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Harsh ride

 
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hatfield



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 60
Location: Muscatine, IA

PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:18 am    Post subject: Harsh ride Reply with quote

It seems like this season the ride in the Pulse is pretty harsh. It crashes and bangs pretty hard. Last summer I installed new air shocks on ot but it was those cheap things from auto zone that the archives show the number for. I can't find the Gabriel Air-shocks # 729773's. What do any of you guys do to get a smoother ride? Would coil shocks be smoother? It's pretty harsh. I'm planning on driving it to the Pulse Rally this year. About 350 miles each way. That would be the farthest I've ever ventured away from home with it.
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Pete Hatfield
Muscatine, IA
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elden simons



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 369
Location: Brampton, Michigan

PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:34 am    Post subject: Bang,Bang,Bang... Reply with quote

Well, specificly, if you have air shocks on the front...ya. You are enjoying a normal ride.
Air shocks are really made for adjusting ride height when hauling a load or towing a load.
How much does the nose really weigh? Do you wear heavy shoes? Heavy shoes with steel toes?

No, it is alright to keep true to the Pulse design and have airshocks in the front and back. Yet, the ride does suck.
Is the vehicles battery in the nose?
If it is, check now for fiberglass damage where the battery frame is bolted through.

Adjustable coil shocks (some even have a collar that you click for ride comfort) might be the route. I don't have any details. I bought my coil shocks from Ed Butcher in the early 1990's after writing a complaint about the front air shocks. He had to take them off of another Pulse that he was experimenting them on to then send to me. No idea who makes them. They were already worn of paint when I got them.
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Steve Schmidt
Site Admin


Joined: 01 Sep 2003
Posts: 355

PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pete,

If my air-shocks (front and back) and tire pressure are not adjusted right, I can get nauseous from rough roads or even joint bumps on a highway. Sorry I don't know my shock stock number.

I find having one outrigger 1" above the road rides better for me too.
Just keep adjusting for trial and error. There is a good ride there somewhere.

See you at the rally,

steve schmidt
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hatfield



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 60
Location: Muscatine, IA

PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My battery is not in the nose. It is in the rear under the fuel tank. If I switched just the fronts to coil and left the airs on the rear, can you get sufficient ride heighth with/without passenger? As it is now, if I have too much air in the rear as opposed to the front, the front wheel will rub the little plastic fender above the wheel. A liitle shot of air up front solves it. I wouldn't be able to do that if I took the airs off the front. Kind of irritating. What would be your opinion of just removing that little fender altogether?
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Pete Hatfield
Muscatine, IA
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elden simons



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 369
Location: Brampton, Michigan

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:43 am    Post subject: Removal of the Fender Vote Reply with quote

I Vote that you could remove the fender.
I then suggest installing some sort of lining/coating in that area.

It could end up being a messy job, but either coat the inside area with truck bed coating spray, or use a putty knife and apply/spread black roofing tar or patch to the vulnerable figerglass.

I'm quite clueless of the situation, but am considering what I had to do for my pickup truck that had a worn wheel-well guard. I didn't want the winter's road salt getting all over under there and because of gravel, it was worn so I patched and protected it with a rubbery finish.
*true that it tended to unpeel after two years, but it was applied to a smooth plastic well area*

Have you read this?
http://blog.autocycles.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=628&highlight=coil+air+shocks
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Bob Cervero



Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I had Pulse #61,it originally had coil over shocks front and rear. I installed air shocks in the rear only to give me the ability to adjust ride heighth for one passenger or two. Personally I think that's the best arrangement. That way the front ride heighth is always constant and any adjustments are made only to the rear.

The ride harshness you mention could be the front or rear air shocks bottoming out. With air shocks front and rear you could have one set low enough to bottom out and still have a proper ride heighth by raising the other very high. Also coil over shocks ride softer than air shocks which is a plus. The fact that you think the front wheel is rubbing the fender could indicate a very low setting on the front air shocks.

Do you have straps on your air shocks? With air shocks when you take a corner with your Pulse it will raise up quite high as the shocks unload in the corner. This will cause your Pulse to teeter back and forth until the shocks settle back to a normal ride heighth. I installed rubber straps on the air shocks to limit the upward travel to keep the Pulse from raising way up after a turn. I can provide more info on shock straps if you think that would help.

If your outriggers are set too low, that will also cause a harsh ride. If they are in hard contact with the road there is no give when one outrigger hits a bump. You should have about 1 inch of clearance under one outrigger going down the road. This clearance is set by raising or lowering your air shocks. Too much clearance is not good either. That will cause your Pulse to rock back and forth as you go down the road. You can also adjust outrigger heighth by turning the adjustment turnbuckles under the wings or under the rear seat.
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hatfield



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 60
Location: Muscatine, IA

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for the replies.

Eldon, I had done a search on shocks and read everything that came up so, yes, I had read the thread you referenced. I also read everything I could find on the autocycle.org web page.

Bob - I would appreciate the info on the straps. I do not currently have straps and I do notice how high I am just after a turn. Also, if I add more air to the front shocks so they aren't so low, then I have to add more air to the rear so the nose isn't so high going down the road. Perhaps I should set them both higher and crand the outriggers down.
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Pete Hatfield
Muscatine, IA
www.petehatfield.com
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Bob Hichborn



Joined: 12 Feb 2004
Posts: 404
Location: Orlando, Fl

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bob, we have to get you and Don back in a Pulse. The experimenting you both did with your vehicles has been invaluable. Thanks for continuing to contribute to the forums.

Pete, I've get Pulse #77 out on a regular basis now and also experience the host of interesting sounds while driving. It didn't take long to recognize the sound of an outrigger wheel running over a road centerline reflector. Adjusting the tire pressure helps a bit, but as Bob mentioned, if you're mostly running on all 4 wheels you'll experience alot of sounds associated with an elevated wheel making contact with the road as you maneuver over rougher road surfaces. I still have a sound in the rear which I have not isolated, but it could very well be the rear air shocks as described earlier.

I've got the coil overs up front but am not completely convinced that they are rated properly for the Pulse. They seem a bit stiff to me. At some point I'd like to get a better sense to the driving weight under each wheel.

- Bob
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hatfield



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 60
Location: Muscatine, IA

PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, I seldom run on all 4 wheels. I am careful to keep enough air in each end so that I'm always on 3 wheels. What pressure do you run in your outrigger tires? What pressure in front and rear tires?
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Pete Hatfield
Muscatine, IA
www.petehatfield.com
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Bob Cervero



Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pete, about the air shock straps: As you mentioned when you drive your Pulse around a corner it will rise up as the air shocks unload and for a while it will ride high until the air shocks settle back down.

The solution is to restrict the upward movement of the air shocks. That is done by mounting a flexible strap between the shock mounting bolts. To do this, get your Pulse set to the desired ride heighth. Measure the distance between the air shock mounting bolts. Make some sort of a flexible strap to go between the mounting bolts. Make the holes in the belt 1 or 2 inches longer than the distance between the mounting bolts. I found that 1 1/2 inches longer worked for me. You can try different lengths until you are happy with the ride quality. I used a piece of rubber belt from a conveyor belt. Almost any flexible strap will work. Your air shocks only really need to work in compression with very little extension required. Do this to all your air shocks, not just one side. Shock straps will make for a more comfortable ride when taking corners.
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