I NEED to smooth out my ride.
 

I have 95,000ish miles on my truck all original equip except bigger tires. 285x75r16's Normally my ride is smooth enough but on a road I have to take now (the taconic state pkwy - in NY) there are some rough patches of road where she hardly stays in her lane. What can I do .. . ?

thanks

maybe your trac bar is shot? all your suspension components might be shot too. Not sure how long they all last. But shocks, bushings and the like. Steering dampner. Check that stuff out is what I'd do
Chris

Throw 400 lbs in the bed and make sure all corners have good shocks. Tire pressure might want to be dropped as well.

Are you saying 95k on original shocks? If so, I gaurantee they are shot.

Pop them out and check them. If replacement needed, do some reading on here about shocks. Many choices and opinions, but good information to draw from. I will say, I put Monroe's heaviest I could find on mine. 30k and they are wasted.

Bilsteins will be MY replacement.

Ed

is it wandering, or is the ride just too harsh?

The wandering.. trac bar / steering box.. luke's link, Or the solid steel 3rd gen conv.. also look at the steering brace.

I agree with good shocks.. Rancho's are not what people who deal in quality suspensions call "good shocks"... Bilstein 5100's would be the cheapest way into a decent quality shock...

There's always Kelderman.... :D

Yes - 95000 on the origianl shocks - Rough doesn't do it justice.. .. the truck wanders a bit but not to much on normal roads everything is ok... just on this "road" I get a bit of wandering over the specific sections that are rough.

How can I tell if they are good or bad? Besides age....

One test from some crazy person on here:eek: was to go over railroad tracks at like 40 MPH and if the truck bounces more than like 3 times, they are bad. What I have always heard elsewhere is to push on one corner of the truck until you really get it bouncing and then stop. It should go up, down, up then settle. Or you can take them off and see, but the front isn't very fun. My 2 back ones didn't even have any fluid left in them:rolleyes:

this monday i'm going to go and get some nice new edelbrock shocks all the way around after 220,000 miles on the stock ones:o :o then i will go give it the railroad test.:D :D chris

I just replaced a Yaw Damper (horizontal shock) on a GE locomotive this evening at work. It weighed about 60 lbs, and it was a bilstein! I could get you four of those, but you would have to lift your truck up about 16 inches to fit, oh, and they are about 5" in diameter. [eyecrazy]

OK yesterday I posted about needing to smooth out my ride and after the replies I received I spent a good deal of time reading back post about shocks. My questions are this:
When every one says that the new shocks are stiff... Stiff how? does that mean that your ride is rougher/more abusive to you now with whatever new shock you installed.

I've been in old cars and trucks that could cause seasickness - that means they needed new shocks right?

I don't have that issue with my truck, she’s rock solid when empty (too rock solid on the straight away and a tad mushy around the corners) and I do not haul/carry often.

I guess I'm really looking for an explanation of what the shocks are supposed to be doing?

I just replaced mine with Bilsteins OEM series and I couldn't be happier. They offer a smooth ride, and should for $60 a corner. I spent money on Rancho RS5000 and didn't like how stiff they were and I have also tried Heckthorn Hydro's and they were almost as stiff as the Rancho. I have heard good about the Edlebrock and the Rancho 9000's but must of what I read gave the Bilsteins high marks and I'll go right along with that.

Bob

You couldnt have asked a more "personal preference" question unless you asked about oil brand or oil filters. I was in your boat a while ago and I wanted to get Bilsteins since everyone said they are THE BEST. But I couldnt find them local so I found the KYB Monomax's which are a dublicate of the Bilsteins. I hated how stiff they were. Made it unbearable to drive. So I returned them and got a set of Rancho RS9000's. I even replaced the stabilizer with a Rancho. I now love to drive again. The fact I could adjust the front different from the back gave the right stiffness ratio. I have heard Monroe's arent supposed to be good and the same for Edlebrock. I have even heard some say they dont like Rancho's. The one thing I noticed is the ones who really like the Bilsteins are the ones that tow a lot. I cant speak for all the brands, just what I've tried.