The ride quality reports you get here will vary all over the spectrum. Depends a lot on the condition of your existing rear springs. It also depends a great deal on what you, as an individual, consider a "good ride".
Some people will appreciate the good handling characteristics, without letting the firmness of the ride bother them. Some will NEVER consider a Bronco as having a good street ride. Period.
Either kit can be a decent ride, but the System 3 stands a better chance of achieving that. At the expense of adding full leaf packs instead of an individual add-a-leaf.
You gets what you pays for.
Setups like these can by necessity be a compromise sometimes though.
Saving money means adding a leaf to an unknown existing spring pack, instead of a scratch-built leaf pack that can be made to be the best of both worlds. It also means using the shocks that we chose for our kits. Rather than a particular model that you've chosen through extensive personal experience, or a custom-valved (as in, expensive) shock to serve your individual tastes and the individual characteristics of your Bronco.
The ride you get from the rear add-a-leaf will depend mostly on the condition of the current spring packs. In some cases, an add-a-leaf like this can actually make them ride better!
It did on mine. And the leaf I used was not as long as the current WH version, so this one should ride even better than the one I used.
Adding to the pack, even though it's a long thin leaf, will by it's very nature increase the spring rate of the leaf pack overall and firm up the ride. We try to make that change as small as possible, but it's just the nature of the beast.
If the existing ones ride super stiff and harsh right now, chances are you'll like the results. If they ride decently right now, you will be more likely to notice at least a slight increase in stiffness.
The advantage is that even though the overall rate is increased, the perceived "harshness" will be reduced because the individual leaves can now slide over each other more smoothly from their new positions.
With the more expensive replacement spring packs of the System 3, we've been able to design in characteristics that enhance the ride while increasing the spring rate and safety factors.
Still "firm" but not as harsh, as stock leaves can be.
The front coils will very possibly ride much smoother than your existing springs. Depends again on what's in there now. I'm running a first-gen set of 3.5" WH coils and they definitely ride smoother than the original, and most of the aftermarket springs that I've used.
The shocks are really going to make a big difference in your ride quality. Here again, opinions are in both camps. Some customers love them, some think they ride to stiff for their liking. Personal preference strikes again.
They're a good compromise (there's that word again) between ride quality and the necessity of maintaining good control while handling corners and road irregularities with a lifted, short wheel-base vehicle.
Softer valving might ride better, but squishy/wallowy is great for the trails. Not so much on the highway.
Here again, each individual Bronco setup can be totally different. How much weight and where it is, how much height and what tires, what driving style. All make a difference in what you need.
That's why it's called a "system" ;D
Here's some food for thought. If your body mounts have never been replaced, you might consider the poly replacements with a built-in 1" lift, the go to the 2.5" suspension instead.
Your overall ride height stays the same, and costs are about the same, but without some of the extra things to deal with that a taller lift entails.
Not like 3.5" is tall by today's standards, but if you have to replace the body mounts anyway, this might be an aspect worth reviewing.
Most people consider 2.5" as not even needing steering modifications. I prefer to correct steering with any amount of lift, but that's just me.
With some Broncos, the trackbar drop is all you need, even for 3.5. But "most" will need the accompanying dropped pitman arm to keep the bars in parallel.
Yours is a '66, correct? If so you might need a specific pitman arm for very early '66 models. Always good to know when ordering stuff.
If your steering linkages are in questionable shape, while doing a lift is the perfect time to update the steering linkage as well.
Sorry if all that was too-much-information. But this is the subject that truly has one thing lead to another.
After all, it's just one big "system" that has to work together if you're going to be happy with the results.
I'm sure you'll get plenty of opinions on the subject. This was just one...
Paul
