Weird vibrations rough ride

[BeatUp98]

So drove my truck on gravel today for the first time and had a really low vibration most of the time. I can't pinpoint it but almost sounds like it's coming from the rear. Rear end never makes any noise like bearings or gears would be bad and the g80 still works normally. The truck loves to kick out in the rear though over bumps though. The front is lifted with junk aftermarket keys cranked all the way down. There's a little bit of room still between the droop stops and upper control arms. The rear looks like only a 3 inch block and sits about an inch higher than the front

This trucks rides rougher than anything I've ever rode in. The previous owner put on some new Monroe shocks before I bought it but I think they are too short or shot already. I know how bad a truck can ride with torsion bars cranked this isn't my first rodeo but it shouldn't be this bad. I just completely rebuilt the front steering minus a steering box.

Would getting new right length shocks and possibly rough country upper control arms solve the vibration problem and the worse than log truck ride? I would say the keys are over cranked but my buddy has a 94 with keys cranked about the same height if not a hair higher and his doesn't ride close to as bad as mine.

 

[BeatUp98]

Also not sure if getting an add a leaf and ditching that big 3 inch block in the rear would help with the rear end wanting to kick out on bigger bumps. My buddy also used to have an 01 Silverado with his keys cranked ~3 inches and says he put the rough country 4-6 lift shocks on and it made a world of difference in ride and handling. Is this something I could possibly do to help not sure if the shocks would be okay on a 2-3 inch crank but he never had any problems all the way up til he sold it.

 

[TylerZ281500]

first off never use those damn control arms people! junk junk junk junk. Take the keys out, your rough ride is likely the torsoin bar. its a wear item and you cannot compare one truck to another. its sprung steel so your buddys are either worn and weak or he has a lower rating bar. yours likely arent either as bad or the same rating as said buddys. shocks probably wont help unless theyve overextended and are binding. regardless get rid of the keys, get proper shocks, return the truck to close to a properly functioning ride height.

also think about this. GM built shocks to accommodate bump stop to bumstop. that math is already done. with you cranking your limiting suspension travel in one direction but the stock shocks are still within functional tolerance. 4-6" lift shocks on what is classified as factory cycle geometry and height is downright stupid. plus rough country shocks are junk. just about anything rough country is sub par, complete garbage or has taken advantage of the lesser informed. point in hand-longer upper control arms

 

[TylerZ281500]

now for the rear, define kick out please? are the bolts not tight? blocks will cause axle wrap onany vehicle they are added too, no exceptions. you theoretically only need a 2" block. sounds like alot of your truck, hopefully by the previous owner has been poorly done. id remove it all, or go through the entire installation procedure and recheck everything.

also added note, an 01 silverado does not have the same specs as these trucks. we can reach bumpstops with factory keys, they cannot and have the control arm clearance to retain somewhat proper geoemtry, you cannot compare them.

 

[BeatUp98]

To clarify I still have a little room between between my upper control arm and the droop stops. I've checked over the rear end and nothing appears to be loose. His truck appears to be same specs as my suspension and I'm not sure how you tell a torsion bar is wore out without it sagging but neither one of his keys are cranked very disproportionate to the other.

I'm not a rough country salesman or anything and I understand there is a proper way to engineer for best capability but at the same time who spends $2k+ to lift a $3000 truck? They have excellent products FOR THE PRICE POINT. To compare them to bds or fox is like comparing a chevy to a caddy. Two completely different ballparks. If you wanna go to MOAB the. Yes rough country is total garbage. If you want to get down some nasty back roads and fit bigger tires, well I've seen a lot of rough country equipped trucks and nobody I know has broken anything other than a CV shaft, transmission, or driveshaft and that can't be 100% the fault of the lift. Rough country and cepek are the top rated lifts in the official lift thread on this forum and I'm sure it's thought of because it's junk.

Also this cannot be a simple case of over cranked bars. There's several trucks around running my ride height which best I can tell is cranked to be level with add a leaf or 2 inch block and I know of two I've rode in that were no where near as rough as mine. Unless someone swapped some 3/4 ton bars in this truck I'm honestly stumped as to how this ride is so terrible. The rear is just as bad as the front and loves to kick over to the side on large bumps. Like I said nothing seems loose. Also I don't know what aspect of the control arms you are bashing but allowing for more down travel doesn't make them junk. If I wanted factory ride quality I would return this truck to stock. I wanted torsion bar cranked ride not wore out Mack truck. I'm not looking for the stock geometry either I know that makes me "stupid" but this truck is a beater that gets drove once or twice a week and has 260k miles. I'm not going to prematurely wear out suspension parts when I don't even drive it 5k miles a year. I just want to quit breaking my teeth hitting every little bump in the road. If I could lower it anymore without the 285/70-17's rubbing I would but they still rub on sharper turns which should tell you just how not cranked to hell this truck is.

 

[BeatUp98]

If I could shell out the $1000 for a full lift right now I would but I'm trying to save for my wedding and a bathroom remodel so a few hundred is all that is going to get spent on it. Again not looking for factory ride quality just want to know if anyone has come across this unusually rough ride is what appears to be a normal amount of crank and also the rear end wanting to kick over on bumps.

 

[TylerZ281500]

un crank it does it ride better, your choices are trial and error. cranking is not the proper way to lift a truck, either your shocks are overextended and locking(probably not the case) or your spring rate is through the roof, like i said you cannot compare two trucks, things wear at different rates. the likelihood the sticker is still on the bars is slim. rough ride comes from too high of a spring rate, torsoin bars are cyclical springs. im not sure how to depict what we mean by kick over still, im not getting a clear understanding of that one.

 

[BeatUp98]

The rear of the truck will literally shift over a few inches when hitting a decent bump. Had it aligned this morning after rebuilding the front end and didn't notice it doing it hardly any driving to work. I think the steering so loose is the front in contributed a lot to letting the rear end get loose. I honestly think I have a shock issue given it has the same cheap looking shocks all around and they seem overextended when the truck is just sitting flat. Also because the rear is so rough riding when it has factory springs and only a block lift.

 

[TylerZ281500]

pull them off and veridy, its two bolts and easy enough to verify sanity or not, other things...........blocks, did they shear the pins when installing? are u bolts tight? sloppy steering wouldnt physically move the rear. bushings shot? leaf packs moving around on ya?

i doubt the rear springs factory ride is an issue, only thing blocks are changing is the vehicles overall center of gravity and the know improper driveline angles/loss of RPM that goes along with that. blocks kinda suck when they are tapered. regardless, your cranked front would be causing more beumpsteer if anything with crap angles since all your steering geometry is different