Stiff Ride

[jeffreydc]

I used a similar product several years ago and liked it. I didn't know that Sulastic picked up their product and is selling it.

 

Sulastic Rubber Spring stops listing the Chevy/GMC at year 2012. Did you have installation issues? Installation Review from Truckin' magazine.

Hi Larry,

 

I actually contacted them to find out which pair to use. The hardest part of installation was having to loosen the bed bolts to raise it up just a bit to get the top shackle bolts out. I think there is a youtube video a guy did of installation on a sierra but it was a 2500 but still similar.

[lrymal]

Hi Larry,

 

I actually contacted them to find out which pair to use. The hardest part of installation was having to loosen the bed bolts to raise it up just a bit to get the top shackle bolts out. I think there is a youtube video a guy did of installation on a sierra but it was a 2500 but still similar.

Back in the mid-2000s, we ran a lot of messages of that similar product back then. I may try to find them if the durned search engine will be friendly. There were issues about the frame being slightly different to get in the way of the bolt heads on newer trucks of that time.

 

Also, if I recall, we had to lift the truck via lifting the body, and lifting somewhere else with a second jack. Now, my memory is really soft on this. Seems this product was produced by a company named "Lord Taylor," I think. They are gone.

 

This product looks exactly like it. If I could find the thread on that mid-2000s version, I think it could help us avoid duplicating issues of that era.

[lrymal]

I honestly cannot find those old 2005 era messages. I'll bet they've been culled to make room on the server. Spent a couple of hours digging.

 

In the meantime, I sent a note to Sulastic about the 2014 GMC/Chevy trucks.

[DanielAcosta]

Tire pressure for load range E tires will be higher than the stock tires. I'm running 50F/45R when empty, more pressure in the rear depending on how big a load I'm hauling. Toyo, Discount Tire, and others will provide recommended pressures for your aftermarket tires.

[KARNUT]

OK, I am going to tread lightly here, just giving my experience with the topics of this thread. Firestone tire problem of the mid 70s was a steel belt issue, tires were out of round new. They were on new Ford cars as original eq. I had a ford elite with those tires on them firestone 500, the car would move around at slow speeds make you sea sick. Took it back they switch out the tires from another car same thing. They finally said take

 

it up with firestone. The wife and littles rode in that car so I went to Sears and just got new ones. Guess who made those tires for Sears, they finally let me trade those for a another brand. Air pressure in tires can be on the low side of what it says on the door, I always run just before where the light comes on for low pressure. If you going to haul a load then bump them up. When I ran my one tons I ran them at 50 psi jump to 80 psi when hauling or pulling so I could stay in the seat. One ride on I10 in Louisiana you know why.

[TxTruckMan]

I guess there might have been an older Firestone Tire problem? I was referring to the Firestone/Explorer problem back in the 1990s.

 

And LT/E rated tires CAN handle higher psi, but it doesn't mean that they MUST have higher psi. Unloaded, they'll need the same pressure as stock tires. Running at 50-80 psi while unloaded is just crazy.

[KARNUT]

I didn't know they had more problems, you think they learn. Tires on one tons 14 ply 80 lbs is what you put in for max load. I would haul 30000 lbs, 50 psi in those is a smooth ride on a one ton. As for heat I would carry a temp gun so I wouldn't over heat the tires.

[pm26]

The problem with the Firestone tires was from low air pressure causing too much sidewall flex which resulted in frictional heat causing them to blow out. Running too high a pressure (within spec limits) will just cause a stiff ride and uneven tire wear. Regardless of the tire rating (P, LT) you should run at the door sticker PSI unless you have increased load on the tires. Then you should increase pressure to maintain the same even wear patch on the tire and prevent too much sidewall flex.

There was a combination of problems with the Ford Exporers that had the blowouts with these Firestone tires. The first problem was the suspension design of the vehicle. The rigid rear axle made the vehicle more prone to rollovers. Ford quickly introduced independent rear suspension into new Explorers after this fiasco. The second problem was that Ford specified too low air pressure for the Explorers. The third problem was that some people neglected the check the pressure so it fell even lower and also many overloaded the vehicles and drovethem way past the speed limit for etended periods on hot summer dyas. A combination of these factors caused some tires to blow out and the vehicles to roll over in most cases, with catastrophic consequences.