Brutal Factory Air Ride

[rpr]

The factory air ride on my 2014 Limited is brutally harsh. Until now I just figured it was the nature of the beast but I really don’t see many others reporting this. Slightly harsh which is perhaps expected for the air ride is not what I’m dealing with, it’s punishing.

Highway driving is fine, I like feeling the road. But if I go over a speed bump, regardless of how slow, it’s like there’s no suspension at all. The rear suspension is worse than the front in this regard. Drive over mild to moderate water breaks on a gravel road, no matter how slow, and it’s just brutal. If you’ve ever driven a 20 year old John Deere gator which has no suspension down a gravel road, it’s (almost) as bad as that.

I have a 3” PA body lift (which shouldn’t affect suspension travel) and the leveling links. The links could potentially harshen the ride as it does reduce (upward) suspension travel, but I use the links primarily for leveling, so the fronts are raised much more with the links (1.5” to 2”) than the rears (maybe 0.5”), and it’s the rear suspension that’s the worst. I have 35x1250x20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers. Prior to that I had 35x1250x20 Micky Thompson ATZs. Had the same issue with the suspension with both (but I like the Ridge Grapplers much better).

I’m starting to think there must be an issue with it. It subjectively feels like there’s too much air pressure in them. I remember having a muscle car when I was a kid with air shocks and when there was too much air in them it gave the same punishing ride. In fact, the sensation from the rear suspension when going over a speed bump was identical to what I’m experiencing now. “Hop” followed by “crash”, even at ~3mph.

I don’t have much faith in a local dealership being able to troubleshoot this, I’m sure I’ll just get “operating as designed”, so I figured I would start here.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[rule18]

The Gator reference hit home with me, that's gotta hurt. Lol. Are you the first owner? Have you always had this problem with the air susp? Could it be a combination of tire pressure and the links?

I have factory air and never had this issue and you're right, I haven't seen (or I don't remember seeing) other members with this issue.

 

[ram1500rsm]

How much PSI do you run those 35's ? Is it super cold where you live ?
How much gap you have between your bumpstop jounce and the striker pad in the back ? Can you take out the rear links and test ? No leaks in the rear bags ? (I'd think you'll have DTC's if that was case)

 

[rpr]

I’m the first owner. It’s always been like this. I run the 35’s with just shy of 40psi. It’s not super cold in my area (Georgia) and the outside temp doesn’t seem to have any effect on it. While I suspect the links could be making matters worse and I can remove them to test I have the same issue even when I lower the suspension to entry mode and drive less than 15mph. No error codes. I’ll have to check the other question re: bump stop gap.

 

[BWL]

It's the links. More pressure in the bags to raise the truck. Take them out or adjust them so it rides in the original normal mode and it will ride way better.

 

[rpr]

I think you’re right. I took the adjustable links off and put the stock links on yesterday. No chance to get on a gravel road but the ride did seem much smoother. Still a bit harsh but more like I would expect from a properly operating air suspension.

The truck is now sitting low though. I have hardly any clearance in the front with my 35’s. Quite a bit of rake also. I may have to put the adjustable links back on the front to give me another inch. I don’t think there are any other easy options?

 

[BWL]

Some guys on the rebel forum have installed spacers meant for non air ride and apparently they worked on their air ride. Might be worth going over there and asking some questions. As far as meant for the air ride goes it's 4" or nothing.

 

[bfill_rebel]

How high did you raise your truck with the links? Which links did you use? Most non Rebel trucks can get about 1.75” or 2” in the front to level before ride gets harsh. Did you do rear links too?

I recently rode in a Rebel that was leveled (about 1” to 1.5”) with 35s and ride was firmer but not harsh. Still rode better than my last f150.

As BWL stated above there are guys who run Daystar level pucks on top of air suspension. You need adjustable links to shorten links to run these as it lessens air needed to achieve height. Daystar pucks have openings in center to allow air lines to run. There are a few YouTube videos showing how to do it. I personally have avoided that route as my air suspension is a main reason I have lifetime maxcare warranty. Would hate for air suspension to fail and claim be denied due to pucks. Where as if I currently have 35s on my Rebel with no issues... if I do 3” body life and links to level I can always swab to stock and not have issues.

How do you like you PA 3”? That’s on my list to do in next couple months. Got any pics?


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[blackbeautyhemi]

The links I put on my rebel made it slightly stiffer but nothing terrible. I knocked a few psi out of my front tires and it seemed to make it pretty close to stock ride.

 

[MrDazana]

Sounds like you have to much air in the bags. I bet you're bouncing like a basket ball on the road when you hit a bump. Set your links in front to 3"7/8 (measured center to center on the ball cups). This setting will allow your 35's to clear and make your ride confortable. If you got adjustable links in the back, set them to 3"3/4

 

[rpr]

I like the PA 3”. I would have preferred a 4” but that was all that was available in 2014. I’ll try to post a pic, let’s see if this works.

 

[rpr]

That pic is with the adjustable links. It sits lower now with the factory links. I would guess I had the adjustable links adjusted so they raised the front up 2” and the back up 0.5”. That was the most I could get out of them and still have Off Road 1 and 2 work without issue. The stance was about perfect for what I was looking for, but the ride was terrible.

The ride is a lot better with the factory links back in but it sits a lot lower, particularly in the front. I can’t believe how low the front sits in Entry Mode considering I have the PA body lift.

 

[BWL]

Curious about the body lift. The running boards and bumpers still look factory so there must be relocation brackets for all of it. How solid is everything mounted?

 

[rpr]

Everything is very solid. It’s a good kit but technically I think it’s only 2.5”. The only thing I had to do was have a shop custom bend the exhaust tips as they were too low.

 

[bfill_rebel]

I like the PA 3”. I would have preferred a 4” but that was all that was available in 2014. I’ll try to post a pic, let’s see if this works.

View attachment 232878

Thanks for posting. I got a couple house projects to wrap up but then I wanna do 3” PA body lift on my Rebel

You got the balance with black and chrome/machined right. Sharp truck.

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[Barry Phillips]

With the body lift will I have issues with my running boards that are on my truck? Also, I have a brush guard and trying to figure out what to do about that if I go with the 1.5 body lift......