Leafs

[Cclittle72]

I’ve heard the Tremor leafs are softer than the regular Ranger. I’ve heard the Icon leafs are too. So are the Icons softer or firmer than the Tremor? I want a smoother rise on the road and trails. No towing or hauling.
Thinking about the stage 7…

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[Jhbryaniv]

there is nothing that is going to give you a smooth ride on both trail and road.

 

[Racket]

there is nothing that is going to give you a smooth ride on both trail and road.

Yeah, I think 'smoother' is subjective.

Having switched from the base (US) monoleafs to global (softer) multileafs with some basic Eibach shocks (stiffer dampening) and progressive Sumo bumpstops on my 2WD Lariat I can say the improvements in daily and travel/towing ride has been noticeably more comfortable. I've towed a medium sized fully loaded U haul trailer with no perceptible squat although I've been warned to expectorant if I approach maximum towing capacity. Keep in mind 4x4 Tremors have a slightly lower tow rating.

On a trail suspension travel is far more important. From what I've casually read here (until @Frenchy weighs in regarding OME equipment) a set of appropriate Deaver springs in the rear with matched Fox or reservoir equipped Eibachs (both require maintenance) would be about optimal for suspension travel while offering the ride benefits of multileafs.

I gained height in the rear with my mods and I'm sure those mods would add even more. The more complete solution would also mean some work up front.

It might get you what you're looking for?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Best Leafs…

 

[Frenchy]

So the different leaf springs available are mainly going to focus on lift and payload. That said most will be considered softer than the factory parabolic leaf springs that are on the Ranger. If it were my Ranger I would go with either Old Man EMU Leaf Springs or go with Dobinsons Leaf Springs. Why those companies you ask? For starters they are both from Australia. Both companies designed their parts for OffRoad travel where Touring/Overlanding will be a thing. They also have way more experience compared to ICON.

With that said if you are looking to lift your Ranger(that's right, I said lift not level) the I would look into a lift lift from Dobinsons. I recently installed their twin tubes shocks on my old Nissan Pathfinder after running the Nitrocharger shocks from Old Man EMU and I am happy with them. The Dobinsons Monotube shocks have been reported to ride nicer than the Fox 2.0 shocks(this was on a different forum and I think it was from a Toyota owner). Also they do have a sale going on this month for 15% off all orders.

Now you ask why a lift over a level. Well if you only lift your front then the rear is basically at the same height as before and is prone to damage vs if it is higher(tires not counted of course). Also if you do ever load the truck(it's a truck and you will do it. Towing counts BTW) the rear is going to come down a bit. It is better to have a little rake without load so it has room to compensate for the load.

Hopefully that helps

 

[Frenchy]

there is nothing that is going to give you a smooth ride on both trail and road.

I will disagree. Believe it or not it is possible to get the correct parts for many vehicles to get the best of both worlds. Will you feel bumps? Very possible, but it can still be smooth.

 

[Frenchy]

Yeah, I think 'smoother' is subjective.

Having switched from the base (US) monoleafs to global (softer) multileafs with some basic Eibach shocks (stiffer dampening) and progressive Sumo bumpstops on my 2WD Lariat I can say the improvements in daily and travel/towing ride has been noticeably more comfortable. I've towed a medium sized fully loaded U haul trailer with no perceptible squat although I've been warned to expectorant if I approach maximum towing capacity. Keep in mind 4x4 Tremors have a slightly lower tow rating.

On a trail suspension travel is far more important. From what I've casually read here (until @Frenchy weighs in regarding OME equipment) a set of appropriate Deaver springs in the rear with matched Fox or reservoir equipped Eibachs (both require maintenance) would be about optimal for suspension travel while offering the ride benefits of multileafs.

I gained height in the rear with my mods and I'm sure those mods would add even more. The more complete solution would also mean some work up front.

It might get you what you're looking for?

Not going to lie, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the Deaver leaf spring ride quality since there are a ton of leafs in each pack. I say that because you don't normally see that unless it is a heavy duty trucks of sorts. Also I have yet to ride in a vehicle with Deaver leafs(I would like to though).

Also would you believe I'm changing manufacturers in suspension? Scary I know, but for good reasons.

As for the optimal suspension travel with the Deaver leafs, it is a hard one to say. The only reason I say this is simply due to the fact no one has shown measurements with the rear axle at full flex like what I did with the Old Man EMU leafs. No one has also yet to provide the information of how much shorter the raptor bump stops are. Once these are provided it would help quite a bit just so we know how they compare.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

I will disagree. Believe it or not it is possible to get the correct parts for many vehicles to get the best of both worlds. Will you feel bumps? Very possible, but it can still be smooth.

Compromises will be made.

I think we agree that a complete system will make things better, but won't make everything perfect...

 

[JasonTremor]

I will say that a stock Tremor with 35psi cold tire inflation rides about the same as a new TRD Off Road 4Runner with 40 psi in the tires in my experience. Tire inflation has a huge impact on ride quality along with shock absorbers and leaf pack design. It shocked me quite honestly, but I drove them back to back on the same road.

35 psi was where the stock general atx tires passed the chalk test and are wearing very evenly at that pressure. The 39 psi recommended pressure makes the ride pretty choppy.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

I will say that a stock Tremor with 35psi cold tire inflation rides about the same as a new TRD Off Road 4Runner with 40 psi in the tires in my experience. Tire inflation has a huge impact on ride quality along with shock absorbers and leaf pack design. It shocked me quite honestly, but I drove them back to back on the same road.

35 psi was where the stock general atx tires passed the chalk test and are wearing very evenly at that pressure. The 39 psi recommended pressure makes the ride pretty choppy.

BLUF: I am happy with my suspension swruo - stock tremor with ~250lb in the bed full time.

The side wall flex on the tires adds quite a bit to ride quality.

I run my atx's at 39, majority of my driving is highway speeds. I can still hit the railroad tracks at 45 and it settles after a cycle and a half (up, down, up of suspension).

I was driving out on 470 this afternoon and it was interesting to watch the vehicle beside and in front of me when they went over irregularities in the roadway. Ie an f150 lariat looked floaty, it was like it never quite stopped moving. I'd didn't look stiff like I expected. Than there were the car's that looked like they were on a pretty rough seesaw....

As I say in each of these threads the OP should check out some of the shock surplus guys videos on YouTube. They provide some interesting insight into the differences in many suspension setups - fox, king, icon, eibach, bilatein, dobinson etc. They go into how each shock is tuned and designed a little different. I wish they talked more about the rearwnds and how leaf springs combine with shocks to create a system that works together... And how of you mismatch it can make things worse....

 

[Blackeagle]

there is nothing that is going to give you a smooth ride on both trail and road.

“Trail” also covers a lot of ground. No spring setup is going to perform equally across every type of off-road terrain either.

 

[Frenchy]

“Trail” also covers a lot of ground. No spring setup is going to perform equally across every type of off-road terrain either.

Can't forget the load(if any) that is applied to the vehicle as that will change things quite a bit

 

[Cclittle72]

So, nobody knows the relative stiffness of the tremor vs other leafs? Is there a scale used to indicate that metric?

 

[Dr. Zaius]

So, nobody knows the relative stiffness of the tremor vs other leafs? Is there a scale used to indicate that metric?

The person I bought my Tremor leafs from upgraded to the Icons I believe it was.

I spoke with him again later and he said that the stock Tremor springs rode better and performed about as well.

I am 100% happy with my Tremor leaf/Bilstein combo, though forestry service roads are about as extreme as my truck ever sees.

 

[Fitzmotor]

The Tremor spring is pretty soft, the Global springs are a little softer in my opinion.

The Deavers work because they have so many soft thin leafs, the stack is huge but the individual leafs are small, the high quantity of leafs helps control axle wrap up, I had a set on my old Raptor, nice ride, long travel and they reduced the wheel hop.

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