So I have this dreaded piece of road that I travel from time to time, and a few members here will know of it: I-5 South of Southcenter, near Seattle's Sea Tac airport. It's the cement slab seams that I'm talking about - they are about the distance of Stinky's wheelbase. When both axles cross a seam simultaneously, and at the right speed - you get a pretty violent oscillation in the truck. I say violent because you can actually see the truck hop, not just feel it. I'm not saying the tires come off the ground, but the suspension is resonating with the road - rattling the loose change between my ears.

Stinky's suspension: He had axle wrap with the engine mods, and adding ladder bars made a huge unexpected improvement in the ride - the rear is more stable and the shifts grew silky. I wonder about the condition of the rear springs. The front springs sag 2" from factory specs - they are otherwise known as "flat". Any more sag and the springs will be inverted.

I obviously need front springs, and that will be addressed - but what to do to help the ride and the springs from sagging the next time? I was ordering some stuff through Riffraff Diesel, and I stumbled upon the Roadmaster Active Suspension.


I haven't looked to see if this would fit on the front, and I'm not sure it's a good idea with the steering system up there. This looks like it would immediately soften the ride in the rear, but that's going off a 1" rise announced on a Youtube vid. I clearly need more input here. Anyone?

 

Those aren't going to help you. They're primarily to assist in keeping the frame and spring difference as great as possible while towing.

I know what you mean about I-5, we have I-20 and its about the same!

Your tires are probably leaving the roadway. Maybe not at the same time. I know my truck will "change lanes" if I don't watch it. That one piece axle, leaf springs up front, and the 5k engine is a lot of energy in a lot of directions hitting a bump. More-less expansion joints in the roadway at 50 mph.

My first 7.3 was a 2003. The next day I ran it on I-95 in D.C. and I thought to my self "What the hell did I buy?" It was all over the place.

 

Rich, I know that stretch of I5 all too well! Don't measure your leaf spring quality on that road! My truck is a crew cab and when driving that stretch with someone in the back seat it is hilarious to watch them bounce. I am the only owner of the truck and it has always done it there.

 

2 good options for the rear. One I have tried ; the Sulastic shackle replacements. I have the old B.F. Goodrich Velvet rides which are the same thing. Sulastic even makes them for the front of our trucks...I may give them a try also. Ànother option that works are the PMF 08 up spring hangers. These let you bolt on the longer leafs from the current generation trucks, offering better ride and load handling. Using both of these system will give a noticeable improvement in ride IMO.

 

We have some of those slab poured concrete roads in Iowa also they can be especially harsh on the ride, my 06 F350 was brutal on good old F90 before I replaced the shocks. I'm not going to claim it rides like Lincoln on that same road with new shocks but it is completely planted and much more in the tolerateable ride spectrum.

 

Yeah... new quality shocks was Buck$Zooka blast 1. Ladder bars were for something else, but I consider it Buck$Zooka blast 2 at this issue.

 

One other note on the Sulastic/Velvet Rides is that they seem to have good durability. I put mine on the truck when it was brand new and just within the last year, I've noticed the ride degrade a little, so I think almost anyone can expect 10+ years. I'll change them out when (if) I do the late model spring swap. I've never seen anyone post an experience with the front Sulastics, but I think that those with an X code spring might be an interesting combo.
Sulastic. SC-15 Sulastic Shackle for Front Axle (Lift 1/2")


'08 Spring Hanger Conversion for '99-07


I don't even know if this would qualify as a buckzooka blast, but it could be a start; maybe some Fox 2.5's?

 

I didn't buy this...... rather i am fabricating something similar.

I think it's the only way of getting rid of the dreaded hop.

http://www.autoflexsuspensions.com/

 

Auto Flex Air Ride Suspension






Price/ea:
$3,740.00

cant blame you at that price.....

 

$3,800? It's a few chunks of steel, some tubing, and a couple of air bags. Maybe they're trying to stifle the workload.

 

The roadmaster kit sounds like what I need, my springs were almost inverted last week with a load of gravel and materials on my truck and I often feel a bump as though the rears are bottoming out. I'd STILL like onboard air though, has anybody ever installed an engine driven compressor and can you run air/ tools and bags all from one system like this?

 

The only thing that I'd worry about that is I seem to recall people were having issues with spring wrap due to the longer spring.

 

IMO, these leaf sprung trucks ride like, well, TRUCKS.
If you want a smooth ride, drive a car.
There is little new springs will do for you with roads like that. I have driven on the same section of road with new springs, new shocks and get the same rough ride result.

 

We have lots of elevated roadways here in south louisiana, like I-55 south to new orleans. For 20 something miles it feels like your on a galloping horse. If any of yall have figured out how to smooth out that road I`d like to know what you did.

 

Here's what Cory did a few years back https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-cadillac.html