Velvet Rides?

[BadDog]

http://www.velvet-ride.com/

Anyone ever use these things? Any comments? My truck spends 90% of it's time as my daily driver and is also used for most family trips (without a load). Over all it rides great, especially for a truck with that kind of capacity. However, the soft part of the suspension travel is pretty limited and wash-board roads (including some interstates in AR, OK, TX, and others) use up that travel quickly. Then it gets a little rough. So, I'm thinking these might be the hot ticket without compromising my ability to tow 8-9k periodically (which was the reason for the HD).

[Paintdude]

I remember alot of guys would use them on the 99 Z71's to fix the ride..

i don`t remember the details..

[ct0218]

I've had a set of Velvet Ride shackles on my Ford 1 ton PSD van for about 4 years and they work great. I could definitely tell the difference when I installed them. I'm ordering a set for my GMC 03 CC Dually as soon as it comes in.

[CntrlCalDmax]

I've had them for about 20K miles. When I installed them I thought they made some difference but not dramatic. I find that lower tire pressures make more difference in empty ride. I run 45 front and 40 rear to help smooth things out. BTW, I do like the 1.5 inch lower tail gate with the Velvet rides.

[mdrag]

I have the Velvet Rides on my '01 3500 CC - they do make a small improvement, but I'm not sure it is enough to justify the expense - and they were quite a challenge to install. The rear top shackle bolt would not clear a rivet head on the top of the frame - no matter what I tried. I ended up having to cut off the upper shackle bolt on both sides to install the VR...Also, the receiver will need to be lowered to do this job - not that big of a deal, but it may be more of a job than bargained for...

The problem on the 3500's is the VR shackles bring the OL springs really close to the factory frame contact pads, especially at the rear - and once the OL springs hit the contact pads -> no more benefit to the VR shackles. My OL springs were within 1/2" or less of hitting the frame contact pads after the VR install. I removed the rear contact pads for a month or two, and the ride was much better. Unfortunately, the contact pads cannot be lowered easily...

500+ lbs of weight in the bed does the most for the harsh ride... The rear Bilsteins seem to help some as well...

[BadDog]

Thanks for the info guys...

I don't have the "overload to close" problem, mine is a 2500HD. I do have those weird, long bolts in the shackle, looks like they would both have to be cut to remove them. Bottom would come out with dropped hitch, I don't see how the top could be removed without pulling the spring out. Probably the easiest thing would be to whack the head off and replace it with a standard G8 bolt with the nut on the back.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna hold off on the VRs for now. Maybe later. I guess I could just throw in some sand bags or something for now... :D

[zrone]

I have a 3500 and added the Velvet ride shackles. Everyone who road in the truck before and after felt there was a difference. It also lowered the rear a couple of inches and the truck sits level now. I had no problems with the installation. I lowered the hitch for the lower bolts and for some reason when I raised the axle the top bolts came right out. There was no need to cut anything. With the 3500 the The OL springs were very close to the contact pad as mdrag said. I took the pads off for awhile but figured that was not the solution if I wanted to tow my 5th wheel. I then welded two inches of steel to the pad and redrilled the holes. I now have some clearence when empty and contact when the fifth is hooked up. Th truck sits and rides nice with the 5th hooked up.

[DetroitBob]

Installed a set about 3 weeks ago. Can't say they improved the ride any and after installation, I could not measure any drop in tailgate height. This is with the truck in the same position before and after installation.
I placed jack stands under the rear frame rails and a floor jack under the differential I was able to raise the rear spring eyes enough to remove upper bolts after removing the lower ones. Had some difficulty removing and installing the upper bolts. However with a pry bar I managed to spring the eye up enough to complete task. As Mdrag said, I not sure the benefits justify the cost. I was mainly after lowering the rear of the truck. I have not remeasured to see if in fact the rear is lower than before, now that I have driven it some and made 2 short tows.
I hope this helps and does not discourage one from installing a set.

BoB

[ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: DetroitBob ]</p>

[mdrag]

Here is a link to one of many posts on the Velvet Rides:

http://forum.62-65-dieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001913&p=

Try a search for VELVET RIDE or VELVET RIDES in the 2500HD/3500 HD Trucks and Drivetrain forum - mosts of the posts on the VR were in that forum before the Accessory forum was added. I came up with 18 topics using VELVET RIDE in the search.

Some had install challenges like me, some have not. Some installers had to lower or remove the receiver, and others said it was not necessary. Ride height decreased for some and not for others... :eek: :confused:

If you read through the posts in the link above, Ironhead initailly did not see a change in the ride height, but after a few weeks - he found a 1.75" drop....I FORGOT to measure before, but definetly noticed that the rear was lowered - and Ironhead's measurement seems to agree with my experience.

zrone,

I like your idea on the mod for the frame contact pads, and would like to give that a try. Could you take a pic or two and post them? Thanks.

mdrag

[BadDog]

Oops, should have looked harder. I was amazed that nobody here had tried or even talked about them! :D "Drive train" should have been an obvious choice too, just wasn't thinking... Thanks for the pointers.

[zrone]

MDRAG I took a couple of pictures but between the mudflaps being in the way and not being on a lift I could not get good shoots. I did paint them and put on spray undercoating but I can see after a year it is peeling off. Time to re coat them. I just recently put the rubber isolaters on the tips of the helper springs but now the springs are closer to the contact pads again. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

[mdrag]

zrone,

No problem, but thanks for trying.

mdrag

[Livin2DMax]

BadDog,

I like my VelvetRides. Lowered the rear-end 1" and like some others it seemed to take a few days (and some weight) to settle to that. A small but noticeable improvement for me and my wife in empty ride quality but I did not expect alot. Using the tricks mdrag and others discovered I thought it was an easy install.