[mikesee]

Have you ever weighed yours? Curious what you've got on the rear axle on an "average" day?

Unhappy with the rough ride of my 2500, I picked up some leafs from a junked 1500. trying to decide if i should put in both, or just the primary + a tuned timbren/jouncer. I've got ~3000# on the rear axle on any given day.

Would love to know what 1500 owners with stock suspension have for rear axle weights, and if they're happy with the ride quality.

Thanks.

 

[phil]

I'm normally empty and it's a hard ride, but I did a load that got the van to 7430 lbs, the van leveled out and the ride was way better of course.

 

[keeponvaning]

Have you ever weighed yours? Curious what you've got on the rear axle on an "average" day?

Unhappy with the rough ride of my 2500, I picked up some leafs from a junked 1500. trying to decide if i should put in both, or just the primary + a tuned timbren/jouncer. I've got ~3000# on the rear axle on any given day.

Would love to know what 1500 owners with stock suspension have for rear axle weights, and if they're happy with the ride quality.

Thanks.

I agree with you Mike! Try the 1500 Springs I know there are at least 3 different part numbers on the rear springs! I would just go with the primary the other ones have no numbers on them and are possible all the same.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

I pulled my secondary leaf on my 1500 and have the ride I hoped for, a nearly level van, and a bit of carrying capacity left. My conversion probably weighs 500 lbs. YMMV. If you don’t find it is better just put them back in.
See: http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44057&highlight=removing+leaf+spring

 

[accrete]

took our (now converted) rig to the scales and rear is at 3K front is at 3.7K Ride is great!

 

[mikesee]

I pulled my secondary leaf on my 1500 and have the ride I hoped for, a nearly level van, and a bit of carrying capacity left. My conversion probably weighs 500 lbs. YMMV. If you don’t find it is better just put them back in.
See: http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44057&highlight=removing+leaf+spring

I pulled the secondary from my 2500 leaf pack over a year ago and it helped, but wasn't nearly close enough. Harsh.

Thus my hope is that going to the 1500 leaf pack will get me closer. I'll try it this way, then consider pulling the secondary and supporting the remaining single leaf with a tuned bumper.

 

[mikesee]

took our (now converted) rig to the scales and rear is at 3K front is at 3.7K Ride is great!

Your signature says you have a 2500?

 

[MtBiker]

Have any of you looked at the front springs. Are they different between 1500/2500/3500?

 

[mikesee]

Installed the 1500 leaf pack on my 2500 a few days ago. Immediate improvement over the stock "heavy duty" leaf pack. Much smoother ride than dropping one leaf from the stock 2500 setup.

It's so good I can finally forget about the suspension for awhile. Might fiddle with timbrens or similar in a few months, but literally overnight my van went from riding like a truck to feeling great -- or, put differently -- to having nothing about the suspension be noticeable at all.

 

[phil]

Are the headlights still aimed correctly? Did it level out or is the rear still higher?

 

[mikesee]

Are the headlights still aimed correctly? Did it level out or is the rear still higher?

At a glance I can't say the rear has dropped much. Less than an inch difference.

 

[Lobodelmar]

Installed the 1500 leaf pack on my 2500 a few days ago. Immediate improvement over the stock "heavy duty" leaf pack. Much smoother ride than dropping one leaf from the stock 2500 setup.

It's so good I can finally forget about the suspension for awhile. Might fiddle with timbrens or similar in a few months, but literally overnight my van went from riding like a truck to feeling great -- or, put differently -- to having nothing about the suspension be noticeable at all.

mikesee - Have you had any chance to drive offroad, or on particularly rough or rutted roads since you made the change in springs? If so, did you notice a similar improvement in ride? I have a 159 WB 2500 and am very interested in making a similar modification. Thanks!

 

[GaryBIS]

Hi,


This page has the front and rear axle weights for my 1500 136WB camper conversion:
http://www.buildagreenrv.com/our-conversion/our-promaster-conversion-weight-of-conversion/


Rear axle weight when all loaded up for a trip is 3020 lbs.


The max weight for the rear axle on the 1500 is 5200 lbs, so even fully loaded we are way under the maximum, and the ride is harsh. I replaced the rear shocks with the Bilstien shocks that KOV recommended and this helped some -- especially on rough roads.


Gary

 

[mikesee]

mikesee - Have you had any chance to drive offroad, or on particularly rough or rutted roads since you made the change in springs? If so, did you notice a similar improvement in ride? I have a 159 WB 2500 and am very interested in making a similar modification. Thanks!

It still really rides rough off-pavement.

You have to think of the suspension in terms of spring rate (what's holding the van up) and damping (what's filtering out the bumps) to get the whole package.

Going to the 1500 leaf pack addressed the spring rate just fine.

I still need to ditch the stock dampers but haven't spent the time to determine which route I'll go just yet.

 

[Lobodelmar]

Hi mikesee - I have a couple more questions if you have the time. When you removed one of the original 2500 springs, did the axle ride on, or somewhere near the bump stop? I'm trying to understand why your van rides better on the 1500 leaf pack than it did on a single 2500 spring, and that seems like one possible explanation. Are the 1500 springs thinner than the 2500 springs? I would assume that they have to be, but just wanted to confirm. I measured my 2500 springs immediately forward of the axle and the dimension is 1.470". This is slightly greater than the thickness of the two springs since there is a shim between the springs at the axle and a small gap where I took my measurement. This is the only place where I could get a good measurement with a caliper, so I thought that it would be a decent reference. If you have a comparable measurement for the 1500 springs, that would be great. I would also be curious to know what your axle weight is and how much gap you currently have to the bump stop. I have about a 1 3/8" gap to the bump stop with the 2500 springs and I assume that my axle weight is about 3000-3500 lbs, but won't know for sure until I go to the scales next week.

I really appreciate all of the information that you've shared. I plan to do quite a bit of dirt and gravel road driving over the next year and would like to smooth out the ride a bit. I'm looking at the 1500 springs, or possibly custom springs, fox shocks, and slightly larger tires, but don't want to go to all that expense and not see any improvement. It is really helpful to learn from others like yourself.

Thanks again - Andy

 

[mikesee]

Hi mikesee - I have a couple more questions if you have the time. When you removed one of the original 2500 springs, did the axle ride on, or somewhere near the bump stop? I'm trying to understand why your van rides better on the 1500 leaf pack than it did on a single 2500 spring, and that seems like one possible explanation. Are the 1500 springs thinner than the 2500 springs? I would assume that they have to be, but just wanted to confirm. I measured my 2500 springs immediately forward of the axle and the dimension is 1.470". This is slightly greater than the thickness of the two springs since there is a shim between the springs at the axle and a small gap where I took my measurement. This is the only place where I could get a good measurement with a caliper, so I thought that it would be a decent reference. If you have a comparable measurement for the 1500 springs, that would be great. I would also be curious to know what your axle weight is and how much gap you currently have to the bump stop. I have about a 1 3/8" gap to the bump stop with the 2500 springs and I assume that my axle weight is about 3000-3500 lbs, but won't know for sure until I go to the scales next week.

I really appreciate all of the information that you've shared. I plan to do quite a bit of dirt and gravel road driving over the next year and would like to smooth out the ride a bit. I'm looking at the 1500 springs, or possibly custom springs, fox shocks, and slightly larger tires, but don't want to go to all that expense and not see any improvement. It is really helpful to learn from others like yourself.

Thanks again - Andy

Once the "spare" spring was removed from the 2500 leaf pack I was contacting the bump stops (if only just) full time. I think this made it ride worse -- more harsh -- because the bump stops ramp so quickly.

I don't know if there is a difference in the physical size of the springs. There wouldn't necessarily need to be.

My rear axle weight is usually (when loaded for an average trip) 3000#.

I feel that the 1500 springs were a great (and needed) first step. Next comes new dampers.

I spent too much money on Michelin tires last year, then wore them out way too fast. There was a slight, tiny, barely noticeable difference in ride quality compared to the stock Nexen's. No way no how worth the $ spent. I'm back on Nexen's and happy with the way they ride and wear.