Nearly losing control after hitting bump with left side only on Regula

dorkweed · November 27, 2016

I have "regular cab", "long bed", 4x4,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I drive with at least one hand on the wheel though!!!!

Marv88 · November 27, 2016

So, you re-engineered the suspension, changed the wheels and tires and are complaining that it doesn't drive "normally" ?

Change it back to "normal" and then see how it drives.

I mentioned above that I have had several short wheelbase trucks and fully expected this one to ride rougher than the longer wheelbase ones so I'm not sure why you assume I am complaining about losing my "normal" ride after making changes. I also mentioned the truck actually rides better overall after the tire/wheel change and the issue I felt was not "normal" was the jolting to the side after hitting a large bump on the left side which is actually the title of the thread (lucky for me that issue was solved in a very useful response above by another member). In any case I plan to upgrade the suspension with the full realization that I can only improve ride/handling to a certain extent due to the fact that it will always have certain characteristics of a short wheelbase truck.

Sean Neilan · November 27, 2016

The biggest culprit is your rims and that it's lowered. The second culprit is that you have a solid rear axle (as all trucks do). What this means is that when the one wheel goes up over the bump, the other wheel is pushed down. At speed this can cause it skip or even briefly lose contact with the ground. Its just one of those things you have to learn to work around and it wouldn't matter what truck (or any vehicle with a solid axle) you're driving it would behave the same way.

Marv88 · November 27, 2016

The biggest culprit is your rims and that it's lowered. The second culprit is that you have a solid rear axle (as all trucks do). What this means is that when the one wheel goes up over the bump, the other wheel is pushed down. At speed this can cause it skip or even briefly lose contact with the ground. Its just one of those things you have to learn to work around and it wouldn't matter what truck (or any vehicle with a solid axle) you're driving it would behave the same way.

Thanks for the insight however the problem actually turned out to be the rear end hitting the bump stop which started after lowering. It rides/bounces like it did even before lowering or adding the wheels/tires as expected however after trimming a couple of inches off of the bump stops it no longer jolts to the side when I hit a large bump which is the only issue I was concerned with.

Mark Diedrich · November 27, 2016

Thanks for the insight however the problem actually turned out to be the rear end hitting the bump stop which started after lowering. It rides/bounces like it did even before lowering or adding the wheels/tires as expected however after trimming a couple of inches off of the bump stops it no longer jolts to the side when I hit a large bump which is the only issue I was concerned with.

Mark Diedrich · November 27, 2016

I'm glad Silverado 4x4 was able to "help" point you in the direction of the problem.

As you can see, you have to filter through all the other opinions, and see which ones make sense, even your service adviser was clueless. Glad he got you pointed in the right direction AND stayed on topic rather than slamming you for your wheel combo, that actually ride better than your stock ones. This is what good help looks like, keep up the good work!

07Softail · November 27, 2016

Just for reference and clarification I guess, should say short wheelbase (reg cab standard bed) and not just regular cab since there are regular cab long beds so those aren't short wheelbase.

His picture shows a RCSB though.

RT

O_J_Simpson · November 27, 2016

Get some Bilstein 5100's and unhack your suspension. Life will be better but not great with the 22" rims.

Marv88 · November 27, 2016

I'm glad Silverado 4x4 was able to "help" point you in the direction of the problem.

As you can see, you have to filter through all the other opinions, and see which ones make sense, even your service adviser was clueless. Glad he got you pointed in the right direction AND stayed on topic rather than slamming you for your wheel combo, that actually ride better than your stock ones. This is what good help looks like, keep up the good work!

Yeah I am definitely glad there are guys like Silverado 4x4 around as who knows how long it would have taken me to figure this out! Also, I wanted to stay with oem style wheels and these were the first ones I came across that I really liked but I was a bit concerned with the ride getting worse with 22's after all the comments I have read stating 22's automatically make the ride worse due to the shorter sidewall. Then I was lucky enough to meet someone with vast actual experience/knowledge on the subject and after asking if 22's automatically by nature make the ride rough as I keep reading he responded "if that were the case do you think Cadillac/other luxury manufacturers would use them on $100,000+ vehicles"?! Made sense to me and he went on to explain that there is a lot more to tire ride quality than just the sidewall height including the compound and belt construction as well as wheel width in relation to stretch or slight bubble (he also said this current tire stretching fad is the worst thing you can do in regards to ride quality/safety and a little bubble would actually "soften" the ride a bit) Long story shorter he pointed me in the right direction so I went with the 22's along with a softer compound tire in a 305/40 over the standard option of 285/45 to get a little bubble and sure enough just as he said I found they actually ride better than what he called the 17" "bricks" the factory installed! I don't ever expect this thing to ride like a Cadillac but I plan to do all I can to get the best ride/handling possible!