99 TowAHo squishy suspension

I do love the low mile 1999 Tahoe (TowAHo) that is our new house truck. But the suspension ,steering feel and brakers are made of marshmallows. Why? How to fix?

ClifFord has no rear shocks at all.

Something to do with having 19 leaves.

Heavier duty springs and shocks will fix a lot of the issues. Check the steering linkages are in good shape

An upgraded rear sway bar and Bilstein HD shocks would be a good start.

ls1fiero wrote: I do love the low mile 1999 Tahoe (TowAHo) that is our new house truck. But the suspension ,steering feel and brakers are made of marshmallows. Why? How to fix?

its a 99 with probably mostly original parts, its time to change them for new tighter parts. I'd start with an inspection of all the steering linkages then some good shocks.

Tahoes are built for towing kids to soccer fields. Moms don't like the rough ride of a real vehicle. Swap in some real springs and shocks and go nuts.

And GM truck brakes suck the very worst kind of ass at the best of times, so clean/adjust/lube and flush the fluid, then pull the ABS fuse and thats as good as it gets.

I had the same problem with my yukon. I added a leaf to the spring pack in the rear and added about a 1/2 inch of ride height in the front by turning up the torsion bars. It worked very well. also, the sway bar end links on those are prone to breaking. check to make sure they are still in place.

Best way to fix the rear brakes is to find a steep hill, back down it at 20-25 MPH, and then slam on the brakes so you're on the verge of lockup. Repeat 2 more times, and your brakes will feel infinitely better. The auto-adjust mechanisms on the rear drums don't really adjust on their own, but this procedure will get them back into shape.

Proper brake bleeding is also really important on these trucks. The stock brakes aren't fantastic, so having them in good shape goes a long way to improving their effectiveness.

Good stuff thank you! Wondering if 4WD suspension components from the same vintage will be better. Or 2500 stuff? Not worried about it riding firmer. After all there is about two feet of cushion built into the seat. I will do the back up trick tonight. Should be fun to watch.

If you have 2WD, SSBC has a rear disk kit, as well.

the backup and almost lockup routine worked so well the first time I tried it, I'm sure I giggled a little.