Newb question on ride comfort

[Ozuye10]

What is the overall best suspension setup for ride comfort? Smooth and able to absorb road imperfections. From what I read, most folks recommend Bilstein 4600 shocks. Any other elements that will improve ride in addition to the shocks?

 

[Jazzer]

Well, a truck is going to ride like a truck, but the best I’ve been able to do is air the front tires to 28 lbs and the rear to 30 lbs.

-Jazzer

 

[superj]

for me, its get a full size half ton. my crew cab nissan titan rides like a cadillac but the down side is its sooo huge compared to the ranger.

midsize and small size trucks just ride rough

 

[55trucker]

What is the overall best suspension setup for ride comfort? Smooth and able to absorb road imperfections.

Air bags

 

[pjtoledo]

4-6 bags of play sand in the front of the bed.
it's cheap, if it doesn't work donate it to the nearest playground.

 

[Shran]

My 2018 Ram at work rides really nice... none of my Rangers do. They are small, light trucks with tiny tires so there is only so much you can do.

I put Bilstein shocks on the front of my Explorer and it made a big difference. Ride quality prior to that I would rate at a 2/10... it's a 5/10 now. I have some "nice" Skyjacker shocks on my stepside truck and that rides like a wagon full of bricks. It's awful. Shocks are something you have to experiment with a bit.

 

[RonD]

Springs are what set the ride comfort, shocks can make it worse but never better

Trucks are over sprung because, in the Rangers case, they are rated for 1,400lbs of extra weight, payload and passengers

A spring works by the weight it supports
If a spring is rated for 1,000lbs and that corner/side of vehicle weights 1,500lbs then weight pushes spring down too far and you will get "it rides like a boat", lol, always leans on corners, but absorbs bumps well, lol, until it bottoms out

And conversely if that corner of vehicle weighed 500lbs then spring couldn't work at all, there is not enough weight to hold the top of the spring in place so you would feel every bump in the road, would be like not having a spring at all

So its a balancing act for actual weight and spring weight rating

The rear leaf springs on pick ups are always over sprung, so they can haul loads, but if you drive empty most of the time it will feel "stiff" because it is, not enough weight to hold springs down so every bump is transfer to the frame and body
As said you can through sand bags or extra weight in the bed, a canopy maybe, to get some extra weight to hold the springs down, but MPG goes down as well, i.e. hauling extra weight around

Or...........you can get lower rated springs matching empty bed weight and add an Over Load spring, this is a singe leaf spring that isn't used until enough weight is added to the bed and main springs touch it for extra support
Its of course more expensive which is why factories don't do this, lol

To test your current springs remove each shock's lower bolt(or upper), so no shock assist on each axle
Bounce each corner
That's your spring ride
Should bounce easily for comfortable ride
If its stiff then its over sprung, shocks can't help with that

Shocks purpose is to slow down spring rebound effect, proper rated springs like to keep bouncing, which is a nuisance, lol
Proper rated spring, without shock hooked up, should give you good bouncing
Higher rated springs don't bounce at all

You want a shock that allows the springs to do their job but slows down the rebound so they don't over do their job
Most shocks do that, nothing special is needed, off the shelf

 

[Ozuye10]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I’ll try and the sandbags and go from there. Glad I found this forum

 

[Shran]

Springs are what set the ride comfort, shocks can make it worse but never better

I will respectfully disagree with this. GOOD shocks can improve ride quality over OEM parts and cheap shocks might be OK but not last very long. I have had multiple part store shocks fail almost immediately, even the "good" ones... Monroe/Gabriel and knockoff parts store brands are just total junk. Bilstein, KYB, Motorcraft, are better.

There is a lot more that goes into springs than just setting ride comfort. When you order springs the manufacturer wants all kinds of information for right height, length, sprung weight, unsprung weight, etc and does a balancing act with that to build one within those parameters.

Just sayin, there is a reason you see multiple shocks per corner on offroad race trucks and stuff like that. Even Ford trucks & Broncos in the 70's up to the mid 90's had dual front shocks as an option from the factory to improve ride quality.

 

[Ozuye10]

Sounds like it’s not worth the undertaking tbh.

 

[Roert42]

Sounds like it’s not worth the undertaking tbh.

Would be easier to leave the truck at home when not needed and take the Grand Marquis.

 

[Blmpkn]

Sounds like it’s not worth the undertaking tbh.

If you think your truck rides like a brick, take a look at the leafpacks. Count how many leafs there are in each.. there should be between 2 and 4 long leafs and one shorter one.

The more leafs there are, the worse it'll ride empty.

If you don't use your truck for anything but dump runs and the occasional trip for lumber or whatever it would be simple to make your truck ride better.. remove your 3+1 or 4+1 leaf packs and Install a pair of the 2+1's.

 

[Ozuye10]

I

Would be easier to leave the truck at home when not needed and take the Grand Marquis.

I broke my neck on a deployment and have 3 prosthetic discs. Gets painful but I can survive. Definitely not the Grand Marquis type

 

[Roert42]

I

I broke my neck on a deployment and have 3 prosthetic discs. Gets painful but I can survive. Definitely not the Grand Marquis type

Treat yourself, you deserve it.

 

[RonD]

Well if GOOD shocks improved the ride then you had BAD shocks to begin with