why is my suspension so stiff????

[82racin]

i just bought a 2001 f-250 with a 8" fabtech lift and fox shocks all the way around. ok i know lifted up trucks are usually stiff. but mine is really really bad. every lil bump throws you out of the seat. my buddy says its from having leaf springs front and back. what would be the best way to smooth it out? because this is really bad.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by 82racin

i just bought a 2001 f-250 with a 8" fabtech lift and fox shocks all the way around. ok i know lifted up trucks are usually stiff. but mine is really really bad. every lil bump throws you out of the seat. my buddy says its from having leaf springs front and back. what would be the best way to smooth it out? because this is really bad.

Not sure how to smooth it out, but yeah its rough, every bump in my truck will throw you through the roof.

[NCHornet]

Mine rides nice and smooth. Smooth ride and mileage just don't go together in a lifted truck. Check your air pressure, maybe try 10lbs less and see if that helps. Are you sure the shocks are good? How do you know?

NCH

[82racin]

ok ill try the air pressure....the shocks look pretty new so i imagine they are good.


so theres no way to smooth out the ride just a little bit.

[Powerstroke 81]

I have triple shock in front and mine rides rough as he.. As well..

[helsel_182]

is your double or tripple shocks??

[Lonno]

You can convert it to coils with the full traction kit. (link below) Or you can do little things like lesson a tire psi to about 45 and put a little weight in the very back of the bed. Engaging the rear leaf springs a little does help smooth a out the ride. I keep a little over 200 #'s right next to the tailgate at all times.
Dave





Full-Traction Suspension Ford F-250 Super Duty 1999-2004 FORD SUPER DUTY -4.0",6.0" & 8.0" 4-LINK SUSPENSION CONVERSION SYSTEM

[20stroker02]

Like NCHornet said, one way to smooth out a lifted truck with arched springs is to lower your tire pressure, you can also go to a single shock setup(what I did with my 3 shock set up was to install 2 dummy shocks with 1 good shock) or you can install air ride seats. The smoothest ride you will find is to change to a coilover system but that will cost some serious coin.

[Powerstroke 81]

What would be a good PSI for 38inch tires, im running 35psi now.
Sorry to jump in here.

[dieselcrawler]

A little input to whoever wants it... FYI... the chevy in my sig, or variations of it, a CUCV military one ton, with 39.5" boggers, I would run 15 psi... that is with the truck weight of about 8K lbs. These superdutys are gonna be a bit more than that, but not alot. I ran my truck off road mostly, but even on road, I never aired up any. This is just a point of refrance, Powerstroke 81, you said you're running 35 PSI in 38's, to me that seems way high... I'd bet you could run 25 psi and be ok, but there's alot of factors to take into concideration. The width of the tire, the hight, the rim size, all are gonna effect the handling caricturistics and safety of the set up...
From what I understand, it takes a given ammount of air to hold a given ammount of weight off the ground... if you take that ammount of air, and compress it and put it inside the smaller volume of the stock size 235/85R/16 tire, it's gonna be 50-85 PSI to carry the load capacity of a superduty. If you take the same ammount of air and put it in the larger vollume of a 38" tall, 15" wide mud tire, you're not gonna get near the same PSI, and once you reduce the PSI to compensate for the fact that you might not be loading the truck to rated load, (as you would when you are running only 50 PSI in the stock tire) it's gonna be even less.
I would expariment with it if I was you... try lowering the PSI a bit and see what happens... if it feels mushy in turns, maybe it's a little too low... you don't want the tire to roll off the rim in that situation. You try to find a happy medium.