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Is it safe?

brans87

brans87

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need to get my shocks mounted and sway bar attached.
Is it safe to drive without front shocks and sway bar attached on flat ground 12 miles to work? 6 is back road 45 and under other 6 mostly highway.

All suspension is new including front leafs. Be much easier to do at work then in driveway. Never drove without front shocks so trying to be smart and ask you guys.
 
Can it be done.....sure. Is it a good idea......nope. It's pretty sketchy to drive without shocks, feels bad, handles worse. A pothole on the highway really could be deadly. If you do it go real slow. I don't run a sway bar at all, the shocks are the real worry.
 
I drove without rear shocks for 6 miles one time. Damn, it was all over the place. Slow and careful.
 
I would have to agree with Hank. Not worth it at all. Shocks are easy to install. As far as the swaybar goes, it would depend on how soft your springs are. My ORD springs are VERY soft and it causes issues without the swaybar. Henceforth the recent addition of a redneck ram. My buddy runs no swaybar with tuffcountry springs and hasn't had an issue.
 
I've driven my K5 a hundred or so miles without shocks or a sway bar. It's boaty and bouncy but not dangerous.

Note: I'm not saying it's right, I just haven't reached the point of shocks yet.
 
I drove my K5 around town with new 6" tuff country springs for weeks while I waited for ord to get the right shocks to me. Bounces a lot, but its manageable. Shocks arent hard to do on the ground either, especially if you've got another set of hands to stab the bolt.
 
I have never installed rear shocks on any square body until someone forces me to. Front though, they could use it to drive decent. Swaybars get tossed immediately. that being said, Id drive it to a shop to install em no issue. more than that its pretty poor handling.

Without rear shocks, my k30 gets air time on the way to work.
 
Going to take it slow and steady no rushing for myself or any other ahole out there.
 
Made it to work fine but damn you guy's were right on the driveshaft. had to keep foot on gas just little to keep vibes down.

Looks like will be ordering drive shaft!
 
obijuank5 said:
I have never installed rear shocks on any square body until someone forces me to. Front though, they could use it to drive decent. Swaybars get tossed immediately. that being said, Id drive it to a shop to install em no issue. more than that its pretty poor handling.

Without rear shocks, my k30 gets air time on the way to work.
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My '82 K2500 has what might be the oem shocks on it still!--the dust covers rotted off a few of them,and I'm pretty sure one front one leaked all the juice out sometime last year...truck shows only 44K on the oddometer,and it might be correct..but its also almost 35 years old..

I have replaced shocks on my other square bodies and hardly noticed any improvement..the front springs have so little travel before they hit the bump stops the shocks don't do much other than maybe control rebound or prevent bouncing over really frost heaved roads..
Never really felt a big change after installing new rear shocks either..

I once drove this truck with open manifolds to the parts store a few miles away to buy some of those elbows and straight sections of pipe to make up a new exhaust system...the 6.2 really sounded bad-a$$ with open manifolds,had quite a "bark" when you romped on it,the higher compression really made it sound angry!....at idle it was almost as quiet as it was with the exhaust connected though,which I thought was rather strange...

I would have liked to have run it "open manifolds" with a short straight pipes if I could get away with it,but just making it to the parts store and home without getting a ticket was risky enough...I had to make a new exhaust system to pass inspection..
 
diesel4me said:
I would have liked to have run it "open manifolds" with a short straight pipes if I could get away with it,but just making it to the parts store and home without getting a ticket was risky enough...I had to make a new exhaust system to pass inspection..
Click to expand...

I've got a ticket for running my stepside with open headers.... And guess what Bob. It wasn't the end of the world
 
I like having no tickets and being able to pass a cop without fearing getting one,and having my truck road legal...but I'll admit the temptation to drive around with open headers is strong..:D
 
My 6.2 with no mufflers sounded so bad I welded the oem ones back on.
Straight pipe only sounds good on diesels with two less cylinders.
 
jekquistk5 said:
Ask @Richcz28 how much of a difference shocks make? He drove from MA to MI with no shocks.
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On my Tuff Country springs my truck was totally safe on the highway. Bumps were a little funny, but not a big deal.

My blazer is a whole different story. With no shocks and ORD springs you can't drive the truck. With old worn to death shocks you can drive it, but the performance of the whole truck is severely altered from acceleration to steering to braking. With good shocks, it handles really well while still being a bit soft in the corners.
 
obijuank5 said:
My 6.2 with no mufflers sounded so bad I welded the oem ones back on.
Straight pipe only sounds good on diesels with two less cylinders.
Click to expand...


That's because you didn't have glasspacks.
 
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