I bought the fancy sway bar with my new springs and I’m not gonna use it. If you think it will help firm up the feel I’m just down here in San Antonio.
CK5
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1991 GMC V3500 Project
- Thread starter sethgmcv3500
- Start date
Didnt see it, did you go aftermarket tailgate? If so, which did you go with and how much work was it to get it to fit properly?
Yea it’s running and driving just fine. I’m just picky about drivability so it will take some time to get it dialed in. I’ll be building a center console at some point to had all this.
Yea it’s a ton more, and I just didn’t expect it. The truck felt soo much better with the tough country springs. It’s pretty stable at 80mph, it actually feels worse at slow speeds, like a quick lane change at 45min.
It’s a factory tailgate. This entire truck except for one bedside is factory sheet metal.
More pics!
Love it. How do you like the 6.6 and 6spd? Was that the original combo you were planning for?
Oh dang. Mine is super stable but also barely over stock height so I don’t want to install it.
That is not what I would expect, sorry to hear that! If I helped talk you into ORD springs, I apologize.
I enjoy the soft ride very much with both my '90 and my '70. So I push them a bunch because of all of the years that I hated the ride of my "70.
Hopefully you can realize even a small change by moving the shocks more vertical. Possibly it will give you some insight into where to look for improvements.
I was all over the place honestly. Anything from rebuilding the 454 with a 4l80 to an 8.1 with the Allison to a Duramax/allison. I found a great deal on this combo out of a low mileage wrecked 2500hd and couldn’t pass it up. I love it so far, plenty of gears, maybe even too many, and stupid powerful.
Yea, I’m going to play with it and have confidence I’ll be able to dial it in. I had to go to 6” shackles from the factory 4.5” due to the free arch in the spring, so I think that has something to do with it too. I got the Daystar tied 7.25” shackles that I think I’m going to drill out for maybe 5-5.5” if I can get away with it. That long of untied shackles with the taller springs is only making the problem worse I believe.
What gears do you have in the diffs? And how do you feel about the match? I know the newer trucks at least the 1500’s with more gears are running 3.23’s or 3.55’s with 32-33” tires so curious to hear how you feel about your gearing. (Sounds like maybe too much gear in diffs)
Nice update! The L8T is sweet. What exactly are the driveability issues? Is it engine or trans related?
As for the ORD springs, where is your caster at? The longer shackles will change your caster and may make it more wandery. I'd also look at adding a pan hard or trac bar to keep the axle located left to right.
As for the ORD springs, where is your caster at? The longer shackles will change your caster and may make it more wandery. I'd also look at adding a pan hard or trac bar to keep the axle located left to right.
4.10s and 37s. I just meant it’s more than I may ever need from a hearing perspective, but the match feels great.
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It’s all trans related. Shift points. It’s eager to get into the tallest gear quickly rather than hang out in some rpm. E.g. part/cruise throttle at 45mph it goes into 6th which is like 1,200 rpm rather than staying in 5th at like 1,600. There’s enough power there to keep cruising but I can tell it doesn’t really like. This is one of 20 annoying things that I’m trying to get dialed in.
Caster is at 13.2° so yea it’s part of my problem that I’ll be correcting. A pay hard bar is a great idea, I’m going to look into it.
Perfect. So 33’s-35’s probably could use 3.73’s pretty well
Sounds like every modern trans I know. My tundra will drop into 6th gear at 30-35mph as fast as it can and doesn’t like to downshift without some decent throttle input. And that’s after it’s tuned. Same with my previous 14 Chevy with a tune. It’s irritating for sure.
Yup, no doubt.
I spent a bunch of time dialing in the 6L80 in my '12 Silverado with HP tuners. I used the Blue Cat trans tuning tool as a starting point and watched a bunch of YouTube videos to help me dial in the shift pressures/timing. Then I just went by feel, which the feel is going to be different for every set up depending on gearing, tires, weight, and of course engine power band. I've got mine set up pretty well now, and I'm by no means an expert. The difference is I don't know how Holley has the tables set up in the tuning software. I imagine they must be similar to HP tuners.
