Sumo Springs for Chev 3500 RV rear

[mkguitar]

2006 PleasureWay Lexor on a Chev.


It wallows some, I'd like to tighten up the rear

Comments on sumo springs ?

Amazon shows the yellow SSR-205-54 ($239)

Manufacturer shows black SSR-205-47 ( $204)

( I've emailed SDSprings asking for clarification, giving them some info on the van and GVRW )

Thanks, Mike

[mkguitar]

ah !


hard to find on first try at website


yellow for light/medium duty = the #54 in the part number



black is firmer =#47



blue is firmest


the "205" seems to be a length measurement


mike

[Stevemo]

phone Weldtech Designs, they probably have a full shed of take-off spring boosters

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

ah !

hard to find on first try at website

yellow for light/medium duty = the #54 in the part number

black is firmer =#47

blue is firmest

the "205" seems to be a length measurement

mike

I think it's the opposite of what you posted.
Blue = softest
Black = medium
Yellow = firmest
See: https://www.superspringsinternationa...right-for-you/

Air Lift bags with internal jounce bumpers would be the better choice IMO. IIRC, they cost less than Sumo Springs when I looked into all the options years ago. Plus you get to set the pressure to match the best ride and or control. DIY installation was not difficult.

[booster]

Originally Posted by markopolo

I think it's the opposite of what you posted.
Blue = softest
Black = medium
Yellow = firmest
See: https://www.superspringsinternationa...right-for-you/

Air Lift bags with internal jounce bumpers would be the better choice IMO. IIRC, they cost less than Sumo Springs when I looked into all the options years ago. Plus you get to set the pressure to match the best ride and or control. DIY installation was not difficult.

X2


Your van is likely very close to sitting on the very high spring rate overload leaf that can make the van pitch on bumps and be very harsh, so getting up higher so you don't hit that leaf has to be the first priority. Making changes so that overload leaf can be removed is another option that we have done to our Chevy but few others have at this point as it requires the bags with bump stops in them that are just like the Sumos.


Sumos will lift you up higher and how much is determined by them, not you so not at all flexible on height plus you might have to go very high rate to get high enough and that could actually harshen the ride because Sumos are quite progressive in rate.


The other thing is what is actually happening in the "wallowing" description, which can mean different things to different people. To me, wallowing is a water in the bathtub sloshing type movement of the van is slower waves or movements and not stiffness or bottoming type things. Rocking when going slowly over one wheel rear bump slowly would be and indication of this.



Depending on what the actual movements are that you want to address, it might be that a rear sway bar would be the most helpful, so don't rule that out either. By my definition of wallowing that would be the case, I think.


We have the bags with internal bump stops in them and a big rear swaybar and our van is very stable in the rear because of them.

[mkguitar]

Thanks Booster



I describe wallow as you do


The van is not down or fully onto the suspension or bump stops
the van has never bottomed or topped out on the suspension, the van is level
I see this as trying to control the top-heavy weight shift on twisties


a sway bar would be first choice, but I am unsure how much clearance I need and what I have with the generator.
Was this a concern for you?



Somewhat familiar with air suspension ( 72 Eldorado )



Markopolo, thanks for that link- on another page from a vendor,the info seemed counter, or I read it incorrectly



still, anyone here tried these?


Thanks, Mike

[booster]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

Thanks Booster



I describe wallow as you do


The van is not down or fully onto the suspension or bump stops
the van has never bottomed or topped out on the suspension, the van is level
I see this as trying to control the top-heavy weight shift on twisties


a sway bar would be first choice, but I am unsure how much clearance I need and what I have with the generator.
Was this a concern for you?



Somewhat familiar with air suspension ( 72 Eldorado )



Markopolo, thanks for that link- on another page from a vendor,the info seemed counter, or I read it incorrectly



still, anyone here tried these?


Thanks, Mike

The rear would sit level in most cases and it would not be on the bump stops. But, it is likely it is sitting with the rear springs very close to engaging the huge bottom leaf in the spring pack. When you hit a bump, you get a very short period of low spring rate and suddenly a very high spring rate that will make the travel slow down very quickly and can pitch back up causing a sway issue. Nothing actually bottoms out though. There are quite a few pics of the overload leaf clearance area but it should be obvious if you look at where the bottom leaf is in relation to the rest of the pack with weight on the van.


A Roadtrek generator would have to move back a couple of inches to fit a Hellwig sway bar. Campskunk did that successfully, and maybe others. A Roadmaster bar will fit without moving the generator but may need a bit of tweaking of the end link mounts to line up just right.


I think maybe rowiebowie did the Sumos. There is a thread on it somewhere on here, IIRC

[andrewtschneider]

I found this site and what they offer interesting.

https://agileoffroad.com/

I am thinking of rear shocks and say bar. Very early in my research.

QUOTE=mkguitar;131937]2006 PleasureWay Lexor on a Chev.


It wallows some, I'd like to tighten up the rear

Comments on sumo springs ?

Amazon shows the yellow SSR-205-54 ($239)

Manufacturer shows black SSR-205-47 ( $204)

( I've emailed SDSprings asking for clarification, giving them some info on the van and GVRW )

Thanks, Mike






[/QUOTE]

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

still, anyone here tried these?

Thanks, Mike

Originally Posted by booster

I think maybe rowiebowie did the Sumos. There is a thread on it somewhere on here, IIRC

Been off the forum for a week or two so just reading your thread.

Yes, I installed the yellow (Heavy Duty) Sumo Springs on the rear of my '2012 Airstream Avenue on the Chevy Express 3500 chassis. I had no complaints about ride control previous to the install, but I wanted a lift and had read many positive things about Sumo's and no negatives.

My Sumo bump stops were added after a 2" Supreme Suspensions lift. The initial lift surprisingly turned out to be 3" and has settled a bit to around 2-3/4". As a result of the lift, the rear Sumo bump stops do not contact the rear axle and rest about 1/2" above. I can tell no difference in ride after the lift and Sumo install. This probably means they helped negate any sway or wallow that might have been introduced by the lift. Therefore, I'm very pleased.

Now, if I had not had my suspension lifted, the Sumo's would have been under considerable compression at rest. While they would reportedly have given me an inch or so of lift by themselves, I was afraid the van might ride harsher due to decreased range of rear travel. While I've never heard of this result being described by others, that was my fear and my lift made it a non-issue.

As far as the front Sumo bump stops, I installed the Black (Medium Duty) front ones that were recommended by another forum member. I also corresponded with a couple of other Airstream Avenue owners who bought their rigs used and their prior owners had installed harder polyurethane yellow front bump stops (not Sumos). They complained of a "crashing" feel in their front suspensions due to lack of travel. So another reason to go with Black instead of Yellow front ones if you are considering those.

Here's a link to my thread: https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...ory-11907.html

Let us know what you decide.

[mkguitar]

RowieBowie


Thank You so much


I sent a detailed email to the manufacturer, they got back quickly with a couple of questions


I'll see what they suggest.


we are still up over 105º here in PHX so I imagine it's a month or so before I start any projects under the van in the side yard.


While I'm under there I will take measurements between the differential and the genny with an eye to a sway bar


Thanks, Mike

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

RowieBowie


Thank You so much


I sent a detailed email to the manufacturer, they got back quickly with a couple of questions


I'll see what they suggest.


we are still up over 105º here in PHX so I imagine it's a month or so before I start any projects under the van in the side yard.


While I'm under there I will take measurements between the differential and the genny with an eye to a sway bar


Thanks, Mike

My Airstream has the propane tank immediately behind the rear axle and the generator aft of that very close to the rear bumper, so no space for a rear anti-sway bar. Roadtreks and Pleasureways must be configured a little different. Lucky for me, I have not felt the need for one either before or after my lift kit/Sumo spring install.

Good luck.

[booster]

Here is a link to how I put a bar in our Roadtrek 190P Chevy without moving the generator. I think it would work for almost any brand of van as the bar is out of the way stuff behind the axle for the most part. It tucks bit under it all without the big moving hoop up like the Hellwig bar.


https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f....html#post7329


The hardest part of it was simply because I was working off the floor. With it on a lift it would have been very much easier to do.


Once the mounting brackets are done the rest is quite easy. I sent the dimensions of our brackets to another member who made a similar setup from them out of solid aluminum, and it now has our 1.375" bar in it so the dimensions much have been OK. Perhaps he still has them if someone chooses to do similar. I think that just about any offroad shop or maybe even custom hitch shop could put together this setup pretty easily, using a fabricated bracket setup like I did.


Note that when I put in the 10.5" axle I had to space the bar back about 5/8" IIRC, but the front links were still OK where they were.

[Road Toad]

Originally Posted by booster

X2


"...We have the bags with internal bump stops in them and a big rear swaybar and our van is very stable in the rear because of them.

Booster what Brand/Model did you use?
Gonna do this and need better info thanI have..

[mkguitar]

a swing and a miss on the supersprings international sumo springs



while interested still in the product for the rear




I've spoken with 3 people who can only read the application guide, I was hoping to get someone savvy with suspension to answer a few questions beyond "the catalog says it'll fit"


my unanswered question was this:
as best i can tell the front bump stops are same 2003~19 chassis ( gm part is same each year)



yet their catalog has bump stops for 2007+


is it a matter of a design change by chev or they just have not tried/tested on the earlier chassis ?





there were also questions about warranty and returns which were not clear enough to make me a customer


Mike

[booster]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

a swing and a miss on the supersprings international sumo springs



while interested still in the product for the rear




I've spoken with 3 people who can only read the application guide, I was hoping to get someone savvy with suspension to answer a few questions beyond "the catalog says it'll fit"


my unanswered question was this:
as best i can tell the front bump stops are same 2003~19 chassis ( gm part is same each year)



yet their catalog has bump stops for 2007+


is it a matter of a design change by chev or they just have not tried/tested on the earlier chassis ?





there were also questions about warranty and returns which were not clear enough to make me a customer


Mike

You may want to quit talking to factory and talk to the people who actually install them. Look for offroad type sites that do lifts and such like Boulder of road (I think that is what the name is). They live with this stuff every day.


I have run in to the catalogs not covering latter year Chevies also, even though the parts do in most cases. I think they made the application chart about the time parts were made available and have been slacking on updates to the chart. Lots of that on Rock Auto also, but not their fault as they use vendor supplied charts as far as I have been able to fine out.