K2500 Suburban with K1500 Rear Leafs

[Pinger]

Seems to be some confusion as to how many leaves a C2500 Suburban has. My 1999 5.7 has six in total. Five plus a helper.

 

[stutaeng]

Seems to be some confusion as to how many leaves a C2500 Suburban has. My 1999 5.7 has six in total. Five plus a helper.

Yes.

GMT400
C/K1500 Suburban has 5 leafpack
C/K2500 Suburban has 6 leafpack

 

[CTX-SLPR]

Rolling on near new LT275/65R17’s off of GMT800 that got bigger wheels when the guy bought it. Shocks are 2yr old (8k miles) Bilstein HD replacements for stock height. Airing down makes it slightly softer on bumps but much more squirrelly. I kinda refuse to carry dead weight just for a smoother ride at reduced performance/fuel economy, yes laughable on a K2500 with a 454 but every bit helps.

I’ll look at the pack and see if there’s a target for removal. It’s definitely down 2in or so in the nose from the back so maybe I have an added leaf or something from a previous owner.

 

[stutaeng]

How much pressure are you airing to on your tires?

 

[CTX-SLPR]

When I bought it it had 37psi in them and it was very squirrelly. I’ve run it at 65 and it was OK, I generally keep it at around 70. Front is fine so I run that at the recommended pressure in the door jamb, 55psi??


I wonder if the C2500 pack might be a decent compromise.

 

[94K3500PROJECT]

With an overload even 1500 springs will be fine.
I can about guarantee a 1500 leaf pack with Timbrens, sumo springs or air bags will be smoother than the stiffer leafs

I’m also looking at installing Sulastic shackles in my K3500.

 

[gearheadE30]

LT tires are probably a big part of the puzzle. They have much stiffer sidewalls than a standard tire to help with load capacity and limiting lateral compliance to reduce sway and improve control when towing. Without a load on them and when aired up as they should be, they are quite stiff. If you're just hauling people around and not using all the towing capacity, some non-LT tires might be a good choice.

 

[someotherguy]

I wouldn't run P rated (standard load) tires on a 1500 Suburban, much less a 2500 model. Just too mushy. Direct experience talking here.. but I understand others have different opinions. I've owned several that came with P tires and I changed 'em. At minimum, XL rated. Hell my CAR has XL load rated tires on it.

I am about 99.9% sure if you check your owner's manual, XL tires are required even on the C1500 Suburban.

Richard

 

[gearheadE30]

I wouldn't run P rated (standard load) tires on a 1500 Suburban, much less a 2500 model. Just too mushy. Direct experience talking here.. but I understand others have different opinions. I've owned several that came with P tires and I changed 'em. At minimum, XL rated. Hell my CAR has XL load rated tires on it.

I am about 99.9% sure if you check your owner's manual, XL tires are required even on the C1500 Suburban.

Richard

I agree SL is pretty mushy laterally (I have some on my Tahoe because there are no other choices in my obscure tire size) but if he has E1 tires on it or something, there are a lot of other rungs on the load scale that might offer an improvement in ride without being much of a risk in other areas. Precise handling and zippy steering response may not be priorities in this case.

If your car is the SRT8 in your pic... I suspect ride quality may not be your number 1 category when picking rubber.

 

[someotherguy]

If your car is the SRT8 in your pic... I suspect ride quality may not be your number 1 category when picking rubber.

Yeah the dark silver one in my avatar is my previous 300; current one is the bright silver same year/model but with a whole lot less miles on it. At the moment it's got some Hellcat take-offs (actually from a Scat Pack "Dynamics" package, same wheels, different color) 20x9.5" with Pirelli P Zero 275/40/20's and those are XL's too, OEM equipped straight from Dodge. Before that I ran the BFG Sport Comp 2's and will probably get another set soon when I finish wearing out these P Zero's.

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Richard