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General Discussion \  New member from AZ- few questions

New member from AZ- few questions

General Discussion
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azgunman   +1y
Hello board,
I bought a dropped Chevy 3500 Dually about 6 months go and love it! My issue is I must raise it back to stock height or find a suspension solution asap.

I live in a rural area now and have a 3 mile drive between my driveway and the first paved road. The roads here are not maintained and are very rocky, rough, and full of ruts! The lowered height I don't mind but the suspension I do! My trucks suspension or lack of is killing me! My wife refuses to drive it and my son refuses to ride with me it's so bad! I replaced all 4 of the shocks 2 times now with premium shocks and each time with a diffferent brand but it has improved nothing. When I fill my rear bags its a little better but still not smooth and it looks horrible.

Keep in mind I bought the truck this way and I'm assuming it has lowered spindles. I'm new to lowered trucks and not sure if there is any other way it was lowered. I do know for sure the shackles in the rear are from a lowering kit and not stock. The guy I bought the truck from was the 2nd owner and said it ws already lowered and he added the air bags to tow his horse trailer.

1996 Chevy 3500 7.4 dually
So here here my questions:
1-Where is the best place to find stock spindles and shackles? New or used!
2-What size should the stock spindles be and how do I measure them?
3-Is there a better shock for my truck besides the stock size that will allow it to travel and work correctly?
4-Are the spindles and shackles off of a lighter truck such as a 2500 the same and if so what other truck models and years will work?

Thanks for your time and thanks for the great site.
Post was last edited on Dec 01, 2012 08:12. This post has been edited 1 times.
jgroldy   +1y
Need more info; year of truck? does it have a flip kit in the rear? Does it still have leaf springs? where are the air bags front or rear?
azgunman   +1y

Sorry I went back and added the year ect.
It is a 1996, not sure what a "flip kit is", and bags are in rear only. It does have the leaf springs.

Thanks!
bk2life   +1y
Post pics of your truck and rear leafs/ and your front spindles/coil springs.

From what I think I got from your post is your truck rides rough?
Depending on how it was lowered it should have the same factory ride as if not lowered.
A bit more description of what the problem is and we can help out lots more
calfboy   +1y
Yeah post some more info and pics of your truck so we can all see what you are up against. But if you do decide to go back stock I got a set of stock spindles out of a 97.
azgunman   +1y
Thanks for the response and the help! Give me a bit and I will get those pics posted.

Yes it rides rough in the rear as if no travel in the rear shocks. As said above like its on the bumpers unless I fill the bags full but then it looks like a dragster and only rides a little better! The front end rides ok I just scrape the roads often that I must travel on here with my lower control arm.
If the truck should ride the same while lowered would it do so on stock length shocks? Maybe that depends on how it was lowered.

I will post pics ASAP.

Thanks again for your time!
azgunman   +1y
Hope these help. Let me know if you need others.

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azgunman   +1y
calfboy I sent you a PM
azsprsprt   +1y
Looks like you just need to get that air bag out of there, the way it was installed will not work with the 4/6 drop, that's what's giving you the harsh ride, im in chandler, if your close I'd be Willi g to give you
A hand
big bear   +1y
welcome from northeast ohio. yea that setup is causing you more grief how its sitting.