best shocks for minimizing jolts in the cab?

[mixwhit]

'03 2WD ext cab 4.0L.

i'm dealing with long-term back pain and every bump in the road is a jolt of pain. i'm wondering if there's a shock replacement I could get that would soften the worst bumps? any suggestions?

thx

 

[killj0y]

'03 2WD ext cab 4.0L.

i'm dealing with long-term back pain and every bump in the road is a jolt of pain. i'm wondering if there's a shock replacement I could get that would soften the worst bumps? any suggestions?

thx

shocks will help a bit, a little weight in the bed will help a little more. Nothing will come close to rivaling any decent car though. you already have independent suspension I believe. I would try some weight in the bed over the axles to soften out any bumps first and see how it feels. Also suspension seats would probably go a long way if shocks don't do it for you.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I recently went thru a spout of short term back pain, and I feel for you. I found using a back brace and keeping the seat belt as tight as possible helped.
For your truck, using the softest spring possible combined with a good adjustable shock. You're trying to allow the truck to "float" over bumps similar to a desert racer. Try looking at their suspension set-ups and copy as best as possible.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[4.0B2]

yeah just the shocks won't change much.
they really ain't a cheap fix for what you want to do with that year truck....

 

[Earl43P]

In my experience with my 2000 4wd, ALL the abusive jolts went away when I replaced the upper and lower ball joints.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

All of the classes I've been to suggest that the cheap economy shocks are a little softer than O.E. and the more expensive ones. But shocks only control suspension movement they have no real effect on how rough the ride. A better way would to air the tires down a bit something like 30 psi front and rear, and take the rear leaves apart and insert some anti-friction pads. They also make a paint just for leaf springs that has anti friction qualities. You could also look into some softer seats out of something else.

 

[adsm08]

Overall it would probably be cheaper to buy a 10 year old Taurus and drive that when you don't need the truck.

As with some of the other who replied I understand your pain in a fairly literal and physical sense, but at the end of the day your truck is still a truck and it is going to ride like a truck. What you really need, to accomplish your state goal, is independent rear suspension.

 

[bigmark303]

A seat is going to do you the most help. Get more cushion. Those ranger seats are thin and stiff. You can fit seat tracks from the earlier year trucks 1993-1997 in the later years and you can mount All sorts of comfortable ford seats to those tracks unlike the ones you have in your truck now. Lincoln seats, Mercury seats, almost any nice Ford coupe seat from 1984-1998 will be a bolt up to the earlier ranger track.

On top of that put 4-500 lbs in the bed. The weight will help you float over things instead of bounce.

Pulled my back bad a few years back. took a year and a half to heal. Thats what I did. And Seven Rangers later those Lincoln seats I had are still with me.