Worn coil springs on my 03 2wd 1500

[Harry Paratestes]

Hey Guys Ive replaced all ball joints, tie rods, sway bar links and shocks all the way around in my 03 single cab 2wd. It has always rode like ****. It rides so bad that i took off my 20s with 275 60 20 tires and put on some 17s i had with smaller tires just because i know the larger sidewalls make it ride nicer.
Anyway I noticed my coils are probably sagging as there is about an inch at most between the front bump stops and lca. I figure this has to be my rough ride problem.
I found some coils on ebay but I was curious how much room there should he when new between the lca and the bump stop?
The only other modification i have is 2" rear drop shackles. Any chance you think this would this contribute to the poor ride?
I know before i bought the truck that the previous owner replaced the rear axle himself. Im thinking there is a possibility maybe he didn't torque the leaf spring mounts correctly? Too much torque might not let springs move? I know when i put the lowering shackles in I didnt torqe them at first and they squeaked when moved. I torqued them to spec and they stopped squeaking but I never checked the front mounts for proper torque. I was just thinking about that last night.

Any advice here? Im probably just going to order the coils and if it still rides rough I guess ill take out the drop shackles next?

 

[diymirage]

the front end of that one definetly looks clapped out

 

[Harry Paratestes]

the front end of that one definetly looks clapped out

Right...I think i should order those coil springs. Now im wondering about the front height with the new springs. i wonder if it will be higher than the rear after i install new ones since i have 2" drop shackles.
I might end up putting stock shackles back on after new coils if the front ends up being higher than the rear.
Any advice on how to install them? Seems like it would be pretty dangerous. I might hire this one out unless its not as dangerous as I think it might be?

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Ok so i finally am in the process of doing the springs and bearings. I got the driver side coil and bearing in and then realized that i might have put the coil in upside down. Is there a certain orientation that theae coils need to go in? Please tell me no lol otherwise ill have to redo the driver side and i cant get the wheel bearing off the passenger side. I might need to take it to a shop and have it pressed out or what is your guys opinion on what do to here?

 

[zrock]

To late for this now but i would never have ordered any type of suspension off ebay. You do not know the quality you are getting and they could be clapped out in a year and your doing the same job over again. I have found that shopping around locally you get a much better component for not allot more money and if you need warranty then you can get it.

As far as direction for installing yes their is a direction they go in.. Look when removing your old coils

For me ebay/amazon if for odd ball things that i cannot get locally and definitely not for my veh.. I made the mistake of ordering 4 parking sensors, color matched them and low and behold not a single one of them worked and the seller would not take them back or refund me since i painted them. Similar with 4 samsung air tags i just purchased they were someones return and 2 out of 4 had already been linked to someones phone seller would no do crap.. You never know what you are getting online.

 

[Harry Paratestes]

So i redid the driver side. Flipped it around. Finished passanger side too. It rides better but how much distance should be between the bump stop and the lower control arm?

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Its still riding way too terrible compared to my 4wd single cabs of the same year and engine. Is the torsion bar setup just ride better all around or whats my problem? Has new sway bar links and bushings, ball joints, tie rods, shocks. Theres nothing left to change out to make it ride better . only other thing i can think of is to take out the 2" drop shackles in the rear? Would this make the ride terrible?

 

[jws123]

what PSI are you putting in your tires?

 

[Harry Paratestes]

what PSI are you putting in your tires?

33 rear and 35 front .
I swapped back to my oem 20s on bfg ko2 275 60 20 and never drove it after the spring swap on the 17s i had on before the swap. I had toyo at 2 in size 265 70 17 on for the last few months because the ride was so terrible with the 20s and bfg at. With the 17s the ride was a little better but still not good.

Im thinking of putting the oem rear shackles back in because maybe the rear being up higher will put more tension on the front coils and make the ride better? Any thoughts on this?

Edit - what about putting in a 1" spacer on the front too? Would that help get the bump stops away from the lower control arms?

 

[rzr6-4]

Lifting the rear a couple inches won't be enough to make a noticeable difference as far as loading the front more. So no. Also, I wouldn't use a spacer. If you want a lift, get the adjustable coils.

You said you did the shocks, but what brand did you get? I put cheapo ones on my Sierra a long time ago and it made very little difference vs the old ones.

You say it rides bad, but what is it doing? Rough on bumps, limp noodle in the turn, not tracking straight, etc? They all have different solutions.

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Lifting the rear a couple inches won't be enough to make a noticeable difference as far as loading the front more. So no. Also, I wouldn't use a spacer. If you want a lift, get the adjustable coils.

You said you did the shocks, but what brand did you get? I put cheapo ones on my Sierra a long time ago and it made very little difference vs the old ones.

You say it rides bad, but what is it doing? Rough on bumps, limp noodle in the turn, not tracking straight, etc? They all have different solutions.

I feel every single crack in the road. Rough as hell. I get in my 4x4 sc sb and its like riding in a cadillac and they have the same wheel and tire size. Im honestly to the point of just selling it unless i can figure the issue out

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Also i just bought ebay shocks. I have a 4 door 2wd 2004 ram i bought for parts with newer shocks. Maybe ill swap them and see if it makes any difference

 

[rzr6-4]

Also i just bought ebay shocks.

Ebay doesn't make shocks. Bilstein, Fox, Eibach, Rancho, Monroe, etc..?

Also, I doubt it's the issue but what's the load rating on your tires? If you put E rated tires on a 1500, certainly won't be doing yourself any favors.

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Ebay doesn't make shocks. Bilstein, Fox, Eibach, Rancho, Monroe, etc..?

Also, I doubt it's the issue but what's the load rating on your tires? If you put E rated tires on a 1500, certainly won't be doing yourself any favors.

Im sure the shocks are made by some manufacturer and sells them to companies that put their label on them just like a ton of other parts. No real name brand but ive had good luck with these same style shocks from the same seller with several other vehicles including my 4x4 rams. Im really doubting its the shocks but ill try the other ones off my parts truck.
They are load range D BFG ko2s.
I just looked again and the bump stops are the same distance that they were before the coil swap. MOTHER FU**** all that work for nothing

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Still just running it as is and accepting that 2wd coil spring rams ride like **** compared to 4x4 torsion bar setups.

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Coils have softened up a little after a few thousand miles but it still doesnt ride as nice as the 4x4 torsion bar setups of my other rams

 

[HemiLonestar]

There isn't a spec height in the manual for 2wd, only 4wd.

 

[Harry Paratestes]

Coming back to this thread. I put that 2wd away for winter and id really like it to ride nice this summer. I saw this guy on youtube put new bump stops on that are shorter. My theory is my ram is hitting the bump stops nearly every time it hits a bump. With shorter bumpstops id think it wont hit the stops with greater distance between? Would this mess up my handling at all?

How to replace 05 ram 1500 bump stops.

in this video I remove and replace the front bump stops with shorter ones after lowering the front end #yellowjacketram #tintkits #hardtokill #ram1500 #rumbl...

youtu.be

Also look at this screenshot of his oem springs and bump stops and his truck had 150k on it at this time. Why is his distance so much more between the stops lca and my distance is less than half of that even with new springs?!

 

[Recoil]

I would think that putting on shorter bump stops would simply make the front end dip more, possibly causing a worse ride than what you have now. Your springs look a lot more compressed just sitting than your friend's in the last picture. What springs did you use?

 

[rzr6-4]

As far as day to day ride quality, I doubt you are hitting the bump stops constantly. A small seam in the concrete or a small transition would only require a small fraction of an inch of suspension articulation. Even if your bump stops are only an inch away from hitting, you would need to drive over something that is at least an inch tall to cause that contact. Definitely with pot holes, railroad tracks and steep driveways perhaps, but not just a normal flat road. That can change if your shocks are trash causing the tires to "bounce" up but even with knock offs I would hope that aren't that bad already.

The only way the front end would be dipping I think as recoil is referring to would be heavy braking or if you are porpoising really bad after hitting a bump. You may feel more of that lean forward which you may not like but I would rather have that than an impact. Even then you really shouldn't be hitting bump stops in those situations, bump stops aren't for when the truck comes down under load, they are for when the tires come up due to impact. Shorter bump stops may help but yours are so small from factory I would not expect any significant change.

My coil sprung ram 2500 rides significantly better over bumps than my torsion bar sierra 1500, especially large bumps/impacts. I think a large part of that is the longer wheel base but either way I think the ram wins out. Not to say that one ram to another your coil should be riding better than the torsion bar truck, but no I don't think there is any inherent benefit of torsion bars that I would expect it to be the smoother ride.