2003 GMC Sierra Terrible Ride!!

[grissomsgmc]

Yes, another topic about rough ride. I've read a couple forms about everyones rough ride, but i feel like my situation is a bit different. I have a 2003 gmc sierra regular cab short bed, z71 with the heavy duty towing package. Truck has 146,000 miles on it all original. I have about a half inch of room in my keys. They are not turned up at all. I have 20 inch takeoff wheels of new denali. I also just bought new beilstein 5100s, ilder arm, ilder arm bracket, and pitman, arm. Does the z71 package have something to do with the bad ride because of the gas shocks? Or is it the heavy duty towing package? Some people have said its because of the short wheelbase. I have a bad back and knees and I hope someone can give me some guidance. I understand its a 19 year old truck and it wont ride like a Cadillac but surely i can improve it.

Thanks!

 

Edit: (Forgot to mention My tires are 4ply and 275/55r20 very very close to factory size with 35 psi in each tire.)

Edited September 13, 2021 by grissomsgmc
forgot to mention tire setup.

[shakenfake]

If you want to have an extremely good ride I would look into Atomic Fab and Performance coilovers for the front. For the rear I would do a shock relocation from him as well. Those will get you the best ride for these trucks.

 

A lot of guys will say that the 20" wheels aren't doing you any favors either. Personally I disagree as I have 20" on my 1999 as well and I feel like they rode better than the stock 16s, although I did put some very nice tires on them.

 

It very well could be the short wheel base as the RCSBs rode a lot different than the ECSBs or CCs of the era.

[grissomsgmc]

Maybe one day I’ll look into the coil over kit. I appreciate your time

[PopeyeD]

Although my situation is not identical, I will just relate to you my experience with my 2003 Sierra Denali.  It has  (of course) a super handy feature road surface accommodation (traction control) button on the dash.  Never used it. When I first bought this beauty in 2005, it was outfitted with Michelin 265 70R17s.  They rode like the Cadillac that you mentioned.  Fantastic!  I never needed to use the traction control.  The Michelins wore out and were replaced with Generals.  The ride was so drastically different that I found myself praying for them to wear out so I could put Michelins back on.  Every bump, dip or pebble on the road could be felt with a bang throughout the truck.  Had I known that the vehicle and I were going to take the abuse we have through these hard tires, I would have bit the bullet and reshod her with Michelins.

Edited September 13, 2021 by PopeyeD
spelling

[KARNUT]

20 minutes ago, PopeyeD said:

Although my situation is not identical, I will just relate to you my experience with my 2003 Sierra Denali.  It has  (of course) a super handy feature road surface accommodation (traction control) button on the dash.  Never used it. When I first bought this beauty in 2005, it was outfitted with Michelin 265 70R17s.  They rode like the Cadillac that you mentioned.  Fantastic!  I never needed to use the traction control.  The Michelins wore out and were replaced with Generals.  The ride was so drastically different that I found myself praying for them to wear out so I could put Michelins back on.  Every bump, dip or pebble on the road could be felt with a bang throughout the truck.  Had I known that the vehicle and I were going to take the abuse we have through these hard tires, I would have bit the bullet and reshod her with Michelins.

Some tire dealers, like discount tire will replace tires that are not satisfactory. I had tires that became noisy. They pro rated the wear. I got 4 for the price of 2. That set had a 60K mile tread life. All 4 were at the tread bar at 40K. Discounted the next set.

[redvett]

I have a rule on tires never change brand, size or tire load index. All three will have an affect on ride quality and overall handling.

[grissomsgmc]

@PopeyeD Thank you for your feedback. My truck was fitted with 265/75r16s from factory. When my dad handed the truck down to me the tires were extremely bald and needed an alignment. The tires were put on in early 2015 and last alignment was who knows when. I will be changing my shocks and things in the front end like I stated then getting an alignment. Hopefully that fixes my problems. I will keep you guys updated. I relate heavily to your “Every bump, dip or pebble on the road could be felt with a bang throughout the truck.” Mine does the same thing, with new tires that don’t even have 500 miles on them yet. General grabber Atxs. If the problem continues to worsen I’ll consider selling my tires and wheels and going back to the stock wheels and getting a nice set of Michelin’s!