Would a kildermen air ride give better results or not worth the money?

 

A Keldermann would be a lot smoother, but it costs a lot more money. I've ridden in a couple of Keldermann equipped trucks and if you run long distances and can afford it, the Keldermann is the way to go.

 

Well, I have a bag full of tip inserts like Jim got and I will be attemting this starting mon/tuesday... I will let everybody know the results... Everybody that I have mentioned too I was gonna do this told me I was crazy and it would be a big waste of time... So, I'm hoping to prove them wrong!!

Any thought's on cutting 1" off the end of each leaf for a smoother ride??

 

I will have to think about that some. Seems like it would soften the ride, but at the expense of spring life and capacity.

 

I got the same response but I ill tell you mine defiantly rides better, while it will never ride as smooth as a newer truck mine rode so rough before that it was miserable to drive most of the freeways around here.

If you look at the spring and the way it works then you can see why it will ride better.

As the leaf spring bounces and rebounds the arch of the leaf is constantly lengthen and shortens against its adjoining leaf, if you saw mine the tips of the leaves were grinding into the steel of the leaves as they slid back and fourth with a lot of resistance while also creating heat.

Now when you separate the leaves with the tip isolators it is now going to slide instead of grind so it rides softer.

I think if you shorten the leaves it will ride worse because the leaves will not have as much flex.

I think if you could install longer springs under the truck it would ride softer like on some of the Chevy trucks.

If you checked out the video of my truck it will show how smooth it rides in the cab.
Oh yes and it is also quieter.
Jim

 

Ya... I don't doubt your findings... Thats why I am gonna give it a try this week... I thought about shortening the leafs and came up with it would hurt it overall... Ya, the leafs on my 06 are like 5' long... I'll let you all know, because I too don't like the ride at all on these Michigan Roads.... My goal is to shut up all the haters that say it won't help!!

 

That's a great writeup Jim. I can sure see how the inserts would help, as they are now included from the factory, on many new (smoother riding) trucks. I always assumed it would be a much larger ordeal and not worth the effort; especially drilling the holes. I thought it was ingenious, your idea to disassemble the spring pack before removing it from the vehicle, thus avoiding messing with the spring hanger and shackle bolts which would probably be seized in the bushings by now (in my part of the world anyway). Thanks for the insight.

 

I have the 4 bag Kelderman system on my truck.... I think I will give this a shot and see how much difference it makes (The truck had 6700 miles on it when the Kelderman was installed.... the drivers door JUST NOW started drooping and the cowl cracks that plague the first gen's are non existant on my truck. I think if I had left the running boards on the pickup and stayed with 31" tires the door would be OK still. Something to be said about a truck I have to jump into after a days work. The door makes a very good help-me handle.)

 

The Alcan's I just put on my Ramcharger in Dec. have those insert pads, and the ride is very smooth and quiet. I think they do as advertised.

 

Update!

Today while doing some routine maintence, I was checking the torque of the U-bolts and while checking the springs and I did find that I had at sometime lost one insert but I will report that all of the poly inserts are in almost perfect condition except for the one that I lost.

They have been in service for about 6 months now and the ride is still nice and firm and no squeaks.



This is the back of the drivers side spring pack that lost the bushing; it looks like I need to figure out some way to isolate the clips because where they rub I am getting some rust on the leaves.
Maybe some kind of a graphite paste.



So I will now show you the very difficult task of replacing the missing insert.

First I removed the 3/8” bolt that secures the spring leaves,

Then I pressurized my Firestone Air Bags with 150 PSI thereby removing the weight off from the springs
.


Now it is a simple task to separate the leaves with a small pry bar, then it is a simple task to drop in a new tip insert.

Then all I have to do is to deflate the air bags, clamp and reinstall the spring hardware and the job is finished.



There is a comparison, the old insert on the top while a new one is on the bottom.



About the only wear that I could see with the inserts is that the raised printed numbers on the face was worn off other that that they looked like I had just installed them.

So I think these are going to wear for some time, six months later I am still happy with the improved ride that I got from this project.
Jim

 

Thanks for the update. This is on my list of things to do on my crew project. I have been debating moving the spring hangers in the frame and using Chevy springs as thay are about 8 inches llonger, or something like that. Time will tell what I do. The budjet is pretty slim. Thanks again.

 

Jim,
At work we use GM p# 12345996, it is a type of heavy tfp lube, for just this thing. There is a bullitan on new trucks to apply it to the bushings, I know it works great on 1/2 ton trucks, you may want to give it a go, if you have not found anything else by now.
Justin

 

I just found that in Greenville, SC I can order the inserts by the 100's plus shipping and it comes out to about .50 cents a peice. I ordered them from my local spring shop. The part number is 15604067 but not sure what vender sells them.

 

send me a truck worth lol

 

How are these holding up a couple years later?