What Rear Shock Upgrade Will Fix My Bumpy Ride?

[DK4]

Yes, I did get them with the internal jounce bumpers.

That is your problem in my opinion.

I have AirLift 5k’s without jounce bumpers and my ride is smooth as silk at all times. I usually keep 5-10 PSI in mine to give the rear a little lift just for looks.

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[DK4]

Part number of mine for reference.

Your truck looks awesome by the way. That blue with the black is gorgeous.

 

[backcountryplatinum]

I swear by the Bilstein 5160's! I have them on my truck and they are amazing. I spend a lot of time driving on dirt roads.

 

[itsDom]

Part number of mine for reference.

Your truck looks awesome by the way. That blue with the black is gorgeous.

I have thought about this being the culprit before. I may attempt to disassemble the airbags and cut the jounce bumper out... Smooth as silk is what I'm after. Thank you for your compliment!

 

[DK4]

I have thought about this being the culprit before. I may attempt to disassemble the airbags and cut the jounce bumper out... Smooth as silk is what I'm after. Thank you for your compliment!

You’re welcome!

Also the smooth as silk comment is relative, but you know that. It’s still a truck ? I also have max tow on mine. Do you? Edit, I see you do.

There have been a couple similar posts to yours on the other forum and they all had the jounce bumpers. Those of us without don’t seem to have issues.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you could buy just replacement bags separately as well if you find you can’t modify yours.

Be sure to come back and update us with your results after you tinker around, I’ll be curious.

 

[Bryan Simon]

While the Bilstein 5100s and rear sway bar have helped take the 70s Eldorado float away it still is a truck, not a Honda.

I miss the the ride of those big ol boats.
I grew up with Chryslers, and prefer the big MOPAR “C” bodies.

something about not hearing the tires spin, , not feeling any bumps,
and being able to run over obstacles, critters, small humans, etc., without feeling anything.

Hated my Ranger, rode too rough, but kept it 15 yrs.
Not fond of her newer Explorer, nice car but rides too firm and has some horrible road noise (by my standard)

My 79 C10 was a “ride like a Lincoln“ pickup and no cabin noise.
My 66 ElCamino would be “floaty” to anyone born after 1980, but it does not have that large car ride that I grew up with.

 

[Popplemer]

I miss the the ride of those big ol boats.
I grew up with Chryslers, and prefer the big MOPAR “C” bodies.

something about not hearing the tires spin, , not feeling any bumps,
and being able to run over obstacles, critters, small humans, etc., without feeling anything.

Hated my Ranger, rode too rough, but kept it 15 yrs.
Not fond of her newer Explorer, nice car but rides too firm and has some horrible road noise (by my standard)

My 79 C10 was a “ride like a Lincoln“ pickup and no cabin noise.
My 66 ElCamino would be “floaty” to anyone born after 1980, but it does not have that large car ride that I grew up with.

My truck in stock form was an odd ride. Side to side was that Lincoln ride yet over bumps it felt super harsh. Not exactly sure how Ford managed to achieve that but weighted down with my bed rack and roof top tent coupled with the new shocks I'm where I want it to be. If I've lost 1 MPG due to the weight I'll chalk up the extra $10 a week in fuel to comfort. Akin to setting the heat in the house where your wife likes it, whatever the cost I'll gladly pay.

While I understand the OP wants a nice unloaded ride as well as confidence while towing, one has to realize the two things are somewhat mutually exclusive. My idea was to mimic some of the tongue weight of the trailer while unloaded to give a more consistent ride. A few items in the bed will do wonders for ride quality in these trucks.

 

[Iconic22F150]

Bilstein 5160's or Ford Performance with autospring 1-2" taller rear blocks and I got all my rake back.

 

[itsDom]

My truck in stock form was an odd ride. Side to side was that Lincoln ride yet over bumps it felt super harsh. Not exactly sure how Ford managed to achieve that but weighted down with my bed rack and roof top tent coupled with the new shocks I'm where I want it to be. If I've lost 1 MPG due to the weight I'll chalk up the extra $10 a week in fuel to comfort. Akin to setting the heat in the house where your wife likes it, whatever the cost I'll gladly pay.

While I understand the OP wants a nice unloaded ride as well as confidence while towing, one has to realize the two things are somewhat mutually exclusive. My idea was to mimic some of the tongue weight of the trailer while unloaded to give a more consistent ride. A few items in the bed will do wonders for ride quality in these trucks.

Without making any additional modifications to the truck and leaving things as they are, I think that your statement is easiest solution to my problem. Having a bit of weight in the bed does wonders for the truck, and the ride quality. An extra $10 increase in gas is moot! Plus I won’t add a roof top tent so the increase in gas/weight for me would be less.

I agree that adding weight in the bed of the truck is and easy and almost free fix.

 

[OleMustyBag]

You don't need 5 psi in the bags. You can jack the truck up by the hitch, get the rear tires just barely touching the ground, zero out the pressure, and set it back down. The whole 5 psi thing is an attempt to not get the bags to go into vac when your rear end goes up after a bump. So long as the bag holds its shape and doesn't squeeze in on itself due to vacuum, you're fine.

Try that and if it's still a bit too much, remove 3 psi from your rear tires so long as you air back up before a tow, given you do so with the bags, I assume it's SOP for you. If you're a frequent tower you may already have a checklist, just add it to it.

I run mine with zero pressure also when not towing. I also left out the bolt on the bottom so that they would not bind or get over extended when off road or going over a large bump in the road. No problems so far and I don’t think it would work on the straight style bags. The factory shocks are not great though and I look to upgrade to some fox 2.5 in the future.

 

[FirstFord]

Not trying to be a trouble-maker here, but I've got airbags on my truck, and I find the ride to be no different than without the airbags - I can't even tell that they're there. And I abide by the manufacturer's requirement of keeping 5 PSI minimum in them (typically, a little closer to 7). Just sayin'.....

 

[DK4]

Not trying to be a trouble-maker here, but I've got airbags on my truck, and I find the ride to be no different than without the airbags - I can't even tell that they're there. And I abide by the manufacturer's requirement of keeping 5 PSI minimum in them (typically, a little closer to 7). Just sayin'.....

Which bags do you have?

 

[FirstFord]

Which bags do you have?

I have the Firestone airbags, but my truck is also equipped with Onboard Scales, which is a whole 'nother issue when it comes to airbags. You might be interested (or might not...) in this:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/air-bags-for-trucks-with-on-board-scales-caution.20600/

 

[DK4]

I have the Firestone airbags, but my truck is also equipped with Onboard Scales, which is a whole 'nother issue when it comes to airbags. You might be interested (or might not...) in this:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/air-bags-for-trucks-with-on-board-scales-caution.20600/

I have scales as well. No problems at all. I’ve had airbags on my truck since new. Mine also ride as if they are not there. Love em.

I’m mainly just curious if the bags you have, have internal jounce bumpers in them.

 

[FirstFord]

I have scales as well. No problems at all. I’ve had airbags on my truck since new. Mine also ride as if they are not there. Love em.

I’m mainly just curious if the bags you have, have internal jounce bumpers in them.

Wow! You have Onboard Scales too, and no problems? Whose airbags do you have? As I already laid out in an earlier post ( https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/air-bags-for-trucks-with-on-board-scales-caution.20600/ ), at the time of purchase, Firestone was the only company making airbags for trucks with Onboard Scales. Maybe things have changed since then...

I also installed the AirLift compressor and remote. Had very high hopes, but would up being extremely disappointed. The compressor/manifold leaks, and as per AirLift Customer Service, losing 5 PSI in a 12 hour time frame is within specs! So, that means the compressor is CONSTANTLY turning on and off, on and off. And adding salt to the would is that the compressor is LOUD. I'm driving down the highway at 70 MPH and you easily hear it kick on. Passengers ask, "What was that? What happened?" I've since added a switch to the compressor and installed a valve between the airbags and the compressor. I leave the valve closed unless I need to inflate/deflate the airbags, then I open the valve and turn on the compressor. When finished, I close the valve. A real PITA - very disappointing for the amount of money that the system cost.

If I remember right, these airbags do NOT have internal jounce bumpers.

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