That's was part of my problem.

What does that
mean are my springs worn out

I asked a spring shop once what the spacing was supposed to be. They said to use a scrap of 2x4", so that's 1.5" gap.

So yeah, your main leafs have sagged, and now the overloads hit on the slightest suspension movement.

Pictures of your rear spring set up would do wonders for us helping you.
Otherwise we are just guessing where your 1/2 inch space is.

IF it is between the top of the camper spring ends and the frame mounted bump stops that you said you do NOT have. It is too close.

If you have the aftermarket style helper springs like nonrev is picturing, I would recommend removing them.

From your description, I can not really picture what your working with, which makes me not able to offer good advise.

IF you are just driving around empty 65 PSI on the back tires is pretty high. Another reason it rides so rough.

For anyone reading this, or other threads like this, the entire premise of "increasing towing capacity" is a misnomer.

Unless you upgrade your frame, your axles, bearings, tires, and all the other factors which actually increase the original design's ability to carry, or pull more, or move more safely, effectively, and beyond the current manufactured limits designed into the current system.

Yes, you can pull more. Yes you can carry more. Yes you can move more, but at some point you will exceed the bearings on the axles capacity, the frame's capacity, the drive shaft's u-joint's capacity, and so on.

Nothing "increases your capacity". In reality what you are doing is subjecting the other parts to their maximums while having a set of springs that can physically hold their shape in the original design height and position longer, before deformation occurs.