hey guys. i lowered my single cab 2000 gmc about a year ago now, and it rides like trash in the rear. its got a 6 icnh drop, c notch and flip kit, i also replaced the leaf springs recently. it bottoms out too often, and it seems to be really shaky and iffy on the back half of the truck. it has belltech nitro drop shocks and those were put in after i realized they were going to be better than the djm shocks. im stumped. i dont know how else to make it ride better, adding weight to the bed just makes it bottom out more than it already does, but it keeps the back end from going up and down as much. the rear shocks are practically parallel with the ground so i thought about a relocation kit for them, but i dont know if thatll do it. i thought about adding bags, keeping my leaf springs, to act as almost helper bags, and i thought that improve the ride quality and give me a little bit of ride height adjust-ability. any ideas? thanks for the help in advance

 

For every % that a shock is off center (ie, straight up/down), the shocks effectiveness is reduced by the same %.

For me, I used air shocks from an '80 C10. It rides well with about 100-125psi in them.

 

You are never going to get back the "factory ride quality" when you lower the truck. But in my line of work, I see lots of people going for those belltech shocks and all have the same complaint. My ecsb WITH A 2/4 DROP RODE AWFUL until i bought some bilstien shocks. best shock imo. They are pricey but you get what you pay for.

How was the C notch installed? welded in or bolted in?

 

I noticed a huge difference when I relocated my shocks

 

shock relocation and some viking double adjustable shocks will help

 

bolted in notch. a djm, which is junk *** sketchy notch, i am going to get a bigger weld in step notch for it soon. i looked into some bilsteins but dont know if i can run a factory length shock on a 6+ inch lowered truck. and i dont think they make lowered shocks

 

id love to have some viking shocks but they arent on the budget right now. being a soon to be college student monies are tight lol

 

^ This exactly, belltech shocks are junk plain and simple, i went thru 2sets before i figured it out. Brand new they were ok then got bad quick, went back to the stock bilstien shocks for my app and rode so much better. Also tire selection and pressure will play a factor, im guessing with it that low you dont have much sidewall so it wont ever ride that great in the first place..
measure for shocks and buy good quality replacements. And air bags wont help with ride quality only weight capacity/ride height, air shocks might.
My helper bags made the ride in the rear a little worse since you have to keep a few psi in them all the time.

 

You may want to consider some shock extenders to get the shocks back closer to their optimal angle of operation before switching shocks altogether or doing a relocation. Wish I could comment on the Nitro Drop shocks ride quality, I just remember reading they didn't ride all that great on several forums years ago but could have been poor selection of shocks for the application by user for all I know. (Currently on BT Street Perfomance with a 5/8 drop so not sure how valid a comparison that would be).
Also may want to check that the shackles (or hangers) if you removed them to install the flip kit have enough play to not bind up the leaf springs aka not overtightened.

X2 on that tire pressure/sidewall comment.

 

Ive got some cheap *** tires, i run i think like 33 psi in. I played around with psi on them and seemed optimal. The ride quality didnt seem to change all that much going from stock wheels and tires to 20s with a 275/45 sized tire. I have a shock extender on the passenger side, but it didnt seem to change anything. I may go with the shock relocation kit that was linked earlier, and see what that does since i can get it welded in on the weekend. My next option would probably by either different shocks or different wheels and tires.