97 Dodge B2500 bottoming out.

[stanw909]

When going thru dips or over speed bumps it bangs a little in the rear.Vehicle weighs 2,980 Lbs in rear and 2,800 Lbs fully loaded. front.It has 97,000 miles.5.2 ltr.engine.Rides very well down the road.Do I need new springs,air shocks,load levelers, what? Thanks, Stan

[Cubey]

2800 in the back sounds too light. My 78 B3500 has a LOT heavier in the rear. I can't remember the exact numbers but the front has a 3300lb axle (not actually that much weight on it, around 2800 I think), and the rear has over an over 4000lb+ axle. It has a Dana 60. The overall rating of the van is 7700lbs. While I realize I have a 1 ton and you have a 3/4 ton, I would imagine your rear axle is probably still about 3500lbs if not a bit more.

Are you guessing or going by the tag on the doorjam?

To answer your question, I'd start with new shocks and go from there if it doesn't help. You might need more leafs added if you find it's not doing well. That, or go with air shocks in the rear. My van has HUGE leaf packs in the rear and seems to do well even with the old, probably worn out shocks. I will be putting new shocks of course but so far it seems to do pretty well from what little I've driven it. Of course it wasn't loaded with water in any of the tanks and it had very little fuel. But still.

[stanw909]

Full tank of gas(35gln) 7 glns water.cloths, supplies for a couple of days.No guess.I payed to use a truck scale. I am calling a place here in town tomorrow who may re arch or build new springs which I will ask to be made stronger than OEM.Thanks for the reply.On RV.net class B forum some of the guys suggested air lift but that seems like overkill although I have them on my Chevy class A front and back and love them.

[booster]

Originally Posted by stanw909

Full tank of gas(35gln) 7 glns water.cloths, supplies for a couple of days.No guess.I payed to use a truck scale. I am calling a place here in town tomorrow who may re arch or build new springs which I will ask to be made stronger than OEM.Thanks for the reply.On RV.net class B forum some of the guys suggested air lift but that seems like overkill although I have them on my Chevy class A front and back and love them.

Personally, I like the Airlift because you can add capacity based on your load and even out things side to side. If you get into a clearance issue (more a Chevy thing) you can raise the rear a couple of inches for more room. They can even be useful for leveling at campsites. Others prefer other methods

[stanw909]

Can you install the airlift without addressing the worn springs.I'm not in an economic position to do both.

[baylic00]

Hi there,

I had some 'general sag' in the rear when loaded and some sway with the tracking on the highway but never any bottoming out. For about $300, including the install, I added the Roadmaster leaf spring helpers to my 95 Coachmen and it made a world of difference. It completely eliminated my tracking issue on the highway so I ride straighter. Also, the rear actually sits up a bit now when empty, it almost looks like it has air-shocks on it. When she loaded for a trip it rides nice a level. I highly recommend for a fairly inexpensive fix. They also have different size spacers you can add to adjust the ride level.

Check it out here: http://www.activesuspension.com/

Craig

[stanw909]

The Roadmaster system looks really interesting but the price has gone up quite a bit from when you had it done.I could easily do myself with the new design and save on install.Great tip as are all.Thanks guys

[baylic00]

I just had mine done by a local garage in April. I just went and checked the receipt and it was $298 for the set, the labor was not included, apologies.

Craig

[stanw909]

$286 was a great deal.The best price I have found is $350

[stanw909]

I am happy to report that I took the van down to Mac's springs here in San Bernardino to have it inspected and they determined there was nothing wrong with the springs or shocks.They looked at the bump stops and the tires as well as bounced the van up and down.Nothing loose and nothing broken or worn out. Now the embarrassing part.I didn't realize that the platform I installed on the spare tire holder as a BBQ table had come loose and was banging over speed bumps and dips.I thank you all for your comments and will file it away for future reference.I am really going to seriously consider the Road Master set up.They look really easy to install on the youtube video so I can do it myself.they also offer a 30 day money back guaranty. Thanks again. Stan

[Cubey]

Glad to hear.

I will have to go about 60 miles (one way) to get to the nearest spring shop to get my leaf springs serviced. I think they may need to be redone (new center pins, clips, perhaps bushings, etc) as they don't have any clips to keep them packed right and they look perhaps ill maintained. They are huge leaf packs so I can't just easily replace them.

The shop I found with a website about 60 miles away shows all sorts of vehicles in their shop in the past including big fire trucks. So they obviously know what they are doing if the local fire dept trusts them to work on the fire trucks. That's often a good indication of if a shop is good.. if the police and/or fire depts use them.

[baylic00]

Glad to hear it's nothing major! You won't be disappointed with the Roadmaster setup, I wanted it for the sag but the increase in handling on the raod is a real nice perk as well!

Craig

[stanw909]

I am truly considering adding the Roadmaster. I wonder if it could add to the life of the springs?