Suspension Upgrades

With the build out, the van is on the heavy end of the GVWR of 9,500 lbs. The factory van suspension isn't designed to drive around "full" all the time so we decided to improve things:

• Remove the rear 2 5/16" Trail lift blocks
• Add all 5 of the Van Compass Mini Leaf Spring Pack
• Add Van Compass rear leaf spring shackles (not actually green)
• Add Van Compass Falcon 3.3 SP2 rear shocks
• Add Quadvan rear shock relocation brackets + skid plate

The full additional leaf pack + the shackles should come out about the same height as the Trail block or close enough for lift purposes (to retain proper shock travel).

I spent the last 2.5 days doing that in the driveway. Burned half a day getting staged with tooling and extra 2x12 blocking that would fit under the 6 ton jack stands as you need extra height to use the jacking point right in front of the rear leaf spring. Other two days averaged ~6 hours (second side goes faster of course). I'm slow apparently - but there's lots of wrench/socket clearance issues using more and more magic tools, extensions, etc. and really beefy torque specs which take awhile. I also had 2 false starts on jacking for various reasons before being satisfied I would probably still be able to spend my retirement funds vs. squashed on the driveway.

I was able to do this one side at a time (other side remained on the ground with the tire). Certainly adds some confidence when 4000+ lbs are in the air above you.

The original Trail lift block under the leaf springs:

Original lower shock mount:

Using a cut off wheel to remove 'optional' parts of shock bracket:

The new shock bracket with integrated skid plate:

Trail block gone, 5 additional mini-leaf springs in, and new Falcon rear shocks. The air bags I added last Fall.

The longer rear leaf shackle:

And the best tip ever for struggling with large heavy tires when trying to magically line up 6! lugs. Use an air lift wedge jack! You can focus on alignment and rotation on a few lugs while raising slightly with a few squeezes. A little push home and you're golden.