Senton 223s Shock Upgrade Help

[oneleven]

I’m looking to change up the suspension on my Senton 223s BLX v4. The stock shocks aren’t bad, but in their stock form they cause the body to ride a bit lower than I’d like. It bottoms out quite easily and at any sort of speed the wheels are rubbing badly against the inside fenders.

I’ve added some of the provided spacers, and that raises it up—but creates a really, really firm setup that doesn’t really achieve much in the way of handling bumps and such. Gets quite bouncy in a bad way.

I’ve read the sticky here and have searched for additional info elsewhere but there’s just not much out there regarding the 223s, which uses shorter shocks than the 3s Senton did (the 223s uses the same shock lengths as the Vorteks, I believe).

I purchased a set of the Pro Line Powerstroke SC shocks, as they’re the closest I could find to match the stock lengths. My thought was the dual stage spring setup might allow me to keep a higher ride, along with some shock absorption on the smaller bumps from the top springs.

That’s not what I’m getting. Admittedly I’m a novice, but I think I’ve set them up properly—and the Senton seems like it’s too much weight for the shocks. The front end is riding even lower than it did with the stock shocks without spacers. The top spring is completely collapsed just from the weight of the car, so it’s not giving me anything.

I tried different fluid weights (30, 45, 60) and that made little to no difference.

Questions:

Assuming I am bad at this, are there any mistakes I might be making in my setup of the Pro Line shocks that would cause them to be too soft?

If not, are there any other options out there that might give me something closer to the results I’m looking for? Could it be as simple as tracking down stiffer springs? I haven’t read anything that suggests the Pro Line stock springs are especially soft, but perhaps they are.

 

[Chapinb]

Oil will have no influence on ride height, it effects how fast the shocks moves.
Preload (spacers) change ride height primarily, minimal effect on stiffness. But if you raise it so much that there is little down travel, it may feel stiffer in a bad way. I suspect this may have been what you did when stock.
A stiffer spring puts more force on the spring. Can increase ride height and requires more force to move the suspension.
Sounds like you need stiffer springs.
When setting how high you sit, make sure you allow some down travel (droop) when the truck is sitting. Arms roughly level is a good starting point.

 

[oneleven]

So I got the Pro Line spring sets for my new shocks, and installed the stiffest springs all around--and it's still riding noticeably lower than even the stock shocks did. I suppose this is an indication that the Pro Lines aren't the right replacement shocks for the Senton 223s, even though the lengths match the stock lengths quite well. The search continues!

If anyone has any suggestions for 87-90mm front shocks and/or 109-113mm rear shocks, let me know!