Truck Newbie with 91 K5... Shock and Brake guidance needed

[TB]

Hey guys

First post here (sorry its so long!), I did some searching but found a lot of mixed opinions... I'm a car guy into Autocrossing and HPDE (road course) and I do all my own work on my cars... but I'm relatively new to 4wd trucks, so I'm looking for advice/guidance...

I have a '91 K5 that was bought new by my dad. Around '94-'95 he put a 2.5" lift (has Rancho shocks, thats all I really know for now until I chat with pops) with 33" tires on it, but other than that its basically a stock TBI 350. He used it for a fair amount of light-meduim duty off roading (hunting, camping, etc). Then starting around 2001, he bought another truck and this one sat in the garage. And sat. And sat. He would take it around the block, freshen up the fluids, etc, but it saw almost no use. So now its basically a stock TBI 350 K5 with a 2.5" lift from '95 and 110k miles and thats it.

So now to help my wife and I out with a second vehicle, he's given it to us for a ridiculously low price and I'm trying to cure a few issues and freshen it up a bit. The truck will see very little light off-road use(1-2 times a year for now) so I want to make it as streetable as possible while keeping the lift and tires. In other words, I'm looking more for comfort and safety (my wife will be driving it a lot) over off-road capability. Looking for input on whether or not I'm on the right track...

Initial issues I noticed:
1. Tramlines down the road badly. (FIXED, see below)
2. Poor braking, and pulls to the right on hard braking. Brake pedal gets hard with engine off, but seems overly spongy with the engine running.
3. Occassionally dies at a stoplight (FIXED, see below)
4. ROUGH ride, lots of body roll
5. Loose steering, lots of play on center (FIXED, see below)
6. Slow leak a bit from the middle of the truck (FIXED? see below)

Initial things I did:
-New tires. 10 year old tires arent good for anything. This helped Issue 1 quite a bit.
-Changed Oil/Filter, F&R diff oil, TCase fluid, Coolant, Brake fluid, Air filter, lube
-Had the alignment checked, shop says everything is within spec and that ball joints and tie rod ends look good.
-Replaced steering stabilizer shock and slightly tightened the steering box adjuster... helped Issue 5.
-Changed the Fuel Pump after the truck finally stopped idling all together... fixed Issue 3.
-Replaced the rear TCase seal... I think this has solved Issue 6
-Replaced the front pads and calipers. Stops better, pulls less on hard braking, but still pulls.
-Did the drum adjustment technique (several hard stops in reverse). The drums have enough power to skid the rear tires on pavement in reverse.

Next:
1) Brakes. I want to get the brake pull and spongyness fully sorted out first, so I want to replace rear shoes and upgrade to SS lines, as I'm sure the old rubber isnt helping my brake pedal feel. I havent noticed any leaking out the back of the drums, but while I'm doing the shoes I'll just take a look at the wheel cylinders for anything out of the ordinary. Any other recommendations? The Master Cyl has never been run low/out of fluid, so I'm not too worried about it...

2) Shocks. I'm pretty sure these 15 yr old shocks are blown and I want to replace them. Can someone recommend a replacement shock set for me? I dont want/need top-of-the-line off road monster shocks... I'm looking for the best on-road ride I can get for UNDER $150. I saw Rough Country Hydro 8000 are about $120 for the set, and they claim "superior highway ride"... but then some people say they are pretty rough. Ranchos are a bit more expensive, and I've heard they ride rougher than the RC's. Any other recommendations in my price range?


Thanks for any help you guys can give!

 

[TB]

Swaybar still present? New swaybar bushings at the frame and a swaybar disco/correction kit from ORD may help.

Yes, its present. That kit looks like something I may try. I doubt I'll be disconnecting it much, but I do like the possible benefits of the "correction" to the on-road manners. EDIT: looking into it forther, I may try a swaybar drop bracket to acheive the same thing for cheaper, since again I really dont need/want the disconnect capability. Thanks!

Drums resurfaced and properly adjusted?
I once had a similar issue (pulling...), traced it back to a bad front brake pad (which looked fine at that time...).

I'll be going through the drums this weekend, resurfacing, new shoes, adjustment, etc. I have high hopes for this Fronts have new pads and calipers, but the rotors now feel like they need a resurface as well.

Difficult in that price range, not much room to work with.... Gabriel shocks from Autozone, or ProComps from 4WP come to mind; regular Monroes from NAPA...

Any comments on how either of these ride, or if they're just junk (quality and ride-wise)?

How about the Rough Country Hydro 8000's? I know they're called "Rough", but they're advertised as having a good highway ride and they're priced right for me... Am I way off?


Thanks for the response!

 

[chulisohombre]

brakes may have major rust on them from non use.cleaning them up from driving may help.also try bleading the brakes til good clean fluid is coming through all the way to the back and front.gabriel shocks make rancho i believe,so that is a good cheap alternative to the rancho.they ride well from what ive heard.run about 30 bucks apiece also.good place to start anywho.

 

[dhcomp]

The bilstein shocks are out of your price range, but worth the money. I messed with a lot of cheap shocks before upgrading to hte bilsteins, and they were worth every penny. I LOVE mine.

In the cheap range, i have ordered Monroe Gas Magnums or Reflex shocks from kragen. They are ok.

 

[TB]

Hows the ride with the various models of Bilsteins? Any recommendations on the cheapest place to get them?