Put some sand Bags in the back?

 

The problem is with the leaf springs. They are designed to handle a high payload and are stiff. New shocks won't change this much although they may help keep the tires more planted when hitting large or repeated bumps like washboard roads.

You may look into Fox 2.0 shocks for the rear to help try and soften things up on harder impacts. https://www.ridefox.com/product.php...ks&partnumber=985-24-129&make=Chevrolet&model=Colorado+&year=2017&position=Rear

Or you could look into custom rear leafs from Deaver but that will set you back $800+.

You could also try running a little less rear tire pressure. Do the chalk test to verify though.

 

I think @F8LZ71 is right. I bet you could take the rear shocks off completely and it will still be stiff.

How about removing one spring from the stack?

 

Seems like you would really appreciate the previous generation Malibu or a crossover of some sort.

-Mike

 

I installed Firestone load increasing air bags in order to help level when towing our trailer, and immediately noticed a reduction in rear harshness when empty, with bag pressure set at 25 psi or so. Stands to reason, I guess, as some of the load is taken off the leaf springs and onto a squishy air bag.

 

Both my 2008 Canyon and my 2018 Sierra ride so much smoother with 200+ lb in the bed. The simple leaf spring design is a compromise between load carrying capacity, and empty ride comfort.



Do you ever tow or haul significant weight? How you answer that question can help shape the feedback you receive.

 

Both my 2008 Canyon and my 2018 Sierra ride so much smoother with 200+ lb in the bed. The simple leaf spring design is a compromise between load carrying capacity, and empty ride comfort.



Do you ever tow or haul significant weight? How you answer that question can help shape the feedback you receive.

No towing, hauling, yes but not much with weight. I realize it is a truck and I have owned trucks for the 28 years, my last truck had a towing package and was stiff, but I tried different shocks to soften the harshness which did help and that is why I asked the question as to what others may have tried that worked for them. I am looking at the Bilstein or Eibach. Yea, hauling around a couple hundred pounds will do the trick, but that just sucks extra fuel.
As for a "Malibu" or "crossover" uh...no I use my truck a lot and is why I will never be without one, I am always hauling something around, just not the big heavy loads. Some others have talked about how much different the ZR2 rides, not so harsh as the Z71 package, is it the shocks or is the leaf springs softer?

 

FOX Mono-tube shocks will give a harsher Ride on the highway.

If your looking for a smoother ride Don't use Mono-Tube shocks The smoothest riding shocks I have ever used where the Gabriel Guardian Shocks But There No Good For Extreme Off Road Use.

 

My Taco TRD came with Bilstiens, it was their off-road package. Ride was real stiff. I put on a set of Rancho RS5000's and the ride was so much better.

A buddy bought a Taco a couple years later and he complained about the ride on wash board roads, he changed his to Rancho's too...


not saying Rancho's are the ticket but maybe something to look at.



If you have a reputable 4wd shop near you, stop in and see what they say...


It is not the brand of shock but the valving in the shock you need to look at.

 

My Taco TRD came with Bilstiens, it was their off-road package. Ride was real stiff. I put on a set of Rancho RS5000's and the ride was so much better.

A buddy bought a Taco a couple years later and he complained about the ride on wash board roads, he changed his to Rancho's too...


not saying Rancho's are the ticket but maybe something to look at.



If you have a reputable 4wd shop near you, stop in and see what they say...


It is not the brand of shock but the valving in the shock you need to look at.

I used the Rancho's on my 98 Ranger that had the towing package and did the same thing as my Canyon and does before I put the Rancho's on it and it rode much better.. It stopped doing the washboard thing when hitting bumps in the road, I may have to give them a try on my Canyon, the price is reasonable enough for sure. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I will update when I do make a change.

 

Agree on the leaf springs and even just a bit of weight helping a lot.

I installed a BAK "Revolver" tonneau cover and just having that on makes a small but noticeable difference. The cover has metal slats in it and probably weighs around 60 pounds. I generally haul a 21 foot folding ladder and a 12 foot telescoping ladder which add another 60 pounds or so. With cover and ladders, the mere addition of about 120 pounds of extra weight over the rear axle makes quite a difference in taking the edge off the ride. It rides like my Daddy's Caddy with 350 pounds of dirt bike and gear in the bed.

These trucks can really hop around in the back end when hitting sharp bumps at speed when empty. I have literally seen daylight under the rear wheels of other twins in front of me hitting sharp front heaves on the highway. The long box with it's extra foot of wheelbase tends to fly a little straighter though!

 

Just throw 150-200lbs of sandbags in the back. That will make a big difference. Also try to keep a full tank as much as possible. That will help.

 

Every time I fill up I’m like dang this ride is smooth. Then the tank runs dry and it’s a whole different story.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Add weight in the back, get some Deavers custom leaf pack, and/or get Fox 2.0s for the back. Bilsteins are not what you want; stiffening up and "planting" a washy and jumpy rear end is what Bilstein 5100s are for. IIRC Eibach is similarly valved, so that's not what you want either.

You have to make sure of what kind of ride you want though. From what it sounds like, your stock shocks are simply way past their expiration date. More or less any popular aftermarket shock is going to help the back side of your truck settle down when you hit bumps at high speeds, as opposed to kicking around (as is notoriously bad on 2015-17 F-150, and current Silverado/Sierra 1500). But if a cushier ride is what you want in your daily driving, you may not want Bilsteins.

Previous posters are definitely right. The little twins have some HARSH leafs in the back compared to a lot of half-tons. It really shows when riding on bumpy roads. We avoided the abhorrent axle drop and bounce associated with all the K2XX trucks (Silvie, Sierra, Tahoe, Burb) but are a little short on ride comfort.

 

I removed the bottom overload springs and added two sand bags, now it sits level and rides much better.

 

Softer rear springs.



This works! I removed the bottom overload springs and I'm impressed with the improved ride quality. Now the rear suspension feels like it matches the front instead of the ends going in opposite directions when going through dips in curves and turns. Similar compression, travel, and rebound at the ends; feels more like an SUV now. The overload spring was a little over 5/8" thick and this dropped the rear about 1".

Of course, I know I lost payload capability but I'm not hauling anything more that a couple of dirt bikes. I did haul a trailer with 3 yards of soil amendment, maybe 400 - 450 lbs. on the tongue and it handled that just fine - no loss of control. The sag was about an inch - truck was basically level.

Easy peasy. Well, at least the price is right. Unbolting the rear axle and leafs is straightforward but not exactly easy. It took me about 4 hours without power tools.

Many thanks to Scotty47.

 

Here I was thinking my truck rode smooth and was pretty soft.

 

It's al relative. In stock form I think they ride quite well and decently soft on-road but they definitely don't do well with sharp hits and washboard roads are killer.

Now that I have much firmer suspension I can appeciate the OEM ride quality but not the shocks response to sharp fast hits. That's were better shocks can help keep the truck straight and planted to the road. It doesn't make the hits softer persay but you remain in control.

 

Hmmm. Smooth shocks that can do slow speed and high speed well. Sounds like you want something that has a flutter valve stack... or a large-ish valve with good bleed holes.

Your soft initial stage can be done by a really good tuned shock and s proper leaf stack out back and a proper tuned shock up front.

As to what that is, I’d say it really depends on how much it’s worth it to you.

I usually just recommend folks to call accutune in California and talk to them. They will not over sell you. They work off of their reputation and a happy customer sends business their way.

They will guide you toward a specific brand, size of shock and on top of that, they will actually custom valve your order (if you buy a product that can be tuned, but I’m not sure they sell anything that can’t be).
They are smart guys. But you have to be honest. To many “I want a race stack with a race pack” folks who then think that busting 45mph on a fire road is hard core.
They end up with a set up that sucks for their use.

What they should have said was “I carry X amount of weight, I spend 75% of my time on the freeway and city streets where this and that bug me and I spend 25% of my time Offroad driving a max of 45 mph on fire roads and 10-15 mph on bumpy stuff”.

They will then direct you and build you a buttery smooth set up.

 

And I have no affiliation with them. If you said “Charles sent me” they would say “who the “f” is that?”

I should probably start telling people to mention my name. Maybe I’ll get a discount on my next purchase. I gotta buy some pricey crap in a couple weeks.

 

Wow, thanks for all the replies, some good info to take in. I really don't want to get into changing out the leaf springs, just would like a shock that lessen the wash board feel when hitting bumps at highway speeds. It's interesting and I know there is so much technical aspects to todays shocks and struts. My truck is only 2 years old and only has just under 18,000 miles and I think the truck rides pretty good overall, just want to help this issue. I will do some more research, really appreciate all the info.

 

let some air out of the tires. 35# pressure imo is for full loaded weight. running around with empty truck @35 seems harsh



im pretty happy @ 31-33 havent noticed any mpg change.

 

Softer ride

I have been following this thread since purchasing my 18 Canyon Denali last month. Wifey wasn’t happy with ride quality and bouncing around after hitting a pot hole or sewer cover. So today I added 200# of sand over the axels and Ave lowered the tire pressure down to 32#. Have to say it does ride differently and a bit more smoother. But still has some of the jumpy characteristics. So at this point it remains MY truck only. When together we’ll be in the Lincoln.

 

I have been following this thread since purchasing my 18 Canyon Denali last month. Wifey wasn’t happy with ride quality and bouncing around after hitting a pot hole or sewer cover. So today I added 200# of sand over the axels and Ave lowered the tire pressure down to 32#. Have to say it does ride differently and a bit more smoother. But still has some of the jumpy characteristics. So at this point it remains MY truck only. When together we’ll be in the Lincoln.

I may sound like sacrilege but if it is really a big problem for you, it would probably be very easy to find someone with 17" or 18" equipped Canyon to do a swap with, and pocket some cash. Cooperative dealers may help find someone interested in it, lots of guys like the big wheels.

Or find some new 17/18" take-offs and use them. Lots of people change wheels/tires on new trucks, they are out there cheap while the trucks are being sold new.

Probably not something you want to do with a Denali, but happy is happy.

 

Weight in the back is the easiest suggestion.

I have a 2016 SLT with the 18" wheels and agree the empty bed ride can be very harsh. I don't hate it enough to waste tires, but the Goodyears will be replaced as soon as they get noisy or hit the wear bars. My 2007 Frontier rode a little better on the terrible OEM BFG's, and rode MUCH nicer on Michelin LTX's. Big stuff was still bad but the small sharp impact stuff that is so harsh in our trucks was so much better. Unfortunately Michigan is pretty much filled with that stuff, so I really miss the Frontier's ride quality.

So if you need tires anytime soon move to an on-road tire like a Michelin LTX type, as it is probably the biggest change you are going to be able to make without tearing into anything.

Snow, ice, and some dirt/mud/gravel roads are all that's on my plate, if your needs are the same then change tires when the time comes.

 

Thanks for your response. So can you give me a quick education why 18” would be so much smoother than 20” wheels? And would 17” be smoother than the 18”? I’m not in love with the Denali rims as I think they should have been chromed in the luxury package.
Dennis

 

More sidewall = more plush. You’re riding on air instead of aluminium. Apparently, low profile tires have stiffer sidewalks as well.

Try 265/75R16 on 16” rims like what I’m doing and you’ll definitely feel the difference.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Took a look today at 16” rims and found several choices both 16x8. One had 0 back spacing the other was 10mm BS. Noting the factory Denali rims are 20x8 1/2 “ with 31mm back spacing will there be a need for adapters to run the 265/75R16’s.? Or just ordering the wheels and off to Discount tire for Michelin LTX tires, tpms valves and off I go? This tire is 1/2” taller than stock and the sidewall 2.3” taller opting for that smoother ride, if I’m understanding this correctly?
Thx, Dennis

 

The 31mm, 0 (mm) and 10mm are actually the offset of the wheel, which is separate from backspace, though, backspace and offset are really just two different ways of looking at the same thing. For more on the see This Thread.

The 0 offset on the 16x8 will place the front lip slightly outside of the fender whereas the +10mm offset will be about flush with the fender.

As for the tires, they will be 1/2" taller and just slightly wider as well when compared to the O.E. 255/55R-20. The ride will likely be smoother due to the increased sidewall/cushion (as mentioned) just bear in mind that there is a trade-off with more sidewall height. Specifically more "roll" in the tire so you may see a slight decrease in steering response.

Out of curiosity, which wheels did you find in 16x8 that come in 6-120? We do not offer any wheels in this size for your application but your local Discount Tire may be able to order them for you.