New Van (to me) - 4X4 question

[Steve C]

Carringb, that's helpful. Thanks for the response.

[theshwed]

I am probably one of the few, at least who posts, who would not repeat putting the Agile RIP kit on the van. The additional height helped with the harsh bottoming out, of course. As far as wallowing and driving stability, my experience is that at best stayed the same as before. There are times I feel a bit more out of control than I did before replacing the shocks and springs. If I were to do it again, I would leave it stock height and deal with the jarring. With good shocks, my van only really slammed the bumpstops with head on squarish edged hits (speed bumps, small washouts across fire roads, etc.) I would definitely do the fox shocks upgrade (Agile does this without buying the whole kit I believe). What helped my vans driving manners the most was the addition of a rear sway bar. I would not expect miracles out of any bolt on kit, and if you're like me, you'll dwell on how poor it drives everytime you take it out. BUT, its impossible to replace for the $ I paid and it fits my current lifestyle perfectly, so I deal with it.

My van is a 2002 E350 V10 Quigley with ~8500# of build and as typically loaded out, so definitely not on the heavy end of the spectrum either.

[Kibo]

Originally Posted by carringb

Sumo makes a front jounce stop for SMB now. I suspect this would be a good upgrade for any Quigley as well. For a rig that stays mostly on the highway, if might even make things tolerable enough to skip the coil upgrade. They'll probably end up being fully engaged, which is fine, as these are self-damping and have a nice progressive feel to them.

https://www.supersprings.com/shop/ssf-122-40/

Instructions: https://www.supersprings.com/instruc...SSF-122-40.pdf

carringb, I see a different PN listed as specific for Sportsmobile, PN SSF-112-40. Strangely I can't find it directly on the SuperSprings site, but here's one of many links:

https://www.etrailer.com/Vehicle-Sus...SF-112-40.html

Do you know what the difference is, or which one would be more appropriate for a Quigley?

[carringb]

Looks the same! And then description matches

I pulled my # from the supersprings catalog but I've run into this before, where their internal catalog was already obsolete compared to their vendors. The old number does pull a narrow ('10-'14) date range (and also says out of stock?) while the new number cross references '01-'20. Not sure if anything changes dimensionally but the compound is the same. Their color code system is basically blue=soft, black = med, yellow = firm.

[BOZEMANGUY]

I kinda had a feeling about that after talking with Agile. They really were good about stating that the van would never ride like my newer F-250 and my expectation should be throttled a bit from what is professed on this forum. I think I'll first go with new bumpstops, Fox shocks, new stabilizer, get the front end greased up and check all joints. I see my front sway bar axle busing/donughts are shot also. Thanks a bunch for the advice. Brian

[shenrie]

Originally Posted by theshwed

I am probably one of the few, at least who posts, who would not repeat putting the Agile RIP kit on the van...

My van is a 2002 E350 V10 Quigley with ~8500# of build and as typically loaded out, so definitely not on the heavy end of the spectrum either.

^^^ know what version of valving you have on your shocks from agile?

i bought my rip kit when all that was included was the moog springs, swaybar spacer and re valved shocks. this was before ramsey got severely backlogged. i talked with him prior and it was obvious he knew suspension so i ordered asap cause i knew he had a good thing going. i had already added airbags and a rear swaybar before the kit and both those items definitely helped, but those shocks made the biggest difference. btw, i bought the moog springs locally and made my own spacer.

since agile started offering the kits theyve had different versions. last time i called and talked with john regarding a blown shock we got to chatting about the setup. he asked what motor i had and if i knew the weight of my van. i let him know that it had the 7.3 and exceeded 10k loaded and he suggested going with the latest version (dont recall what version i ended up with) of valving for the heavier rigs. so i sent all 4 shocks back to agile for a re valve. when i reinstalled i didnt notice much difference around town, but i noticed a big difference out on the highway.

recently i installed a redhead steering gear and that helped a lot with the delayed steering response my van had. i can comfortably cruise at 80 mph with one hand on the wheel. a far cry from my original white knuckle drive home from georgia.

lastly i plan on replacing my now starting to sag rear leaf springs. hoping that will take the last little bit of slop in the suspension.

that said. ive driven around with no rear sway since installing it. i definitely like having it there rather than not, but it wasnt a night and day difference without it. ive also gone quite a while without adding air to the air bags and didnt notice a ton of difference without them either. however, all the little things together do help a LOT. its just finding those parts that will work for your specific setup.

[theshwed]

Originally Posted by shenrie

^^^ know what version of valving you have on your shocks from agile?.

I will have to look into the shock valving. Its a newer kit, bought in 2018. It included shocks, coils, sway drops and bushings, and helper leafs. I added the sway afterwards. Now that Im used to it, 80 on the highway is a breeze, just watch out for crosswinds and rough expansion joints, then it becomes a party 🤟! Ill also have to look into the steering gear. That is my last biggest complaint (about steering). If anyone has a solution for the k30 brakes youve made a friend for life! Thanks Shenrie.

[rakinnear]

Hey there,

I have had a lot of luck straightening out the ride and steering on my van with the UJOINT components. I am also located in Bozeman if you want to take a look at my setup. I don’t have a quigley setup but I did have issues with the ride quality and steering when I get my van due to the way the 4x4 conversion was done by the PO.

UJOINT and parts mike have helped me get it all straightened out!

[Futrmbl]

Originally Posted by shenrie

^^^ know what version of valving you have on your shocks from agile?

i bought my rip kit when all that was included was the moog springs, swaybar spacer and re valved shocks. this was before ramsey got severely backlogged. i talked with him prior and it was obvious he knew suspension so i ordered asap cause i knew he had a good thing going. i had already added airbags and a rear swaybar before the kit and both those items definitely helped, but those shocks made the biggest difference. btw, i bought the moog springs locally and made my own spacer.

since agile started offering the kits theyve had different versions. last time i called and talked with john regarding a blown shock we got to chatting about the setup. he asked what motor i had and if i knew the weight of my van. i let him know that it had the 7.3 and exceeded 10k loaded and he suggested going with the latest version (dont recall what version i ended up with) of valving for the heavier rigs. so i sent all 4 shocks back to agile for a re valve. when i reinstalled i didnt notice much difference around town, but i noticed a big difference out on the highway.

recently i installed a redhead steering gear and that helped a lot with the delayed steering response my van had. i can comfortably cruise at 80 mph with one hand on the wheel. a far cry from my original white knuckle drive home from georgia.

lastly i plan on replacing my now starting to sag rear leaf springs. hoping that will take the last little bit of slop in the suspension.

that said. ive driven around with no rear sway since installing it. i definitely like having it there rather than not, but it wasnt a night and day difference without it. ive also gone quite a while without adding air to the air bags and didnt notice a ton of difference without them either. however, all the little things together do help a LOT. its just finding those parts that will work for your specific setup.

Hi Shea, what is a Red Head Steering gear?
Thank's, Joe Futrmobl

[marret]

This? Redhead makes steering components and many use them as an upgrade.
https://redheadsteeringgears.com