I have a new route I have to travel every day and this takes me on an old concrete road that is fine in my car, but in my truck it has a chop to it that within 1/4 mile makes me feel very uncomfortable. It takes all the pleasure out of driving my truck and my passengers hate it, particularly the rear seat passengers.

I am prepared to do whatever it takes to make my truck ride smooth on roads like this when empty. With a load in the bed it is not that bad, but do not want to travel all day with a load. Options I am considering is the new Talon air bag suspension for the rear, or a full four bag system from Kelderman.

Is there anybody that has installed either of these systems on their truck and if so, how did it change the empty ride?
I know there are many other suspension mods available, but all I want is a smooth ride, not a Baja busting, dune jumping suspension. What are the pros and cons of the various mods?

 

Ranchos are usually pretty soft. The factory one's on mine were soo stiff that on a road like you described, it would make the rear end jump around and dang near shift sideways! I put the Bilstein 5100's on and am very impressed with them. I would say try a set of those for a couple of hundred before dumping a bunch into an air ride system.

 

I have also heard the Bilstein 5100s are supposed to help the ride. just out of curiosity, what air pressure are you running on your tires? Obviously if you are not loading your truck up, taking some air pressure out may help the ride. The full air ride set-ups are pretty expensive, I would work small initially here to see if you can find something that works before dropping the stacks of high society!!

 

Generally when I am empty, with these tires I have 30 in the rear and 40 in the front. Have experimented with various pressures and pressure combinations and these seem to be about the best.

 

Man I remember those 315s giving me a very soft ride at about those pressures. Most that rode in my truck said it was more of a caddy than a truck. Next step for you then may be to swap out to the Bilsteins and see if it helps?

 

This truck has never had a nice ride from the rear. The front is so-so, but the rear kicks my rear constantly.

 

It's a darn sight cheaper than an air system, and I have been nothing but impressed with the new found ride after the Bilsteins. FWIW

 

May see if I can get them at a decent price around here. Do you by any chance have the part numbers?

 

Bilsteins are nice!!!!!!!! Put some on saturday and rides really nice and takes the bumps alot smoother!

 

Call Don Thuren!!!

 

This is most likely your best bet. I rode in a buddies Kelderman air ride suspension, and it felt like it had a harmonic bounce to it. Bucks and rolls in stop and go, like riding in a boat. I have the Kore Pace/ Recon with HD spring and it is not as bad as the Kelderman. I sure the other brands of the Baja style suspensions have finer tune systems which is better for roads. I've never heard of a Kelderman in the Baja

 

Just to make sure that you guys understand my problem. Less than 50% of my driving is on nice paved roads. The rest is on a combination of cobblestone roads, interlocked brick roads and that horrible concrete highway. The interlocked brick roads are not exactly even and at 50 mph can really give me a kick from the rear.
Then there are the all too frequent speed bumps, each about three feet high ...

 

This one reason I am seriously considering the new mega buck Talon system with the coupled shocks.

 

Id do like they have been saying and try the bilstein 5100. I installed them on mine about 2k miles ago and have been incredibly impressed with the smoother ride and better handling. Check out geno's garage, thats where i got mine.

 

Lorenz 5100 system with "plush IR coils" in front (or the core front lift with IR Coils)....and lorenz dual purpose leafs (huge improvement in the rear)....bilsteen or better shocks all around....