The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk mono leaf ride quality

Well the debate with my son is stock height vs slightly lowered. So to be fair to him I said I would explore "both" sides. Has anybody used the monoleafs and did they ride smoother than stock? Are they close in ride to a ifs? Thanks for all of the input. We are getting close to spending some dollars on the suspension either stock or lowered. Thanks for all of the help, Wayne

A have a friend who has monoleafs on a lifeted Chevy. Granted they may not ride like a lowered spring due to the fact that they are a custom made 10" life spring. That being said, they ride sweet! He had his custom made my "National Spring" I think that they were expensive, but that is because of the extreme lift. Anyway, they ride really good and in an off road application they flex like monsters, he can drive over boulders that are a little over 3 feet tall and keep all 4 on the ground. OK, sorry for not having much to say in the way of your application. I think that they are a great spring and I would go for them. Let the kid have the lowered stance, you might grow to enjoy it yourself.

Kyle

Wow, it must be morning, cause I can't spell worth a d@mn right now. Must need more coffee. Good Luck!

"I have a friend..."

"custom made 10" LIFT spring..."

I'm also interested in doing front monoleafs, but I think I would need specific shocks for it in addition to the leafs for a proper ride.

Check this thread for some perspectives:
http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=002776#000000

My truck is not on the road so I can't give you ride impressions. But I can show you what I did when rebuilding the front of my truck with Monoleaf springs. They anly lower the truck 2 1/2 inches. If you page through more of my rebuild you can see I wanted more of a drop, so I had my front axle dropped at Mor-drop.

http://home.twcny.rr.com/schickling/1940Chevy/rebuild3.html

I can't imagine that this will ride as nice as an IFS, but I like having a "truck" ride in my truck. I have a Chrysler 300 for going fast and smooth down the road.

I lowered mine with monoleafs on the front. The ride is better than stock, for sure, but you do bottom out on average to large bumps. I would investigate how much work your stock front end needs. (king pins, steering box rebuild, tie rod ends, drag link, etc..) If it needs most of these items and you opt for the lower stance, I would go IFS. If it doesn't need much then go with monoleaf or lowered multileaf springs. I like my stock axle. It retains that truck feel to it. A properly rebuilt stock front end is really capable of handing todays roads and driving conditions. All the Big Rigs still use straight axles. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

A few years ago I spoke with Patrick, the owner of Patricks antique cars, regarding his truck. I was specifically interested in the Saginaw transmission conversion that he had done. He was very willing to take me for a ride in his truck to allow me to make my own impression. His truck was also lowered with monoleafs front and rear. Unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity (yet) to take him up on his offer. You may want to call or email him to get some more information.
Here is a link to his website: http://www.patricksantiquecars.com/

Kael