Richard Cheese Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) I've been contemplating upgrading my suspension for some time on my Chevy 2500HD. I know it's a 3/4 ton truck, and it's not going to give me a nice ride. I have been growing unhappy with the bone-jarring going over speed bumps at slow speeds, feeling every little nuance in the road, feeling like I am riding a horse on the freeway, and most importantly, the wife not wanting to ride in my truck because of how stiff the back springs are I have considered all options. Some of my friends have lifts, yet they feel the stuff that I do in their 3-5k worth of suspension upgrades. I got new bilsteins, but they didn't help much. I have been reading up on Sulastics over at the Diesel Place. I finally decided to pull the trigger, and get me some for a Christmas present to myself. There are many vendors around that sell them. I got mine from Mark at Big Hog Customs out of Indiana. He gave me a great deal, with free shipping. He even overtnighted them to me for free!. In the box were the shackles, and a set of directions The directions were pretty straight-forward and easy to read. I wanted to install them myself, but with two kids, I couldn't find the time to do it anytime soon. I had Tyler at Tire Empire in Bakersfield install them for me. It took one of his guys about 1.5 hours to do it, and that is what they charged me for. Here they are installed When I went to pick my truck up at Tire Empire, the technician couldn't stop talking about the very noticeable ride improvement, asking me where he could buy some for his truck.. He claimed that my truck was much more "in control", was the term he kept using. When I left, the first thing I noticed was pulling onto the street. Usually the HD springs like to kick back a bit on those little lips...not any more. It felt like I was driving my wife's tahoe...pretty smooth. On the way home, it got better. Because of the nature of the HD suspension, I'm quite sure, like me, that you know every little dip on the streets you constantly drive, and attempt to avoid them. I don't any more. It took all the little bumps and imperfections in the local streets like a champ. The railroad crossing by my house used to be my biggest gripe. I still slow down, and what's pretty funny is that after owning this truck for 6+ years, I still expect to get jarred going over them. Not any more. Again, it rides like my wife's tahoe over the RR tracks. I didn't say anything to my wife about them, because I wanted to see if she noticed any difference. About halfway to dinner that night, she remarked how much smoother the ride was. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that your truck will ALWAYS ride like a 1500 with Sulastics on it. What I am saying though is my truck is about 60-75% of a full 1500 series ride. I highly recommend these to anyone looking to upgrade the ride in their 2500 + truck. I feel that it was the best $300 I could have spent on my suspension. Edited January 2, 2012 by Richard Cheese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Very cool! Thanks for the review, Jason. I know many HD guys have always considered these but were leery because of the price. Sounds like they are worth every penny though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydew Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Congrats on the self gifting . Thanks for the write up. I'd never heard of them, until DDR...I remember hearing some buzz a little while ago, but apprehensive to pull the trigger myself. I have a 1 ton dually....with semi tires on it...so yah, it rides like crap. The only good thing about the ride is that one of my wifes friends rode in the back seat for a girls night out, and my wife told me her friend really liked the bumpiness...a lot :mischevious: Besides that, I'd really like to do something. I considered fabbing up an air ride...not add a bag, but a full 5 link system; but with 3 kids myself, I'm aiming a little lower as to what I can accomplish. How does this system affect stability when towing? Also, what kind of service life is expected, 50k, 100k? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cheese Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Not sure about towing, as I recently sold my hauler. It feels very athletes. More stable than without them, IMO. There are many writeups on DIESEL PLACE in the suspension section. You don't. Have. To be a member to view...but many functions are disabled if you aren't a member. Membership is FREE,BTW Also, not sure about shackle life, but sulastic makes these for big rigs and garbage trucks so I'm not sure if they even wear out?. BTW I paid more for my Bilsteins than I did for these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randog Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I put these on my F-250 diesel about 4 months ago. Still got them on there. The truck is lifted 5 or 6 inches with arched springs, ladder bars, and since the shackles I've added airbags. I actually didn't notice much of a difference with the shackles on my truck if at all. I had a 93' big block F-250 before my diesel. I lifted it 10" on 38's and I put the BFgoodrich velvet ride shackles on it back in the day. I though they helped that truck a little, so that's why I looked into them and bought the Sulastic shackles. BFG's are not available anymore. Sulastic has a website with impressive study material from what I remember. Check it out... Would be nice to know how long these will last too. Glad they helped you out Cheeze. R- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.