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My "Official" Stepside Restoration Thread and LS Swap 2021

Overview Gallery Discussion
andyblack said:
I can't believe those are only $12 a piece. How long are they? (That sounds pretty bad considering their appearance.) Do they come in any other color? :tongue1:
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3.75" long, they are progressive, and no they don't come in any other color. A few people on pirate run these, said they work great. Only reason they upgrade is to air bumps.
 
Bump Stops

Well I decided to play with my bump stops a little. I bolted them on knowing they will need to be spaced down a little to be useful. Since there's some construction directly in front of my place and they didn't show up to work today, I figured I'd use it as a playground. :whistle:

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The Money shot:

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Front Passenger side is at full droop limited by the shocks:

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Driver side is about at full bump:

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Tire was just barely clearing the fender at bump. If it was turned at all it would absolutely make hard contact. So there's that... :o

So I took some measurements while flexed out. There is 2" between the bumps and the spring pad. Given the negative arch of the spring and the fact that these bumps have a certain amount of "squish", I was thinking about dropping them about 3"-4". I just have to figure out how to do it. I have a piece of 3" square tubing that I can cut a piece off of. Do you guys think that would be strong enough as is or should I add gussets?


I must say that the truck flexes better than it ever has before! The longer front shocks are a huge improvement as is the removal of the front sway bar and the removal of the rear overload springs. I'm very happy with how it flexes and rides now. I want another shot at the RTI ramp from the Dune Party as I think I'd do a lot better. The pics below are for comparison:

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(The rear still has more flex left in it too)
 
If you space it down and the bump stops are in the same location front to back as the engine cross member, i dont think you need to add any bracing.


But you definitely need to space them down.
 
I finally got around to building the spacers for the front bump stops. I made them out of 3" 1/4" wall square tube. I tossed them on to mock them up. I know the bolts aren't tight yet so don't tell me to tighten the bolts. But they sit only about 2" from the pad at ride height. Looking back through my measurements, it should work just fine but being that close is making me unsure. Without the bump spacers at max bump travel, I had 2" between the pad and the bump stop. Since these have some "squish" to them, I decided to set them down to 3", hence the 3" spacer. So does this mean that I only have 3" of bump travel? That seems pretty bad.

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Yes but depending on your length shock it isn't that bad, in theory they should be set with ride height in the middle of the stroke.
 
You also need to keep in mind that shock stroke (or travel at the bumps) is not a true number for articulation. The real travel you want to look at is at the wheel mounting surface. You may only have 2-3" of straight up travel at the bumps but your up travel at the wheel mounting surface may be 5-6" when one side of the axle is at full droop and one side is at full bump. You would only truly have the 2-3" up travel when both sides were at full compression like if you came off a jump or hit a berm at speed.

Next time you flex it out just measure from top of tire to top of fender opening at full bump and full droop then subtract the smaller from the bigger to get a more accurate number.
 
Chevy305 said:
. So does this mean that I only have 3" of bump travel? That seems pretty bad.
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Correct. Which seem about right for a standard lift spring static travel.

But you also have at least that in droop, probably more.
 
Deuling said:
Correct. Which seem about right for a standard lift spring static travel.

But you also have at least that in droop, probably more.
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Ya I definitely have more droop than bump. The droop is currently limited by my shocks. So either I run limit straps or get longer shocks... again :doah:
 
Chevy305 said:
Got my new bump stops in the mail today as I was walking out the door. They are from the rear of a '90s Tahoe. They are progressive and are hollow in the center. They should fit well in the front. I'll have to flex it out and do some measuring as far as if or how much they need to be spaced down.

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jekquistk5 said:
Nice stops Glenn.. Got the same ones going on soon:) can't beat them for 12 bucks a piece!
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Where do you guys get these for 12 bucks a pop? RockAuto doesn't carry them..
 
Amazon had them the cheapest but check ebay too. Sometimes they beat Amazon.
 
A quick update:

Unfortunately I've really hardly driven the truck this year. I calculated it out to only 600 miles since last winter. I'm actually pretty disappointed with that stat but it's been a super busy year.
But looking ahead to this winter, I've decided to just put the truck in storage. But before I could do that it needed some attention. I did an oil change, fuel stabilizer, and changed the lower radiator hose and flushed the radiator. The lower radiator hose wasn't that old but with my universal aluminum radiator it has a bigger outlet that stock so a factory replacement hose won't fit. The hose I had on there was a random hose I picked off the shelf at a parts store and the angle wasn't quite right so I clamped the crap out it. Well I guess that it eventually decided to let go and started leaking so to make a permanent fix and decided to go with a wire cored bulk marine hose and it was pretty tight getting it in but I think it'll work. I had to put a piece of the old hose on it though so it wouldnt chafe on the frame given the tight bend radius.

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So here's the truck all tucked away for the winter. I'll miss it but I have plans for it next year...

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