Improving Unloaded Ride in New Truck

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dasadab

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Aug 23, 2009
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Hi,
My 2500HD Silverado Z71 4x4 Duramax Diesel will be a daily driver when not loaded with my camper. The camper is a Hawk on order from Four Wheel Camper, and should weigh in loaded at around 1500 lbs. The roads in Southern California are full 3d World in many places and the truck, unloaded, is rides harsh--really stiff. Tires are Michelin LTX A/T2. Recommended pressure is 60 psi front, 70 rear.

I have been reading about various airbag options and other suspension options. I am going to keep his truck a long time and I don't mind spending money if there is a viable option that will soften the harshness when unloaded, without compromising load carrying.

I know it's a truck, so please don't tell me, "it's a truck, what did you expect." I knew what I was getting into when I bought it. Just remember that roads in L.A. are a pothole every 10 feel.

I appreciate hearing from folks with solutions.

Thanks a lot.
 
Softer coils and leaf springs will improve the ride unloaded but will most likely preform horribly when loaded. Your trying to get the best of two worlds. If you add airbags to the rear leaf springs you should be able to get away with having softer leaf springs. Not sure what you could do for the front axle. You may be able to get away with using a softer coil.

Chevy HDs come with very ridged springs. Reminds me of driving an old CJ.
 
Drive easy with lower tire air pressure when the camper is OFF.
That's the easiest thing to change.
When camping, having an air compressor to re-inflate after a trip in soft material, or flat repair, is a good idea.

My truck was pretty soft in the rear (stock rear spring pack) and I tried air bags. The stock springs were pretty "soft & loose" with the camper ON. Adding air bags are used to adjust the load and make the ride stiffer when the camper is ON, when deflated to their minimum you are just back to square one with the normal spring rate of the truck. I eventually went with a stiffer spring pack for when the camper is ON, and I adjust the tire pressure now between when the camper is ON or OFF.

Or, leave the camper ON all the time and be a mobile advertisement for Pop-Up-Truck-Campers (you will not believe how many people will ask you about it and want an interior tour).
 
Why not just leave the camper on full-time?
I have the same truck and tires, the camper has never been off and I find the ride and handling to be excellent. No airbags, etc. needed what so ever. I probably lose about a mile or two per gallon with the extra weight.

When new, and before camper, my trucks ride was firm but really not bad at all. Perhaps the roads are better here or I'm just accustomed to it....haven't owned a car in years.

Some other options:
I would leave the front tire pressure alone (heavy engine) and try dropping the rear by 5 or 10 pound increments. Probably not below 45 or 50 pounds. I personally wouldn't mess with altering the suspension itself...expensive. How about a beater economy commuting car?
 
Another thought. How new is your truck? It may take a few hundred miles to break in the suspension.
 
Kolockum said:
Another thought. How new is your truck? It may take a few hundred miles to break in the suspension.
Click to expand...
I have the 3500 HD and it's stiffer than the 2500 especially when new. I noticed the last time the camper was off, the ride had softened a little. Not nearly as harsh as I remembered. I would leave the camper in for awhile first and as Alley Cat suggested lowering the tire pressure when the camper is off. I think any modes you do to soften the ride will reduce your payload, which is one of the reasons for getting 3/4 or 1 ton.
 
I agree with adjusting the tire pressures first.
The weights posted on your door jamb is for the truck loaded to max gvwr.
Try dropping the pressures down by 10 psi in the back and maybe 6-8 in the front and adjust it from there.

I have an F-350 srw with posted pressures of 65/70 but run them lower when empty.
 
I appreciate the comments. I would love to leave the camper on full time, but I need the truck bed for projects. I have been cross-posting on the truck camper section on rv.net. Here is my latest comment, at the end of a long thread.

Thanks for the comments. I have learned a lot. After watching this video, I ordered the Sulastic kit. I also spoke with a local Truck/4x4 speciality shop with an excellent reputation. They said they had excellent results with the Sulastic Kit. They also suggested Rancho 9000XL shocks. They also suggested airing down and loading the bed with some weight. I think that I am going to do all of the above.

Links below. I have no connections with any company, just trying to set up my new truck for the next 10 years, with camper on sometimes, and camper off most of the time.


Sulastic.com
 
I didn't watch the whole vid. But I have a set of those springs. Different name but same thing. I think the product or comapny has been sold a couple of times. BF Goodrich had their name on them when I bought them. They do work but like any mod have some various effects on ride. I had them on a lifted '80 Powerwagon with 35" tires along with a Skyjacker softride suspension.

These thing are not springs they are flexible shackles with a rubber torson spring inside. I didn't use them long and still have them stored. The purpose is to have a shackle that flexes a little to take the edge off of road bumps stinging you in the cab. They do work for that. When you hit a small bump they straighten out and take the impact before the leaf springs. When fully straight they lock and just become shackles and the leaf springs take over. On my truck every time I stopped hard or hit the brakes the rear end would rise uncomfortably. It just felt weird. It was probably exagerated in my case by the soft lift springs. Same kind of spooky feeling on tight curves for me. I removed them and found my truck did better without them. But that was a different situation than yours.

Until this thread I had forgotten I still had them.
 
The basic problem is that the over-load leaves are involved too soon. As soon as the rear suspension compresses even a little they come into play and rapidly ramp up the spring rate. That isn't the problem that it might seem. The problem is that the shocks, even high end shocks, can't deal with the large change in spring rate. The result is that the springs rebound uncontrolled and kick up the rear of the truck. Next time you drive the truck pay very close attention to when the tire hits the bump or pot-hole and when the rear of the truck kicks. There will be a delay. It's small, but it's there. The "kick" is the springs rebounding, NOT the tire hitting the bump or pot-hole. At the suggestion of Ventura 4x4 I had our O/L's flipped upside down (3/4t CTD) and we don't miss them. The regular springs handle the minimal camper weight just fine.
 
Okay. On my 2015 Silverado 2500HD, 4x4 Duramax, I just had a local shop install the Sulastic kit and Rancho 9000XLs on all four corners. The truck is now unloaded as my new daily driver. The shop suggested setting the Ranchos to #5 on front and #2 on the rear. I will call Sulastic in the morning and make sure I'm not missing something. Anyway, the ride home was not appreciably nicer. I know "ride" is subjective and that these are good products.

I really felt beat up and noticed some front end extra rebound, like the front shocks were set too weak. I also felt that front end control was sloppy. I just got home and reset the shocks to 6 front and 3 rear. I will see how that goes. I have previously aired down to 55 rear (from70) and 55 front (from 60).

I will experiment with the Rancho's more tomorrow. Maybe the front and rear shocks are fighting each other. Don't know. Maybe the stock shocks (SR71 option) are just tuned better to the truck.

If I can't figure out how to tune the new system, I may just try and return everything to stock, add 300lbs of ballast to the bed and call it a day. I know it's a 3/4 ton truck, but I was hoping that I could soften the ride and at least make it less jarring on the L.A. roads.
 
I'm betting that the over-loads are the cause of your problem. From a single data point, our truck, you likely do not need them to handle the weight of a pop-top camper. Instead of carrying around dead weight, just reduce the spring rate.

I've never liked Rancho's either, but I did have one truck that they worked fairly well on the front of.
 
To follow up on my truck. I just added about 450 lbs of weight to the bed. The added weight has really helped. I used the Shur Trax, bought from Amazon to add the weight. Seems like a good product--you can put stuff on top of it and fill and drain it very fast. So now I have added: Sulastic product, Rancho 9000XL shocks, bed weight, and aired the tires way down to the 50s. The ride is much improved and I am done. Unfortunately, I can't really, in the scientific sense, tell you what made the most difference since the Sulastic and the shocks went on at the same time. I can say that airing down noticeably helped right away as did the added weight in the back.

Alley-Kat. Thanks. I corrected spelling for Shur Trax.
 
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