Some of you know that I have recently (in the past 18 months) replaced all my tie-rods, drop links, front rotors/hubs, wheel bearings, front tires, and front shocks, and that this has made a HUGE difference in the way my truck drives and handles.

HOWEVER, this past weekend I made one more suspension upgrade which has blown all the others out of the water, and it was NOT a new steering box!! Nor was this last upgrade a new set of sway bar bushings which also still need to be replaced.

So... even with those couple of old parts still hanging in there, my truck rides and handles like a completely NEW truck now (aside from very, very minor steering slop due to its 267K miles and 13 years of being useful). I could simply not believe how smooth it is to ride in the truck. It has taken me over 200 miles to begin to get adjusted to the new ride, and I'm still completely blown away every time I drive the truck somewhere! It's a type of Permagrin that I didn't know was available!!

Want to guess what it is that I changed out??

I may be wrong, but I believe that the only ones who will likely figure out or know what I did are the ones who have done it themselves, and from my years here in FTE, there are not many who have done this (that I know of, anyway).

I'll let you guys take a little time to guess at it, and will eventually toss in a picture of my upgrade. It only cost $100 and a couple hours of my time, but in my opinion, is worth at least 4x that amount.

Drum roll, please.......

 

enquiring minds want to know!

 

Steering stabilizer.

 

Oh, and just tell us. There are way better websites than this for games.

 

Could it be one of those front steering stailizer shock deal?. I've got one on my E-350 van.

 

Replacement drivers seat foam?

 

And there IS a WINNER!!!


Brand new leather seat covers for both front seats and new driver side seat foam from The Seat Shop. I also used their recommended technique of steaming the passenger side foam and that made a huge difference as well!

I've had to lower my seat about an inch, and the lumbar support is now in a better place for my back. The ENTIRE driver seat feels completely different. I can still feel the tires hit the little things on the road, but the vibration and impact does not travel into my rear end the way it did before the replacement.

Also, my seats were really not nearly as bad as most of what I see in our vintage trucks.

I would HIGHLY recommend replacing your seat foam. It will make more difference than you can imagine!

 

I just did this to my truck as well sans seat cover. Night and day difference! A must on high mileage vehicles.

 

I wish someone made a replacement cloth seat cover.

I know I know cloth,yuck, buts it's what I got.

I only have one small tear in mine so maybe I can get it fixed and I will be ordering the new cushion shortly.

 

Steve, the OEM fabric should still be available through Detroit Book, so most upholstery shops ought to be able to get it and take care of that for you.

 

Thanks Kevin, I'll look in to that.

 

Visit your local seat shop. I replaced my factory foam with new factory foam quite a while ago. I also found some factory replacement cloth seat covers from a seat shop that had some as brand new take offs where they did some custom stuff and it had been sitting on a shelf for years.

Recently (since I'm way ahead of Pete on this curve) the springs that hold the foam in the bottom of my seat broke. (There's a thread here somewhere). I ended up at the local seat shop to get the springs fixed and had them add foam to mine to give it a better feel. The local seat shop made a bigger difference in the feel to me than the factory foam replacement, but I had been sitting on broken springs so that may have corrupted my opinion.

Anyway, the seat shops can repair or replace cloth seat coverings as well. Just be sure to have them add some foam while they're in there.

My wife had custom foam and leather put in her truck and they don't even feel like Super Duty seats anymore.

 

Nice Pete! you had me going for a while today................

 

Yea ...He had me going too!!! LOL I was actually thinking he replaced his raduis arm bushings. I Was Wrong !!

Seat Cushions !! But I can see where that would be nice . But it does remind me that I need to fix my wifes driver seat it has bad cushion and broken springs. I get reminded regularly about it but it doen't bother me since I rarely drive it.
So I am jealous and happy of you guys that have nice new cushions!

 

I e-mailed them a while back and got know response so I didn't know if they where still in business. Looks easy enough on there video's, just takes time I guess. This is something I need pretty bad as well. Did you get there upgraded leather? I heard it is really good stuff.