hey guys,

i have definitely been enjoying the new KR! but, i have noticed one thing that kinda irritates me. this new truck rides very well compared to my old '02 KR...however it also displays more sideways hop on sharp bumps. have any of you noticed this...or am i just out of my mind...

 

I dont have a KR....but I do experience this "hop" when my bed is empty....not to big a deal to me though...it is a truck and I kind of expect it to behave like this at times...

 

my 05 screw 5.4 does the kickout on bumpy turns and hops over bumps. I just installed Bilstein shocks in the rear (haven't had time to do the fronts yet - hopefully this weekend) and it has eliminated the problem so far.

 

I do a lot of driving on unpaved washboard roads. I do keep the speed down compared to some of the other vehicles I've driven on the same, especially around turns.

 

i had an 04 screw before this 05KR and the ride was different. i also get the hop around with it on bumps and did not get it on the 04. the 05 KR also has a steering wheel and gas pedal vibe that changes on the road surface and does not seem to be that affected by speed that would indicate an out of balance tire. i even have rotated the tires and put an aftermarket set that was on the 04 and ran smooth with no difference in the vibe.

i took it into the dealer an they told me it felt normal and it drove like every other truck they have driven. i think they may have felt it but if they admitted to it they would have to fix it and ford doesnt know how.

i asked if the suspension was exactly the same on the 04 screw lariat and the 05 KR and some of the guys didnt know and others said it was and others said it was not. Does any one here no for sure one way or the other?

 

maybe spring rates were changed from '04 to '05...can't imagine there were any big changes between the two model years.

personally i kinda wonder if the rear shocks being located outside the frame rails on this generation s-crew contributes to the rear end HOP...

 

they were on the outside on my 04 as well as the 05.

i wasnt to impressed that none of the techs service writers or service manager had a handle on any difference.

 

Ya know, I was wondering about this. My parking garage has speed bumps in it. When I go over them (they're on a turn) my truck hops a bit and doesn't want to turn so well. I believe this may be a similar deal. My 03 King never made any strange movements when going over the same speed bumps. My 01 Expy doesn't at all either.

 

this oughta make for a real blast in the winter. hit a bump and not know which way you will be facing when you hit the ground.

 

I had this happen to me at a very inopportune moment.. Approx. 33 degrees, 75mph down a 8% grade, left hand curve coming into a tunnel. There's a sharp edge where the cement of the tunnel meets the ashphalt of the road and upon hitting this (wet road too, near freezing) it did the typical 'kick sideways' with the rear end. Usually this isn't a problem under normal weather conditions, the rear end will kick sideways a bit and straighten out.. Not this time. The back end slid over about 4' and that's not fun when you're doing 75mph through a curved downhill tunnel.

None of my other trucks had this characteristic (99, 02, 03 Silverados, 1500 - 2500HD) so it's definitely a handling issue with these F150's.

Before I spend the money on Bilsteins, does Ford have a fix for this? Or is it really because of the rear shock performance? I love how this truck rides so I don't have any other reason to upgrade the shocks.

 

Could it also be contributed too by the tires on the new ones? Maybe a combination of a bouncier tire and shocks that can't handle it as well is cuasing the problem. My old 83 chevy used to do this and I think my dads 01 f350 does it a little. Both rigs had a super heavy rear suspension and E class tires.

 

My truck did this with the stock tires and it still does it with the Goodyear MT/R's I replaced them with.. I've never experienced this in any of my other trucks so I don't think it is the tires. It could be the shocks I imagine but I kinda figured it would be more something along the lines of a bad suspension design to cause this kind of handling.

 

It's be interesting to sit two trucks next to each other and look things over to see if any thing is different between the 04's and 05's. Maybe You guys can take some pictures and compare the differences to try and figure it out. I have an 02 myself.

 

i was asking mechanics at the dealer the last time i was in about the differences between my 04 lariat and my 05 king ranch as far as suspension and everyone i asked told me something different. i came to the conclusion that one of them was right in what they told me i just couldnt figure which. i do know my 04 did not hop and jump like my 05. so i would say the secret is in the difference. it might be as easy as who the low bidder for the shocks was that year.

 

Mine does it too. Just thought I'd add to the list of surprised drivers.

Can we get someone else to confirm that better shocks help?

Also, has anyone tried traction bars?