Looking to smooth out ride...

[tftimm]

I'm looking to smooth out the ride of my truck. I'll be getting some new tires soon and I'm still debating between D and E rated tires. It gets very hot here in Texas and I'm a little concerned with the D rated tires. I might prefer the extra ply's.

I've asked several questions about tire pressure and it seems that everyone runs 60-80PSI. I suppose that is what I should run, but I don't do any pulling and very minimal hauling. If I put 500lbs in the bed, that's a bunch.

So once I figure out if I get D or E Rated tires, I also want to change the struts/shocks. I don't have a lift and won't get one, I just want something that might help smooth things out a little. I'm looking at some fairly inexpensive Gabriel's. They run around $20-30/shock.

Anyways, I figure that if I can get some nice D-Rated tires and some new shocks, I hope that will smooth out the ride a bit.

Any thoughts or advice on tires/shocks? This board has been great at answering my questions, and I do use the search function all the time, but your responses are more targeted.

[kevin3627]

I am trying to do the same thing to my truck. Right now i am running some worn out 33" nitto mud grapplers, and at 55 mph plus they vibrate the **** out of me. I got some Brigestone stock tires D rated i think, from a friend and i am going to put them on sometime this week. I will post how much that helps.

What kind of tires are you running now?

[tftimm]

I'm running almost bald 265/75R16 E Rated BFG Road Huggers. The ride is almost unbareable.

[kevin3627]

I know what you mean i have been driving my car alot more lately just because i dont want to put up with the rough ride. Like i said before I know alot of my problem is in the tires because i used to have stock tires on there. Your problem is probly the same. I have put shocks on my truck before and did not notice a diffrence in the ride, only a liitle less body roll. But they were cheap shocks.

[tftimm]

After going round and round about D vs. E rated tires, and a good AT tire, I finally came back with my new tires. The guy I talked to said that if I wasn't pulling a lot or hauling, D rated would be fine and most importantly be a little more comfortable.

So I ended up getting 265/75R16 Yokohama Geolander AT D-Rated tires. They look nice, not as aggressive at BFG AT's, but still, they seem like a nice mix of an aggressive tread with good treadlife.

Feel free to ask questions. I'm not sure if anyone has put them on their OBS, but I'll be sure to keep everyone informed if they are interested.

Thanks for your comments.

[kevin3627]

Nice choice tim, how u like the new ones?

[tftimm]

So far so good, they are very quiet, look nice, and are smoother. It is difficult to say how much because I haven't driven the bumpy routes yet, but I should have an idea after the weekend.
I think I'm going to lower the back PSI to 50 and leave the front at 55.

Overall, nice tire. I'm happy with them. Are they made in Japan?

[kw900driver]

Im trying to smooth out my ride also! In the summer i run mickey thompsons classic II rim with hankook all-terrains, very nice tire and good tread for summer driving. they dont make a sound what so ever. I am goin to put new shocks on this summer and see if that helps out at all. Just need a good shock thats all

[tftimm]

I'm thinking about putting on some Gabriel shocks, something simple, not the cheapest, but something around $25-30/shock. There is some bounce, so I probably need to change them.

We'll see.

[alberta 7.3]

Another thing to soften up the ride would be to get a pair of superduty rear leafs, they handle the same weight, but have a different design for a softer ride empty or loaded. I have them in the back of my 250 and the ride is much better. I'm not sure what springs you could use on the front, 2WD, Coils I assume? 05' and new coils may be a possibility to look into.