Hello all, wells it is opening weekend of bow season here in alabama and i went to take the f250 sd offroad for the first time since ive had it. i got around a 6 inch skyjacker lift, hydro 7000 shocks on it. drive great on the road but when i got it offroad it about beat me to death. Nothing major offroad just some dirt/gravel roads but the ride was so rought it kind of blew my mind, i know its not gonna be highway smooth but this was insane it was so rough, any thoughts? maybe dual shock kits or something like that, ive drove offroad all my life so i know you gonna have your beats and bangs but im still pretty speachless on how rough this was, especially going down hill when you barley tap the brakes the whole truck starts jumping around. like im getting wheel hop but im barley ideling when it happens..

thanks for any info in advance

 

that's weird mine is stock with crappy shocks, and it doesnt run too bad on rough roads. i would'nt know, how was the condition of the shocks though? is your spring setup stock?

 

I would be very suspect of your shocks! I have seen it many times when the lift is ordered and the guy has no clue of what he's doing, sells shocks that are ^so short in stroke they will barley allow any compression! What you end up with is a truck that rides like a buckboard wagon because it is bottoming out the shocks at 1 1/2 or2 1/2" of compression! They seem ok on the street but get off road and it's a disaster! I hope This helps
Jim & fat Monty

 

Shocks too long and are bottoming out. Mark the shock piston with a sharpie where it enters the body of the shock. Take the shock off the truck and let the shock fully extend.Tires at 80 psi

otherwise, no idea. Skyjacker typically has super soft springs in their lifts. I actually detest their lifts because of that

 

Mines all stock and pretty rough offroad. I think its just the heavy duty leafs and solid front axle combo.
Or my truck could be a piece. But im sticking with the leafs and solid front axle argument

 

I don't now what you drove before but the 3/4 ton SD rides pretty stiff. The solid axles and stiff springs mean a rigid, stiff ride over the bumps The truck is meant to haul and tow so it won't ride like a 1/2 ton. I installed new Reflex shocks and they were noticeably better than my 43,200 mile stockers. Still, the truck rides stiff and my old 1/2T Chevy extended cab was like a Cadillac compared to my Ford. Not complaining, just the Ford rides rough.

 

I'm actually enjoying the softness of this suspension

My 09 Mustang had been dropped and all new control arms/bushings. I could take hairpin corners pretty fast...but the ride would beat your kidneys to a bloody pulp. This truck just soaks up bumps that my Mustang would beat me to death over

 

Great answer! At least a few of us understand that 3/4 a 1 Ton trucks are made to tow and haul! But the 95% of people who buy them dont do this and is the reason why ever new model year my beloved Ford trucks are getting softer and softer in the truck market. Its a shame when you see a guy trade in a old ford for a brand new SD only to have to leave the dealer and go right to a truck shop and have air bags or leaf springs added to it.

 

On a stock truck, there a huge range of front spring rates that have a drastic impact on ride quality, and when compared with wheelbase differences, there's a huge range of "stock ride" quality. My dad's has CC/SB has 5400# coils, my SC/SB has 6000# coils; his is a Caddy and I keep a hardhat on the backseat for the washboards. The old leaf spring packs were the same deal.

Lift springs are the same way. Icon makes progressive coils that are soft up top and harsh when compressed, Skyjacker makes soft coils the whole way through, and on lighter trucks OEM 7000# coils can feel like you welded the spring perches to the frame.

I've left out the rear springs, since on pre-11 trucks it wont matter if you have a stock pack or 15 leafs crammed into a lift, unloaded the rear end is stiff, and only weight can smooth it out. Scaler is right in bringing up the new longer rear pack and the reduced leaf count as being a trade-off of getting rid of the rear end stiffness for people when they're unloaded versus loac carrying ability. Sucks, but it is what it is. I don't buy into the "Ford is catering to pansies" line, if they were they're be an IFS to go with it. They screwed up on the spring rates, NBD, fix it if it bugs you.

I'm with Tylus, OP has a shock problem. But it doesn't ride rough simply by nature of being a Ford, a SD, or having a solid axle. Wheelbase, spring rates, and shocks can make otherwise identical trucks uncomparable.

 

texastech is right, i installed procomp 22210 front leaf spring for a V10/diesel duperduty. But on my 5.4 SD it gave me about 2.5 to 3" of lift, so when i measured the truck on the car lift the "standard" 2.5" lift shock was too short on the droop. so i had to order front shocks for a 4" lift so when i go offroad and the suspension droops all the way out, the front shocks would have enough travel.