Deaver +3 feel stiff? Expectations too high?

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Nex

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Nah, don't think cab mounts are it.

What size wheels are you running? (Hopefully 17s) Raptors use tire sidewall to help with suspension softness.

I feel that trac bars, or a torque arm is worth it. Keeps the rear end in place both on and off road. Ditching the factory leaf's block helps, but does not fit.
 
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EZDA45

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Nah, don't think cab mounts are it.

What size wheels are you running? (Hopefully 17s) Raptors use tire sidewall to help with suspension softness.

I feel that trac bars, or a torque arm is worth it. Keeps the rear end in place both on and off road. Ditching the factory leaf's block helps, but does not fit.
OEM beadlocks. I’ll look into trac bars. Does it hinder offroad capability though? I do run these gen 1s hard offroad where I live in the summer
 

2012SCSVT

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Yeah, freshly rebuilt shocks. Brian did tell me he makes them a little stiffer which would definitely help offroad for big stuff. I was thinking about jacking it up and checking shock psi via the Schraeder valve. If it’s over 200 I’ll drop it down and see if that makes a difference(?).
The pressure is going to be relative to the piston hight in the resivor. If he sets the piston hight different 200 psi (extened) will be more or less compressed.

Here is my experience, not sure if it's relevant to you but anyway:

When I did the back of my truck I installed +4.5 hd deavers, this was because I tow a trailer to the desert. With stock shocks and stock shackles I thought the deavers where okay, while a little firm on the street. I still did get a little axle warp but it improved.

Next I installed 18" bypasses and immediately it was stiff. During this I also installed a 8" shackle. I did this because with short shackle caused the leafs to go in an extreme negative arch with how much up travel I set up.

I sent the leafs in to be coated with a teflon coating also the shop deburred every leaf and installed the old-school full length anti-friction pads, we removed the number 7 leaf and lubricated the entire assembly with graphite. Also all the spacers in the bushings where re-made with larger ODs and new greased poly bushings.

Ran the tuned leafs, with the 8" shackles and it was much smoother in low-speed but the high-speed was still harsh.

I changed the 8" shakels back to 6" this was a noticeable improvement all around, but still harsh on high-speed shock movements.

Finally re-adjusted the shock piston hight, same valveing, this time we maxed the resivor volume by having the piston almost contact the cap at extension (so max volume).

Boom, wayyy smooth with a bit of addional tuning it keeps getting better.

So, with my experience I would recommend making sure to have max resivor volume for nitrogen, which is more important than the pressure. I would keep the pressure 180+
 

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EZDA45

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The pressure is going to be relative to the piston hight in the resivor. If he sets the piston hight different 200 psi (extened) will be more or less compressed.

Here is my experience, not sure if it's relevant to you but anyway:

When I did the back of my truck I installed +4.5 hd deavers, this was because I tow a trailer to the desert. With stock shocks and stock shackles I thought the deavers where okay, while a little firm on the street. I still did get a little axle warp but it improved.

Next I installed 18" bypasses and immediately it was stiff. During this I also installed a 8" shackle. I did this because with short shackle caused the leafs to go in an extreme negative arch with how much up travel I set up.

I sent the leafs in to be coated with a teflon coating also the shop deburred every leaf and installed the old-school full length anti-friction pads, we removed the number 7 leaf and lubricated the entire assembly with graphite. Also all the spacers in the bushings where re-made with larger ODs and new greased poly bushings.

Ran the tuned leafs, with the 8" shackles and it was much smoother in low-speed but the high-speed was still harsh.

I changed the 8" shakels back to 6" this was a noticeable improvement all around, but still harsh on high-speed shock movements.

Finally re-adjusted the shock piston hight, same valveing, this time we maxed the resivor volume by having the piston almost contact the cap at extension (so max volume).

Boom, wayyy smooth with a bit of addional tuning it keeps getting better.

So, with my experience I would recommend making sure to have max resivor volume for nitrogen, which is more important than the pressure. I would keep the pressure 180+
Very informative! Thanks man! So stock shackles are 6” correct? I was looking into the RPG billet shackles and would assume they allow for a much more “fluid” motion when the leaves compress or extend. I will contact Brian and see how he tuned the shocks! Do you guys think adding more weight on the SD leafs would be fine? Say 420 lbs?
 

2012SCSVT

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Very informative! Thanks man! So stock shackles are 6” correct? I was looking into the RPG billet shackles and would assume they allow for a much more “fluid” motion when the leaves compress or extend. I will contact Brian and see how he tuned the shocks! Do you guys think adding more weight on the SD leafs would be fine? Say 420 lbs?
the rpg ones I used are extended, and it depends on the leaf curve so I don't know what size would be best for your springs, shorter ones would be even better for me, but it would limit my drop and my negitive arch in bump would be way to much. I do know that shackle length will change the precived spring rate in leaf springs... in other words the exact same leaf on the same truck will be stiffer or softer depending on the shakel length.
 
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