I just got new shocks )Monroe Gas Magnums) and they don't seem like they're long enough, but they're the same as the ones that were on there. With the weight of the truck on the front axle, there is only about 2" of downward travel left in the shocks. The bump stop would limit the upward travel to about 3" - 4", giving a total of 6" of travel. I know the shocks have more travel than that, probably about 10". How can I get more downward travel (get the shocks compressed more at normal ride height)? As it is, any pothole I hit is probably going to cause the shock to bottom out before the suspension wants to stop moving to compensate.

 

Well one thing to remember is that all of our trucks are getting a little long on the tooth. Your sig shows that your truck has about 255k on it (assuming that's the one you're talking about here.)

Over time springs "wear-out" and start to sag. Occasionally springs do break. That could be the case here. Your front springs may just not be up to the task of supporting the Cummins and everything else anymore. Or one of the leaves may be broke. You may want to look into replacing your front springs or at least check them out to see if any are cracked/broken.

 

I'd considered all that, but I've just recently restored the front springs from having a 2" negative arch to being flat again, plus I added an additional bottom leaf. I think I'm going to take that extra bottom leaf out, which will drop the front about 1/4" - 1/2" (it's pretty thick), to help level the truck and get more front shock travel. It just seems to me that a shock should be at the middle of it's travel when the truck is sitting still. I think I could move the upper shock mount down about 3/4" to 1" by drilling new holes for where it bolts to the frame and trimming a little off the bump stop.

Hey - my sister-in-laws son is over there with you. He's at Baquba. Keep up the good work.

 

I finished putting the front axle in today. I took the bottom leaf out of each front spring (I had 2 of the short bottom leaves in there for height, turns out I didn't need the 2nd one). I marked the shocks before I dropped everything down on the tires and I have about 1 1/2" of compression. I figure it'll settle a little once I take it out and drive it (gotta let the RTV on the front diff cure before I fill it and still need to grease things up and set the toe).

I sure would like to see more downward travel, especially as bad as the roads are here in Kalifornia. I had to raise the axle almost 2" before I could even get the shocks on their mounts. I think I might try making custom upper shock mounts that put the top of the shock about 2 - 3" lower. Either that, or weld some 3"x3" 1/2" stock on top of the shock mount on the axle and move the lower bolt the there..

Tomorrow, I'll fill the front diff and take it for a spin and see if it settles out any. After that, I'll be taking the rear spring packs apart, beveling the ends, putting in liners and adding a couple leafs I have from a 1/2 ton that I parted out in there to replace a couple of the flatter springs. I want to get the rear about 1 1/2" - 2" high, since it's about 1" lower than the front now. The way the rear is sitting right now, if I put the overload spring stops on the frame, I'd be riding on the overloads all the time.