Was able to get an 03 left over at a great price. I have a 2500 SLT HD that has somewhay of a stiff ride to it. Any mods out there that can smooth this truck out. My buddies 02 Ford 250 feels like a car when you drive.

 

Not sure if you have a 4wd or not but I have heard that the 315/70/17 BFG ATs smooth the ride out nicely. Should be under $120/tire at tirerack.com.

 

Or go all out and put an air ride on it

http://www.keldermanmfg.com/airride.htm

that's the way to go.

 

First thing to do is check your air pressure. Look at the tire info book that is included in the glove box, it wil tell you the proper air pressure, empty and loaded. This will make a big difference on the ride quality of the truck. I run about 50 60 lbs in the front and around the same in the rear when empty. When loaded I think it's 65 in thte front and 75 in the rear

 

Unless you have anything other than the stock tires.

Please don't go putting 75psi in a tire that has a maximum of 50psi.
We want most of the members around for a while.

Figure maximum psi if the truck is loaded down. (per tire sidewall)
15-20 lower in back if it is emtpy.
5-10 lower in front if empty.
Adjust accordingly, too low in front and steering will become sloppy.
Too high in back and the rear will bounce around freely.


phox

 

phox_mulder
I hate to inform you of this but the 03's come with real tires standard LT 265/70R17E which are designed to carry the load and air pressure that I stated

 

I believe he was talkking about the aftermarket D rated tires....

All these trucks come with 10 ply E rated tires....which arent necessarily better if you look at the load ratings - as far as I know, some D rated tires will take as much or more load than a similar E rated tire....

 

Correct. I am referring to anything other than what the door jamb sticker says should be on your truck.

A lot of people are tossing the stock tires and going with bigger before they take delivery.

That throws the glovebox tire stuff out the window.

If I followed my owners manual/door jamb sticker I'd be in a world of hurt.

Door jamb says I have 245/75-16E's, truck came from the factory with 265/75-16E's, but I currently have 315/75-16D's on it.

Lots of difference there, and plenty of room for error.

Don't want no Firestone/Ford Explorer events happening to our Dodges.


phox

 

Artesian, your springs will soften up noticeably after you give it 10,000 miles or so, at least mine did. Throwing some weight in the bed will help with the ride too.

Vaughn

 

Has anyone tried the Velvet Ride shackles???

 

Dr. Evil, I had them on my ,96 CTD. They helped a little but not that much. Not worth it in my opnion. What really helped is I bought a 1"X7"X20' bar of steel and cut it into 4 lenghts. Then slid it in on top of the frame over the rear wheels and tack welded it in place. The weight was 470 lbs. and only lowered the rear by 1". That truck rode like a caddy and pulled thru the sugar sand around here like a tank. Didn't effect the fuel millage that much and since I use the truck more to pull loads rather than carry them it worked out real well. I'am very much considering doing the same to my new '04. Wish I had keep the steel but the guy I sold the truck to wanted it left in.

 

Excellent idea. On that note I met a guy once in '95ish that had a gen 1 Dodge with the Cummins. He loved the engine but couldn't take the ride so he had elevator weights welded into the back of the truck to smooth it out. He said it worked well. I have 600 lbs of rock slabs in my bed right now and it lowered the rear about two inches. (strapped down of course) If you do put the plate into your truck let us know how it works. Thanks

 

the ride on my 99 was much improved after I put in a set of skyjacker d25 springs in the front