Doing a 'flip kit' on your OBS 88-00 truck? Read this...

[SCOTI]

These trucks have a poor shock angle when flipping the rear axle on the leafs. The placement of the shock extension brackets to help regain some shock travel doesn't fix this (it just allows for slightly increased travel).

I measured my truck & found the distance from the shock mounts @ the rear end to each upper shock mount was also different which adds to the poor angle. My driver side shock mount distance was 15"; the pass side was 19".

Through discussion, Lolife99 passed on a nice little tid-bit of info that should be shared as these trucks are the current hot-ticket ride....

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...5&postcount=13

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=816847

[EVRLET]

Maybe I’m the only one who never had an issue with a crappy ride in the rear. My 1997, purchased in 1997 and had the 4/6 done in 1997 has never been a junk ride. Actually the opposite, smooth as butter. I do have the Belltech flip kit and shock extenders. Always had the street performance shocks. About 5 years ago, I lowered the rear to 8” and kept the shock setup the same. Still never any issues.

Could it be that trying to use the stock shock length with extenders creates the issue? Could the use of Belltech shocks fix or further exacerbates the shock issue, don’t know. But I do know my truck rides great, even with a small load in the back.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by EVRLET

Maybe I’m the only one who never had an issue with a crappy ride in the rear. My 1997, purchased in 1997 and had the 4/6 done in 1997 has never been a junk ride. Actually the opposite, smooth as butter. I do have the Belltech flip kit and shock extenders. Always had the street performance shocks. About 5 years ago, I lowered the rear to 8” and kept the shock setup the same. Still never any issues.

Could it be that trying to use the stock shock length with extenders creates the issue? Could the use of Belltech shocks fix or further exacerbates the shock issue, don’t know. But I do know my truck rides great, even with a small load in the back.

I did Bilstiens for a 4/6 drop on my '90. Definitely not a crappy shock choice. I was surprised when I measured a buddys truck @ work (un-dropped swb '95) & found the shock lengths were the same. Not sure why the Bilsteins were cataloged for a 4/6 when they were stock length.

The ride wasn't 'bad' but my rear tires were cupping indicating the travel was compromised. I measured & sure enough, the shock didn't have enough compression travel w/the flip kit + shackle set-up. My quick fix was to utilize some G-body shocks as they were the same basic set-up @ the ends but slightly shorter. That corrected the tire cupping on the next set of tires/since.

When I purchased my '99 3/4 ton & got the drop stuff, I still had those truck Bilsteins from my '90 sitting on the shelf. I figured I'd just pop them on since I was only doing a flip-kit on this one. Once the drop was done, I measured the travel distance @ ride height & again those Bilsteins would have less than 2" of compression travel. I had G-body Bilsteins on the rear of my 64 project so I stole them & bingo... they were in the sweet spot for compression travel.

I drove it for a week or so & the ride was fine. Much better vs. the stock height but the front suspension was beyond worn out when it was @ stock height. It was only when I was crawling around under the truck taking measurements of the exhaust & planning my hitch install that I visually noticed the pass side shock was laying over farther vs the driver side. My digital angle finder confirmed the visual. The driver side was 53°; the pass side was 37° (from memory). I followed up on this in my 'Spot' thread & learned of the upper relocation brackets. Never saw the brackets when I looked up part info on Belltechs site.

I'll probably purchase a pair & swap them in next time the bed is off (next time will be to install the new muffler back exhaust pipes). Even 53° seems it can be improved upon.

[Tom]

Interesting, I've never heard of these. I've never felt my rear end was bad ride wise but better is always better lol

[Timtruck]

I repositioned the upper shock mount when I had the bed off, just moved them closer to the rear axle and made sure the shock angle was the same for both. I used rear shocks for a 80's Monte Carlo, they're a little softer but makes for a decent ride.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Timtruck

I repositioned the upper shock mount when I had the bed off, just moved them closer to the rear axle and made sure the shock angle was the same for both. I used rear shocks for a 80's Monte Carlo, they're a little softer but makes for a decent ride.

That's what I did for the passenger side & used G-body spec Bilsteins as well.