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96 Chev PU - Suspension Problem?

it's a v6 short bed. When I brake fairly hard, the back end feels like I am going across a washboard road. Light braking may only produce a few bounces. My first thought was brakes, but they have been rebuilt. When I rebuilt them, I thought the rear axle bearings felt a little "dry", but I could never decide if the roughness was the axle bearings or the differential. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has encountered this before, and if there are ways to diagnose it without just swapping parts. Just bouncing the shocks tests out OK. So I can't figure out if it is the shocks, leaf springs, or possibly some kind of drag in the axle.

Thanks, Roscoe

Reply to
roscoe75028
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Reply to
Shep

Several possibilities come to mind.

  1. Your rear drums may be warped or bent. They can be checked with a brake drum micrometer, or if you adjust your rear brakes to drag slightly, you can feel the warp as a tight then loose spot when rotating them by hand.

  1. You may have malfunctioning shocks. Bouncing the rear bumper may not be a conclusive test. Look for signs of oil leaking out of the shocks or just replace the old suckers for good measure. If you have someone follow behind you while driving down a bumpy road, they may be able to see the rear wheels hopping due to bad shocks.

  2. Tires. Broken belts, out of round, cupping, etc. Swap front to rear and see if there is a difference.

  1. Normal operation of rear wheel antilock brakes (if that's what you have). Some types of rear wheel antilock brakes produce a rapid pulsation in the rear brakes when activated, and sometimes the RWAL brakes activate too soon, which is a whole nuther post on how to diagnose that.

Reply to
Kevin

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