shock upgrade question

[Beaky]

our SMB rides a little nose high, is this a characteristic of the build or are the shocks shot. we are looking at the Fox setup on offer from Field Van

[The_Vermonster]

Springs set the height. So if your rear is squatting down it's probably the rear leaf packs. It seems pretty common on even stock vans. I think the general consensus is to go for a progressive leaf pack from someone like Deaver, Alcan, Weldtech or find a local shop. You'll need to know the weight of you van, per axle, and how much lift you need to return to stock. Most people will raise the rear a little over level so that as time and cargo squishes it down, it stays close to where you want it.

[REF]

^^^yup, but that’s not to say you don’t need new shocks too. Take a look at the Agile R.I.P kit

[Beaky]

yeah, we talked to them at Big Bear, pretty expensive

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by Beaky

yeah, we talked to them at Big Bear, pretty expensive

Shocks themselves are not expensive from Agile, the entire RIP kit is though, and you may not need it since it doesn't do anything for rear sag.

You probably just need rear spring help as suggested above. If your shocks are worn out, and they likely are if you don't know when they were last replaced or ever replaced, then you would benefit greatly from Agile's tuned Fox shocks.

[Pablo]

Unsure how old your SMB is. My '95 B3500 SB12 had 1500 running gear, installed by SMB. One ton van with 1/2 springs must be the silliest thing I've ever seen!
You may be dealing with the same situation.

[SilverForkPhil]

^^^Agree with Ref, Scotty and Vermonter -

I got some new rear spring packs with an additional leaf a couple years ago - Made all the difference - the ass end is a touch higher than the front and settles level with a trailer 👍👍

[Beaky]

thnx, did you get your work done by Agile?

[daveb]

Back around 2010 I had Deaver spring do mine (all new front and back) and it still came back squatting. They shipped me an extra leaf for the rear and I found a local truck shop who installed it for a 100 bucks. One thing about the Deaver's was it lifted my van a couple more inches which lead to needing taller tires. Then climbing in became more of an issue. If you don't have an issue with the ride you might look into a helper spring. I switched the springs for an improved ride.

[SilverForkPhil]

Originally Posted by Beaky

thnx, did you get your work done by Agile?

Agile did a RIP kit (Complete front end and rear shocks only) about 8 or 9 years ago.
I had the rear leafs done at a suspension shop in Salt Lake.

Hope this helps

Phil