I have an 04 s-cab long box with the 8200 gvwr suspension (and those rediculous 7 lug wheels). It rides a little rougher than my 99 s-cab long box. It's probably something that I just need to get used to but I was wondering if there was anything I could do to soften it up?

(Wandell, you out there?)

Figgy

 

half a ton of gravel in the back should smooth it out a little

 

As a matter of fact I currently have about 800# of building material in the back and that did make a big difference. Maybe I'll just leave it there and go buy some more for the job site.

Figgy

 

Take a leaf out and put air bags on it

Edit: For the front you may want to go with Rancho 9000 which is an adjustable shock so you can change it from soft to hard and since now they have buy 3 get 1 free this is the best time to buy them

 

I have 4 leaf springs on the back. Which one would I take out? Also, would it effect the height of the truck?

What would air bags do? Are they adjustable? Do they change the height or just the stiffness?

As far as the Rancho 9000 shocks, I would put them on front AND back?

Thanks
Figaro

 

Kansas Joe,

Also, how is all of this going to affect my payload. 95% of the time I have little or no weight in it. But occasionally I do load her up and I do have a couple of different trailers I also pull, but also, only occasionally.

And as far as the shocks, how do shocks effect the ride stiffness?

Sorry about all the questions, I see by your signature you know something about what your are talking about. Just don't want to make an expensive mistake or go to a lot of work/money and have it make little or no difference or other unwanted side effects.

I guess I like the extra payload capacity, but want it to ride like a CADILLAC!
That's not asking too much is it???

Figaro

 

Removing a spring would lower the rear some, and it would also lower your load capacity, but there is almost no way to tell by how much exactly. You could do that, AND add in rear air bags to compensate for the lack of a spring though when you needed to.

Keeping weight in the bed is really a great way to help out. You may also want to consider a fiberglass hard tonneau cover. Not only would it add functionality and style, but it would help for your MPG as well (mostly highway though).

You could also go larger on your tires, and be sure to get a good tire like a BFG AT TA KO tire and it would help to cushion the ride some as well.

 

So, I remove a spring, and my back end drops. I add air bags to compensate for my loss of towing capacity.

Are the air bags going to raise my truck back up to where it was?

Are air bags for load capacity adjustments? Or for height adjustments, or ride adjustments, or all or the above?

So lets say the back end drops, the air bags won't lift it back up without making the ride stiffer again. Then what?

How does one regulate the air in the air bags i.e. is it done manually from in the truck (it's own compressor) or is it done with an air hose and an air compressor?

And as far as shocks go. How is a shock going to make my ride softer??
Is any of this going to affect handling?

I'm not interested in jacking my truck way up in the air and putting huge tires on it (I'm old). I just want my truck to look stock, keep the same load capacity (if possible) and ride better.

BTW, I am going to order a topper on Monday. I have recently hauled a fair amount of weight in it and it rode quite well. But keeping weight in it all the time wouldn't do much for my already poor gas mileage!

Anyone??????

 

One other thing. The factory tires are LT24570R 17E I looked up the load rating and it said they ae rated for 3000 lbs. @ 80PSI. I kicked one of them and it was like kicking a rock. I haven't actually tested the air pressure but i'm guesing it's up there. That can't be helping the whole ride thing either.

Figgy

 

The air springs in your case would be to control ride height - you can dial in the pressure for ride height and quality. They can be set up with in cab controls or to fill from outside source.

Shocks affect ride quality by how they dampen the impact. Better shocks do a better job of controlling and have proportional valving that handles bumps better.

Tire pressure can affect ride quality, but be careful - the problem with running lower pressure when unladen is remembering to reinflate when laden. And if you don't carry a pressure gauge (tire kicking isn't close to an exacting science), start. With heavy sidewalls, you can't even guess where the pressure is based on sidewall bulge or kicking.