I have run Cal-Tracs for many miles on the street, on my Duster and Dakota. They make the ride a little harsher, and you get a rattle from the linkage. (You should back off the preload on the street) You can use poly bushings in the spring eyes to take a small amount of the harshness away, and you can make nylon or rubber "bumpers" for the tops of the springs to quiet the rattles down too.

Bad in what way? Noise, ride, handling, traction? Are you using monoleafs, ss springs or stock springs? What shocks?

I have tried everywhere from 1/4" gap to 1 full turn preload with monoleaf springs. Now I just set the left at 0 and the right at 2 flats preload and call it done. I am going to guess that if you are more than 2 flats tighter or looser than this that you are lost and should be working on the shocks instead.

In my post above from TEN years ago I suggested heater hose to soften the noise. That worked but the hose wore out fairly quick. I now have a piece of 1/4"thick flat polyurethane glued to the top of the springs with 3M weatherstrip adhesive. It is holding up much better.