RIDES LIKE A TRUCK

[bschelle]

My 2014 1500 4WD with 70000 miles rides like a tank. Every bump in the road is felt. I tow a 28 foot trailer and would like to improve the ride. Not like a Cadillac but a better ride than a truck. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[69GWC]

Have you changed the shocks ?

If you make it ride nice its going to sag more under weight.

 

[RVGuy]

Is it all stock? Are you talking about when you're towing exclusively or all the time?

 

[Snyd]

Buy a 2500 or 3500, run the tires a factory spec 80/65psi. Keep your 1500, after driving the 2500 jump in your 1500 you'll realize your 1500 DOES ride like a Caddy!

Seriously though. What tires and what's your psi. Also, not sure if it will help on the 1500 but on my 2500 RegCab Long bed I disconnected the rear anti-sway bar and sometimes I disconnect the front one too. Does make a difference in ride. I tow a 5000lb trailer with an 800lb atv in the bed and and other stuff and it's fine.

 

[RedneckHippy]

Buy a 2500 or 3500, run the tires a factory spec 80/65psi. Keep your 1500, after driving the 2500 jump in your 1500 you'll realize your 1500 DOES ride like a Caddy!

Seriously though. What tires and what's your psi. Also, not sure if it will help on the 1500 but on my 2500 RegCab Long bed I disconnected the rear anti-sway bar and sometimes I disconnect the front one too. Does make a difference in ride. I tow a 5000lb trailer with an 800lb atv in the bed and and other stuff and it's fine.

Haha, my 3500 rides like a shopping cart! Don’t drink coffee without a lid!

 

[TheEnder]

My 2014 1500 4WD with 70000 miles rides like a tank. Every bump in the road is felt. I tow a 28 foot trailer and would like to improve the ride. Not like a Cadillac but a better ride than a truck. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My 2013 rides better than my 2016 Chrysler 300 and the 2013 is still on all original hw.


Sent from my iPhone XS Max in my 2013 Magnum 4.7L V8

 

[crash68]

Check the tire pressure is at what's on the door jam name plate, don't inflate them to the max pressure on the side wall. You can lower the rear tire pressure a couple of pay when not loaded or towing.
The other things are shocks, is it possible a previous owner install a more aggressive shock? I have read a few peoples description of Bilstein shocks as you can drive over a dime and know if it's heads or tails.

 

[GsRAM]

Lol you guys beat me to it! I was going to suggest driving a 2500 with recommended tire pressures if you want to see what a truck ride is like.

My 2015 Silverado rode like a 70s GM sedan, super smooth and you hardly felt any bumps in the road. I actually prefer the ride of my 2500. It's a piece of equipment and rides like one...

 

[68PowerWagon]

Before I bought my 16 2500 I test drove a LOT of trucks. With the new coil spring suspension I don't feel the 2500's ride much different that the 1500's. Especially after lowering the tire pressure to 55-60psi. If your truck rides like a car... most likely it is going to haul like a car.

 

[McBroom]

Haha, my 3500 rides like a shopping cart! Don’t drink coffee without a lid!

No doubt about it. My 2500 is like a brick!
I might try the away bar delete cause I never tow anything over 2K.

Blue Mule

 

[Gr8bawana]

I have a '97 1500 4x4 and a 2500 Cumins 4x4 and if I inflate the tires on the 1500 to the 80psi that it shows on the side wall it rides rougher that the 2500.
I'm always shocked at how many people think the max inflation on the sidewall is what they should keep the tires at all the time. That is the inflation for when the tires are carrying their maximum weight load.
My BIL keeps his tires at 80 psi all the time and can't understand why they wear out in the center.

 

[PaulTGarrett]

My truck rides like a truck, my Mercedes rides like a Mercedes. I don't attempt to confuse the two.

 

[mtofell]

My BIL keeps his tires at 80 psi all the time and can't understand why they wear out in the center.

I've heard this before and have never experienced it. I've run through 4 or 5 sets of tires for roughly 200K miles on two different HD trucks with front tires at 60, rears at 80 and have always had perfectly even tire wear. I'm not doubting it happens but just don't see it. My last set of tires I ran down to the tread bars and was amazed at how completely even all 4 were when I had them replaced.

 

[68PowerWagon]

You light em' they will wear in the center too.

 

[69GWC]

OP....? Drop a post and not come back..........

 

[murderman]

I realize that my 2500 CTD 4x4 is not the same as your 1500, but when I first got it my wife really didn't like riding in it. Besides the obvious rear tire pressure consideration (I run 48 psi cold when not towing based on chalk testing), the factory Bilstein shocks were very stiff.

I swapped the shocks for some ADJUSTABLE shocks, specifically Rancho 9000XL, and the improvement in ride quality was very noticeable. They have 9 settings. After some trial and error, I run them at 5 front / 4 rear when empty and 6 front / 7 rear when towing a 10,400# GN trailer at 1700# pin weight to provide the best balance of control and comfort. One needn't spend a fortune on some of the higher end adjustable shocks, the Ranchos were less than $400 for the set of four.

Tires will make the biggest difference. A load range "E" tire will definitely ride rougher than a load range "C"; match your tire's load capacity to your actual weight for best ride quality. The aspect ratio also makes a huge difference, particularly on small bumps. While a 295/60R20 and a 285/75R17 are the same outside diameter, the former will ride noticeably stiffer for a given brand/model of tire.

 

[Pttrader]

If you are talking about rough riding while you are towing then this will apply...

Like the other posts stated the shocks may be worn out. Putting on too stiff replacement shocks will not help the ride (Something I did myself).

I ran D-rated BF KO2's which didn't help the ride, but significantly reduced sway! I had my tow hitch set up incorrectly which added to the stiff ride.

Finally, I purchased an AirSafe hitch (Somewhat Expensive) and this made the truck ride a good 80% smoother while towing. When we went over those rough roads the Travel Trailer would be bouncing the truck so hard you had to keep your back off the seat to keep driving. It could be compared to riding a horse at a gallop!

With the AirSafe hitch we could have our backs on the seat over the rough roads. Driving on these roads caused my front shocks (Strut Assemblies) to fail/leak.

My Travel trailer was between 7900 and 8400#s depending upon how we loaded it. We finally moved up to a 2500 .

 

[Aries Rising]

I have a '97 1500 4x4 and a 2500 Cumins 4x4 and if I inflate the tires on the 1500 to the 80psi that it shows on the side wall it rides rougher that the 2500.
I'm always shocked at how many people think the max inflation on the sidewall is what they should keep the tires at all the time. That is the inflation for when the tires are carrying their maximum weight load.
My BIL keeps his tires at 80 psi all the time and can't understand why they wear out in the center.

You obviously haven't considered the owner base for this fleet.... If you had (as I've done) almost nothing would surprise you. Sad but true... (and I'm not a Metallica fan).

 

[VernDiesel]

Like OP I have a 2014 4wd 1500 and in my case it routinely tows 28' TTs. I suspect OP has some combination of E load tires with more air pressure than he needs and Bilstein shocks. Inflating to max rated psi cold (any tire) leads to unnecessarily harsh ride shorter tire life and more blow outs punctures etc. At least thats my experience the last 660k miles towing TTs commercially with my 1/2 ton ED. Additionally perhaps he has Timbren bump stops instead of air bags that dampen the ride and minimize NVH. noise vibration harshnes