Four years ago I bought my f350 v10 and have been trying to make it ride like Dad's 2000 heavy f250 v10 ever since. Both trucks have the same springs in back other than my taller blocks, I also put f250 shocks on which helped the rear end hop. I thought the coil spring front end was supposed to ride better than the leaf spring?
I know it's a f350 but the ride is brutal especially at low speeds when one front tire hits a pot hole our a bump! Other than the ride I love the truck, I've pulled 25/30,000 lbs to the amazement of dodge/ chevy owners and maybe I should be happy with the non air ride Simi ride but Dad's will pull the same trailer just as well just slower and smoother.

 

Compared front axle ratings and Dads 00 f250 is rated 1000# heavier than my 06 f350 so that should eliminate the springs.
It rides like it has a massive sway bar up front but it is actually very small and I've even disconnected it without noticing any change, say I hit a small speed bump if I hit it strait on not so bad but at an angle hang on! Is this normal? I love this truck and have zero other complaints but would like to not have have every one complain about the ride including me!

 

Sway bars will not affect ride quality until you get to the extremes...

Suspensions can be changed - just changing it also changes the towing ability etc...
an indy car can't be made to tow 20k lbs nor can a truck be made to keep up with the indy car !

and since you are already touting going WAY over the gvwr and gcwr... best leave well enough alone.

but, if you must,
new shocks even adjustables will help,
new tires or lower psi for the load will help
(but please use the tire charts to not exceed their capacity at too low a pressure),
new steering stabilizer will control the front end some...
different springs, overloads, lift kits... etc...

anything can be done, just takes talent and money


oh, and speed bumps can be a pain... they make them that way to force us to slow down - hence the name ~

 

Your dads truck a regular cab also? Same size tires, same air pressure?

My dad and I have the exact same truck except for his is a CC and mine is a SC. His rides quite a bit nicer than mine because of the longer wheelbase and truck cap on the back.

When unloaded you can air down the tires some, especially the rears. My 04' specs 50psi up front and 80psi in the rear. If I drive with those pressures unloaded I will be bouncing all over the place, those numbers are for when loaded close to or at max GVWR.

 

check to see if your dad has anti way bars in the rear. I justed added it to my f-250 and got a much better ride.

 

Our trucks are both regular cabs and set up as close to identical as you can get comparing a 2000 to a 2006.
I do the same with the tire air pressure helps slightly with small bumps. Dad won't mess with it and runs 80 psi front and back.

 

He dose have a rear sway bar, I hadn't really considered this as my 94 f150 was better after I removed the rear sway bar? Do the 05+ have one stock? I've never seen one with it.

 

jdadamsjr my not so smart phone locks up trying to quote a reply to you, HTC one V sucks.

I have no intention of keeping up with a indie car LOL, it's plenty fast for a 8000# truck!
The gcwr is 23,000 so I'm only over by 2 to 6000 lbs, I did have a gcwr of 36,500 once and was quit surprised when I pulled on the scale!
I've tried the better Napa shocks and now running Rancho 5000 f250s,

 

Continuing ( that's all this dumb phone will let me type at one time)
I'm looking at adjustable shocks for the front, are Rancho 9000s any good?
And as far as speed bumps go with my truck the faster you hit them the better!

 

Reply posted above.

 

so he has a sway bar and you do not...I think that is contributing to a ride difference. the sawy bar kicks in on turns, but also controls boating from road bumps.


my 05 did not have one...I had to add it....everyone that rides my truck coments on how smooth the ride is. rear sway bar was a big plus.

 

I'm thinking a rear sway bar is the way to go with the the stiff springs on the super duty's. I also made an interesting discovery researching shocks, NAPA has been selling me dually shocks when I've very clearly told them I have single rear tires! This is exactly why I've stoped letting them look up parts and look up the part numbers and give them that! It is also why I'm going to be buying parts from Rockauto and such instead of the local parts store, **** it's even cheaper and I don't half to deal with incompetent or a******,s.

 

twigs - re the ranch 9000's ?!?

they are what I just swapped to for my 2013 350 with 14k miles...
the stock shocks were already toast....
(oh, and just found an fte friend with the remote control system for the shocks --- hopefully it will be as easy to use as the wirelessONE air compressor for my air bags !)

i am still trying to find the happy medium I want between floating over the bumps and controlling the tire hop for heavy hauling, but highly recommend them...
and they have up to a $100 rebate going on

 

if you get the rancho 9000's google the grease packing discusions some folks do to prevent the selector from freezing and loosing it's ability to rotate.

I'm not sure if the problem is the **** itself or the plunger that the **** pushes.

so after mine froze since I did not use the greae...i went in and removed all the *****, greased them up, and packed grease into the hole, reassembled. seems to work now.

 

I don't know why I didn't go with the 9000s in the first place, I do love adjustable parts to mess with.