PPV Front and Rear Coil Spring Replacement

[spectralen]

Has anyone replaced their tight police package springs with something a little softer? I'm not talking about converting to a civilian suspension, just a replacement spring that would give more than the ppv's. There are so many vehicles with struts and rear coils that there has to be one that interchanges and still keeps the rest of the componants in play. Not wanting to lose the stance too much.

I will continue to research this and post any findings.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

I believe most of the reported ride harshness comes from the shocks/struts.

 

[Lightning 95]

The huge sway bars don't help the ride either, especially on uneven roads.

 

[spectralen]

I've talked with a few PPV owners and the ride is coming from the stiffness in the spring. The spring is so unforgiving that it is almost impossible to rock the vehicle up and down by lifting the rear wheel well. My 02 Avalanche is easy to do this compared to the Tahoe. The sway bars are taking away any independance that you could get from the springs, so I do believe they play a roll for sure.

 

[techbiker]

I've talked with a few PPV owners and the ride is coming from the stiffness in the spring. The spring is so unforgiving that it is almost impossible to rock the vehicle up and down by lifting the rear wheel well. My 02 Avalanche is easy to do this compared to the Tahoe. The sway bars are taking away any independance that you could get from the springs, so I do believe they play a roll for sure.

It sounds like the PPV is built to handle somewhat like a sports car. I drove mine over 200 miles and found the ride fairly comfortable, but then I drive a sports car with stiff coilovers and the largest sway bars I could find.

Len, I would try to find the spring rate. The PPV springs appear to be progressive but we need to know the spring rate before making an informed change. Also, please note that any change in spring rate should be matched with proper shock valving. If you just drop the spring rate the struts will still be "tuned" to the stiffer PPV springs.

 

[Rocket Man]

The huge sway bars don't help the ride either, especially on uneven roads.

Sway bar size has nothing to do with the ride, but they do help with cornering and nose-diving.

 

[Lightning 95]

Sway bar size has nothing to do with the ride, but they do help with cornering and nose-diving.

Sway bars have nothing to do with nose dive, and the only time it doesn't add stiffness is when going straight down the road and both wheels hit the same bump. When cornering they add a lot of spring stiffness which is how they resist body roll. I drove my PPV for several days after I got it thinking it rode pretty good, until I noticed on front sway bar end link was missing. Definitely noticed a much rougher ride after connecting it back up. Cornering improved though, but not the ride. Big front rear sway bars also make the whole chassis shudder on bumpy roads trying to twist the whole truck. On one wheel bumps not only is the spring/shock getting compressed it is also trying to twist the sway bar adding spring rate to that corner.

 

[RichardCranium]

I went with Belltech, specifically the kit 752SP. It retains the stock front coil springs, but it replaces the rear coils. And new shocks on all 4 corners. The stock PPV spring rate is pretty high, so those springs are definitely unforgiving. But it doesn't take a whole lot to wear out the shocks, which only worsens things. Just with the rear coils and all 4 shocks replaced, my ride is much more pleasant. I'm also a little more than an inch lower that stock PPV height, but definitely no "low rider".

Another factor that contributed to the better ride was increasing the profile of the tire. I went from the stock Goodyear RSA size of 265/50, to a "mileage" tire being Continental at 265/70. There are more pics of my truck in the build thread (link in sig) if you want to see mine sits, but I'm pretty dang happy with the looks as well as the ride, since I like the PPV for its stance.

 

[Dmascari1984]

The huge sway bars don't help the ride either, especially on uneven roads.

I heard sway bars are same as Civi hoe

 

[Dmascari1984]

I went with Belltech, specifically the kit 752SP. It retains the stock front coil springs, but it replaces the rear coils. And new shocks on all 4 corners. The stock PPV spring rate is pretty high, so those springs are definitely unforgiving. But it doesn't take a whole lot to wear out the shocks, which only worsens things. Just with the rear coils and all 4 shocks replaced, my ride is much more pleasant. I'm also a little more than an inch lower that stock PPV height, but definitely no "low rider".

Another factor that contributed to the better ride was increasing the profile of the tire. I went from the stock Goodyear RSA size of 265/50, to a "mileage" tire being Continental at 265/70. There are more pics of my truck in the build thread (link in sig) if you want to see mine sits, but I'm pretty dang happy with the looks as well as the ride, since I like the PPV for its stance.

I’m in the process of doing this also and have already done the rear. Rides like a diffirent suv. Much more comfy but didn’t loose much handling.