FYI~ Well after 12Kmiles the factory shocks were suckin so I swaped in a set of Bilstines. Rides much much smoother now and my rig doesn't swoosh swoosh up and down on uneven pavement areas nearly as much waytogo Thoes factory shocks are perrty damn soft. I could push the rod in farily easy. With the new ones I had to use the grage floor and all my weight to get it to start moving..much better imp:
I hope to get a set soon, my truck rides like a damn semi. It doesn't bounce around so much as feel like it's riding on the frame rails.
Bilstines won't help that I'm afraid. All they are really going to do is help *control* body movement. In fact, they are gas pressurized and have a pretty firm resistance to compression...
Well does anybody else's HD bounce around like mine does? When I hit a big bump it feels like the rear axle hops off the ground. In fact, it rides no better or maybe even worse than any old Chevy truck or K5 I've ever owned. Not that I'm complaining, I like a firm ride and strong springs for towing and hauling but it almost seems like overkill.
Yeah, mine does a bit of that too. Here is what I've read on the matter, though I've not tried it. Apparently some of the 2500HDs come from the factory basically sitting on the overloads. Not sure why. Mine is just *barely* off them with my camper shell on, and the trailer sets is fully on them, even without a great deal of tongue weight. So basically, you are always at fully spring rate (well, roughly) allmost all the time. What some people have done, and claim it works well, is to remove the overload leaf altogether and replace it with an airbag system. Leave it aired down when not hauling and get the softer rate, air it up when you need the capacity. I've heard that it "rides like a Cadillac" when you remove the overload. I'm sure that some will complain about "a truck should ride like a truck", but frankly, I don't like to be jarred around for no good reason. So, I've seriously considered this and probably would have done it by now myself if I didn't have SO many irons in the fire already...
Hmmm, I'll have to look at my springs, never thought to look how close the OL is.... After my virgin run at the end of May I will have a better idea if I want to change anything to make fer a better towing experiance. As for ride quality I am still very happy with it...no complaints at all waytogo The new shocks are stiffer but that, for me, makes for a much better ride imp:
Try lowering the tire pressure in the back to around 35-45 PSI. I run 45, instead of 80 in the back of mine when im not towing. I also usually have a couple hundred pounds in the back and it helps the ride a lot too.
Depending on the tires, I wouldn't go below 45 on these heavy crew cabs. Could lead to outer band tread wear and heat, particularly in the SW when the roads get up to (guessing) at least 150*+ in the summer. I run my rear tires at 45 in the rear and 50 in the front when just running around, but that's as low as I'm comfortable with...
75 has about the lightest truck you can get from the factory with factory tires, and ive seen good results with lowering the tire pressure in the back some. I tried running 35 around here in the winter and it rode nice but got horrible mileage. Then again im not a diesel so my truck weighs considerably less, so i can get away with running a little less pressure.
You may be right about the pressure. My post was pure opinion and not based on any real research other than the curb weight of my truck is around 7500 lbs. Running lower pressure might work fine, no idea, haven't tried it or actually done the work to "find" the best pressure. But, I've gotten very good, flat wear patterns out of this pressure and I also had to have a full set replaced due to belt separation. Bad batch? Running pressure too low for the weight on these hot roads? <shrug> Who knows...
