Rough ride.

Hello all I am new to Dodge so Im just learning new information. I currently own a 2007 1500 4wd 5.7 that has approx. 200,000 miles.The truck is in pretty good shape(a lot better than my ex F150 with less milage.The truck drives real well on smoother pavement(I just had a alignment done with no issues) and track true and straight.The problem is when I get onto rougher pavement(bumps/holes and thick tar issues it gets bounced around pretty bad).It almost feels like the tires themselves are leaving the pavement surface and it upsets the steering wheel and input.The struts show no leakage(that I see).as stated above I had a alignment done and they said those were fine.Mainly looking for others who have had or exp. this issue and what they did to fix it.All opinions though are very welcome.Thanks for any input you fellow Ram owners can provide.

Sounds like struts and shocks are needed. My 07 would jump sideways over ruts. Changed the struts and shocks, problem solved. My truck had the original ones at all 4 corners with 170,000 miles on it when I got it.

I agree with @Karlsweg on the shocks. Even though the alignment guys said they're good, I'd guess even if they aren't leaking or blown, they are worn and under stress don't perform.

Take one of those shocks off and see how easy it is to compress and then you'll know for sure. If you can compress it really easy with your hands and it doesn't rebound then I would say they're worn out. Also alignment doesn't affect ride quality in the least, only whether the vehicle tracks down the road straight and tire wear.

tidefan1967 said:

Take one of those shocks off and see how easy it is to compress and then you'll know for sure. If you can compress it really easy with your hands and it doesn't rebound then I would say they're worn out. Also alignment doesn't affect ride quality in the least, only whether the vehicle tracks down the road straight and tire wear.

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I had one rear shock that wouldn’t return after compressing it. And when you did compress it, it didn’t move smoothly and sounded like air was in it. It didn’t show signs of leaking either!

Karlsweg said:

I had one rear shock that wouldn’t return after compressing it. And when you did compress it, it didn’t move smoothly and sounded like air was in it. It didn’t show signs of leaking either!

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I will say that was one of the things I noticed about the factory shocks on my 2015 RAM was how easy they were to compress and how slowly they rebounded. They were junk from the factory pretty much. My current truck rides well so I'm just going to leave it alone for now.

try driving a 2500 with a good suspension.. still rough as sh*t.. lol

For a shop to say, "it isn't leaking, it must be fine" is about as silly as a doctor saying, "you aren't bleeding, you must be fine". There are seals and valves inside shocks that get worn and go bad over time. Even the old jump-on-the-bumper test doesn't diagnose every failure mode. Shocks are a wear item that need replaced regularly just like brake pads and windshield wipers. The problem is that there's no clear way to tell when they should be replaced. I've seen people recommend changing them annually. That seems excessive to me. But I can't show any science to say one way or the other. Mileage is probably a more accurate way to track when to replace them. But even that has the problem of not accounting for the difference between miles on smooth pavement and miles on dirt roads. At any rate, I'd say shocks are past their prime by three years under average use.

Didn’t mention tire specs in your post.

I would do shocks. I don’t even like my OEM ones in my 2017 when new.