Over the last few weeks I have done a few upgrades and thought I would share my progress.
First thing I did was to replace all of the front suspension bushings with energy suspension poly bushings. This included the control arms as well as the sway bar bushings and end links. When I did this I raised the truck up slightly to take a little bump steer out. I leveled the truck out to where the pivot points on the lower control arms were as close as possible to parallel the ground. This raised the truck about 3/4 of an inch. I can telll you I am very happy with the results. Bump steer is tamed way down and the front end feels so much more connected to the truck. There is a responsiveness it didn't have before. Also, the bushings compress less as the weight of the truck settles down on them, and allows the front end to be aligned a little easier.
The next thing I added was front and rear Rancho RS9000 shocks and their wireless remote "my ride" system for adjusting the shock settings. I thought this would have more impact than the bushings, but the bushings were actually the high point. However, the shocks set on sport setting are great for carving roads; the highway setting is really good for smoothing out the back on a bumpy highway. I'm looking forward to when I get a chance to go to the track and dial up a good race setting. I'd like to start with as loose as possible on the front (setting 1) to promote weight transfer, and somewhere mid-range for the rear, and tweaked from there.
I know there are no Lightning-specific shocks, but if anybody wants details of what I put in, I'd be glad to help out. Mods for the year are in and now it's time to play!
First thing I did was to replace all of the front suspension bushings with energy suspension poly bushings. This included the control arms as well as the sway bar bushings and end links. When I did this I raised the truck up slightly to take a little bump steer out. I leveled the truck out to where the pivot points on the lower control arms were as close as possible to parallel the ground. This raised the truck about 3/4 of an inch. I can telll you I am very happy with the results. Bump steer is tamed way down and the front end feels so much more connected to the truck. There is a responsiveness it didn't have before. Also, the bushings compress less as the weight of the truck settles down on them, and allows the front end to be aligned a little easier.
The next thing I added was front and rear Rancho RS9000 shocks and their wireless remote "my ride" system for adjusting the shock settings. I thought this would have more impact than the bushings, but the bushings were actually the high point. However, the shocks set on sport setting are great for carving roads; the highway setting is really good for smoothing out the back on a bumpy highway. I'm looking forward to when I get a chance to go to the track and dial up a good race setting. I'd like to start with as loose as possible on the front (setting 1) to promote weight transfer, and somewhere mid-range for the rear, and tweaked from there.
I know there are no Lightning-specific shocks, but if anybody wants details of what I put in, I'd be glad to help out. Mods for the year are in and now it's time to play!
ldtu:
