How to make F150 ride better?

[Porpoise Hork]

I’m pretty happy with the ride of my max tow FX4 PB, it’s so much better than the truck I test drove that didn’t have any of these packages.

I’d love to ride in one with a sway bar to see the difference before committing.

The overall body roll is reduced and rear end feels a little more planted when cornering. The net result is more confidence in maintaining control when cornering at higher speeds. Something that can be attained with a few minor suspension upgrades/modifications.

Sponsored

 

[2Lazy2P]

My 2022 F-150 has the softest ride of any pickup or SUV I have owned or rented by a wide margin. Unless you really need the bed of a pickup truck you should buy a SUV and maybe consider taking them for a test drive BEFORE you buy one.

I don’t disagree with your comment about SUV or test drives, but the test drive doesn’t always reveal ride or handling characteristics. A while behind the wheel is what I needed before deciding to look at a modification. .

It’s reasonable that most buyers like their truck as is with no aftermarket modifications. Equally reasonable that those that want a different ride or handling look to modifications to achieve what they want.

 

[Snakebitten]

I don’t disagree with your comment about SUV or test drives, but the test drive doesn’t always reveal ride or handling characteristics. A while behind the wheel is what I needed before deciding to look at a modification. .

It’s reasonable that most buyers like their truck as is with no aftermarket modifications. Equally reasonable that those that want a different ride or handling look to modifications to achieve what they want.

Well put!

Honestly, if I hadn't ever built my "bucket-list" F150 back in 2017-2018, I likely wouldn't be so dang sensitive to the handling inadequacies of my 2022 Powerboost.
Nobody that has ridden with me has had a clue of what my complaints are. (they're family members and they already wrote me off as a hopeless nerd that can't leave his stuff alone)

I won't ever declare another vehicle as a bucket-list build, since by its very definition it would be something you do ONCE and then KEEP it? ?

Still, this 157" CCD rolling power-grid is way too much fun to explore its potential. And the options available with both software and hardware BEG for experimentation.

 

[Calson]

I had a 2500 pickup that I modified to provide 4,000 lbs of payload capacity and hauled all over the western USA a 3700 slide-in camper load with no issues. Empty the bed would bounce a bit and I fixed that for the most part by adding a Hellwig Big Wig sway bar at the rear axle.

I sold a 2018 Chevy Traverse SUV that had a very comfortable ride and bought the 2022 F-150 4WD with the crew cab and max tow package. I knew the 1500 class truck would have a much softer ride but I was surprised that it was better than that of the Traverse.

I have owned pickup trucks my entire adult life and had ones from Dodge, Willys, Mazda, Toyota, and Chevrolet. All were 4WD and the first ones had solid front axles which provided a harder ride. I was delighted when Toyota went to a IFS with their 4WD trucks as the ride was considerably improved. I chose the Chevy 2500 in 2011 in part because it had IFS and a less truck like ride than the trucks from Ram and Ford.

The only way to get a softer ride with a pickup truck is to go with coil springs and an air suspension. But that reduces payload and adds $2,000 to the cost and then there are concerns about the suspension failing, which happens, and is expensive to repair.

The F-150 with the 4WD and "off-road" package still comes with what are passenger tires and not light truck or LT ones. You cannot get softer riding tires for the truck. My 2500 truck had 80 PSI 10-ply tires and that did not help the ride. The tires on my F-150 are at the factory recommended 35 PSI or what I have had with my SUVs.

My sports coupe had a harsher ride than a sedan but that was part of the cost of having the cornering and high speed performance. I was provided with a Thunderbird as a loaner and I felt very unsafe at 70 mph on curves with the amount of suspension float with that car. Always trade-offs with any vehicle.

 

[Snakebitten]

HammaMan (I believe) mentioned an alternative or two to Helwig. (Thanks, by the way)
I've had Helwig on a couple of trucks before but dang if they aren't proud of their current bar. ?

I ordered a Steeda yesterday. Made in good Ole USA. And it shipped already, so "in stock" actually meant in stock!

 

[Snakebitten]

Arrived today.
No intention of storing the box in the barn for even a moment.

Nice adjustable chrome molly endlinks

Started with softest setting first so I could approach what I'm looking for in one direction.

Didn't even get to the road out front and I could feel the chassis-body language difference on my dirt road. I should have done this 6 months ago when the truck arrived. I KNEW better.

Very simple install. A 65 year old man without help did it in under an hour. I didn't even put it on the lift.

 

[Buyer2021]

Arrived today.....

Looks like a lovely bit of hardware

I can't tell from the pics and don't recall from your previous posts .... does you PB have OE spacer blocks between the springs and the axle?

I understand that the end-link adjustment goal is to have the bar-legs 'level' with the vehicle on-the-ground at rest.

Wondering if you think the end link adjustment (I think primarily intended to accommodate a certain amount of 'lifted' truck) would accommodate a 4WD (EB) with blocks removed (making the axle-at-rest ~1-1/4" closer to the frame rails)?

IOW, do you think the end links adjusted to shortest length would leave the legs sloped down to the front on my 'sans-spacer-blocks Lariat'?

 

[Snakebitten]

Interesting question.
My truck is oem on height. Or very much near it. I have RAS mounted on the leaf spring pack but only adjusted enough to "dampen" the spring pack enough to rid the rear end of the "hop-bounce" over railroad crossing type bumps. I think it raised the rear of the truck about 1/4-3/8"

Anyways, the Steeda adjustable links were designed to be at their shortest on an un-lifted 4X4. So if you dropped yours you probably would not have the bars perfectly parallel to the road.

Although those endlinks could probably be sourced a number of ways in shorter length. At the very least you could have the long half of them cut down by a machine shop easy enough?

 

[Buyer2021]

Anyways, the Steeda adjustable links were designed to be at their shortest on an un-lifted 4X4. So if you dropped yours you probably would not have the bars perfectly parallel to the road.

Although those endlinks could probably be sourced a number of ways in shorter length. At the very least you could have the long half of them cut down by a machine shop easy enough?

Thanks for that useful appraisal

Yep, I understand the possibility of modification to suit, you've given the likely good answer about the need for that if I were to grab this particular bar ('surprise avoidance' is always nice ).

EDIT
IF you happen to have the inclination, two dimensions would allow a 'mock up' test ...

• inches from top of endlink bracket to CL of bottom endlink hole with links at shortest adjustment
• inches from bottom of axle housing to CL of installed bar

 

[blackhawkrider]

Arrived today.
No intention of storing the box in the barn for even a moment.

Nice adjustable chrome molly endlinks

Started with softest setting first so I could approach what I'm looking for in one direction.

Didn't even get to the road out front and I could feel the chassis-body language difference on my dirt road. I should have done this 6 months ago when the truck arrived. I KNEW better.

Very simple install. A 65 year old man without help did it in under an hour. I didn't even put it on the lift.

Hi Bruce,

If you were doing this again, would you go with the Steeda first, or stick with the RAS? I'd like to go with both eventually but trying to decide which one to purchase first and spread out the $1,000.

I have the PB with 5.5' bed and don't tow much or rarely carry over 1,000 pounds for now. Running stock with the Wrangler ATs and 18" wheels.

Thanks for the install pictures. I was looking at this right before you purchased as a lower cost to the Hellwig.

 

[Snakebitten]

@blackhawkrider

I absolutely would add the Antisway bar first. And I probably would have if it weren't for the fact that there was some confusion on what fit a Gen14 Powerboost, AND the fact that Helwig could be hard to find in stock. It also didn't help that Helwig prices the Gen14 at a hefty increa$e over the previous generation, which implied it was different in some way?

I'm not upset with Helwig, of course, because the "reasoning" was my reasoning.

The Steeda is listed for 2015-2022. (the introduction of the Aluminum F150)
Now that I installed it myself, I assume that the distance from the frame mount for the end link to the axle must be VERY similar on all models. So I have no idea why Helwig has different models?

I digress....... sorry

So yes, Antisway first!
But depending on how sensitive you are to the rear damping, you might still not be happy over rough bumpy surfaces. You WILL be happy with cornering and turn-in. It's SO much better.

 

[Chili]

Snake,

How come you haven't replaced the rear shocks yet?

In the past my only experience with sway bars was replacing what's there with a larger unit. I always liked the effects of doing a rear sway bar in a sedan, but regretted a front as it just brought the understeer back. My understanding is the tow package either added a front sway or increased the size of my front sway so perhaps a rear sway makes even more sense with tow package trucks.

I do recall them making the ride firmer as well, whether you think that's good or bad may just be person dependent. I assume they will help with towing, much like a set of upgraded shocks would do.

I will add that the Ram and Tundra use rear coils and that design requires a rear sway bar for safety but some of what a sway does is built into leaf springs design making it not a requirement. Bit of apples to oranges.

 

[Buyer2021]

I don't perceive body-roll as an issue in my rather sedate daily driving, but it does start to creep-in just a tad when towing my 5th-wheel. Even though that's a relatively light trailer at less than 5500#, its 'hitch pivot point' is ~17.5" above the bed floor which may aggravate roll-forces in certain situations. Payload limits and truck squat/sag are non-issues with that trailer on both of my F150s, it's a perfectly placed load in the bed and well-within limits of both trucks.

On my 2005 F150 I have Bilstein shocks along with air bags which are not cross-connected; the bags get a bit of pressure when towing (to trim trailer level) and not being cross-connected I think that may help somewhat to reduce roll with the trailer hitched. I'd love to put those same bags on the 2022 but alas I'm not aware of any that work with my under-bed frame hitch mounts on the 2022.

I'm waiting for the (back ordered) Bilstein 4600's for the 2022 as I go through some 'one-step-at-a-time' tweaks to try to 'optimize' things for my use and preferences both daily driving and towing.

One thing for certain ... the OE ride-comfort of my 2022 is light-years better than my 2005, I really love that about the new truck, and I'm loath to sacrifice much of that daily driving comfort so I'm proceeding slowly with these trailer-towing suspension tweaks!

I appreciate what a stabilizer bar might offer for me in that evolution of my rig, appreciate it has no downside in terms of daily driving comfort, so really appreciate the Steeda info. It's certainly a mod I may consider in my explorations ....

 

[Snakebitten]

Snake,

How come you haven't replaced the rear shocks yet?

I special ordered the CCD just to see if I could buy my first F150 that I did NOT immediately swap out shocks.

If I can't accomplish what I'm looking for, I absolutely will nix the active suspension and return to the higher-end adjustable aftermarket products.

One thing for certain ... the OE ride-comfort of my 2022 is light-years better than my 2005, I really love that about the new truck, and I'm loath to sacrifice much of that daily driving comfort so I'm proceeding slowly with these trailer-towing suspension tweaks!

I appreciate what a stabilizer bar might offer for me in that evolution of my rig, appreciate it has no downside in terms of daily driving comfort, so really appreciate the Steeda info. It's certainly a mod I may consider in my explorations ....

I absolutely agree that this CCD F150 is a wonderful ride on good road surfaces. So good, in fact, that it's made me value "soft damping" surprisingly. Enough to make the efforts that I am, in order to achieve a Planted truck without relying on just damping to get there.

I've patiently been addressing it by intentionally driving routes that subject the truck to the worst case scenario conditions, and then repeating the experience often enough to become intimate with what I am desiring to accomplish.

The first thing that I knew that I had to address was the empty truck underdamped rear suspension over sharp or large irregularities at speed. (railroad crossings and potholes)

I loath that. For me it is such a disappointing contrast to the otherwise luxury of the truck. And IS the main reason I have historically yanked the oem dampers off quickly.

Before I had any information on the VDM module values, the only thing that I thought I could do is to find a way to add/increase damping on the rear leafs. Or run the truck in Sport Mode or Tow Haul to get the increase damping that CCD provides automatically, but that defeats the Powerboost Hybrid EV features for fuel economy. So I decided to add RAS to the leaf pack and use it for the sole purpose as an additional damper with the shock absorber. I ignored the original intent and mission of RAS and very finitely dialed in its damping influence on the leaf spring and was thrilled to find that it tamed the rear end over those rough jarring surfaces.
I then "hacked" the VDM AsBuilt values for the "unsprung weight" of the truck and increased the value by 20%. This appears to have "tricked" the CCD software to increase the damping in all 4 corners, which theoretically has it closer to the settings it did have in Sport, but now I have in Normal.

I love it! It's a very subtle difference on smooth surfaces, but much less brash over bumps.

Yet, this approach has little influence on the nature of a soft-compliant suspension that is lacking in anti-body roll. Thus the Steeda.

It's progress. In the right direction. I may very well find contentment with factory CCD.

The only thing that has popped up its little head is that the Steeda on the rear, even on the softest setting, now reveals the front end to feel a little squishy. Not enough to bother me much, but I'm pretty sure I want the Steeda set stiffer than it is and if there's a correlation, which is very likely, I'll need to see if I can edit the VDM in Forscan to tweak JUST the front dampers a little?

These trucks are amazing

 

[Chili]

I special ordered the CCD just to see if I could buy my first F150 that I did NOT immediately swap out shocks.

If I can't accomplish what I'm looking for, I absolutely will nix the active suspension and return to the higher-end adjustable aftermarket products.





I absolutely agree that this CCD F150 is a wonderful ride on good road surfaces. So good, in fact, that it's made me value "soft damping" surprisingly. Enough to make the efforts that I am, in order to achieve a Planted truck without relying on just damping to get there.

I've patiently been addressing it by intentionally driving routes that subject the truck to the worst case scenario conditions, and then repeating the experience often enough to become intimate with what I am desiring to accomplish.

The first thing that I knew that I had to address was the empty truck underdamped rear suspension over sharp or large irregularities at speed. (railroad crossings and potholes)

I loath that. For me it is such a disappointing contrast to the otherwise luxury of the truck. And IS the main reason I have historically yanked the oem dampers off quickly.

Before I had any information on the VDM module values, the only thing that I thought I could do is to find a way to add/increase damping on the rear leafs. Or run the truck in Sport Mode or Tow Haul to get the increase damping that CCD provides automatically, but that defeats the Powerboost Hybrid EV features for fuel economy. So I decided to add RAS to the leaf pack and use it for the sole purpose as an additional damper with the shock absorber. I ignored the original intent and mission of RAS and very finitely dialed in its damping influence on the leaf spring and was thrilled to find that it tamed the rear end over those rough jarring surfaces.
I then "hacked" the VDM AsBuilt values for the "unsprung weight" of the truck and increased the value by 20%. This appears to have "tricked" the CCD software to increase the damping in all 4 corners, which theoretically has it closer to the settings it did have in Sport, but now I have in Normal.

I love it! It's a very subtle difference on smooth surfaces, but much less brash over bumps.

Yet, this approach has little influence on the nature of a soft-compliant suspension that is lacking in anti-body roll. Thus the Steeda.

It's progress. In the right direction. I may very well find contentment with factory CCD.

The only thing that has popped up its little head is that the Steeda on the rear, even on the softest setting, now reveals the front end to feel a little squishy. Not enough to bother me much, but I'm pretty sure I want the Steeda set stiffer than it is and if there's a correlation, which is very likely, I'll need to see if I can edit the VDM in Forscan to tweak JUST the front dampers a little?

These trucks are amazing

I forgot about CCD. So many option boxes.

I really like my sport / single rear leaf ride for it's comfort but it doesn't handle even as well as a Chevy truck. You don't feel any increased harshness? I wouldn't mind better handling and taming that jiggle you get with the harsher roads and potholes we find in the northern states. I'm not willing to sacrifice ride quality though.

Sponsored