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Old Apr 12, 2019 | 03:21 PM
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Rough ride

Hey guys, was wondering about the shocks that come on a 2016 CC FX4, the ranchos.Mine have 154,000 miles on them. First time I have ever owned a 250, the thing rides pretty stiff. I know shocks control rebound, and was wondering what everybody else has experienced with these shocks. Worn out? Will new shocks help the ride?
 
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Old Apr 12, 2019 | 03:38 PM
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If you're not loaded to capacity the first thing you can do to soften the ride is lower your air pressure.
 
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Old Apr 12, 2019 | 07:59 PM
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I agree with Jav_eee. There is a huge difference in ride quality between 65psi in the rear versus 55psi.

For example I had my truck loaded down with over a ton of mulch bags and the sidewalls looked a little flat, aired the tires up to 65 and all was good. Unloaded all that mulch and hooked up my trailer with 950 lbs of tongue weight and the ride was unbearable on expansion joints. Lowered the tire pressure back to 55 and the harshness calmed down. I always run 55 psi in the front. I have the 20" Toyo open country at2's. I also ditched the stock shocks at 10,000 miles and installed rancho 9000xl, didn't make much of a noticable difference IMO.
 
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Old Apr 12, 2019 | 10:12 PM
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Yes, have been playing with pressure, first at 75, then 70, now at 65. Will lower to 50-55 and see. Truck is a ‘16 gasser, crew cab FX4. Has 154,000 miles on it and have owned it for three weeks. Getting it ready for a trip from bham al to west palm beach, hook up our sons car, and tow it to New York. I have added a Retrax bed cover. It also came with a Hammerhead front bumper. Just trying to make it as comfortable as possible. The tires are Firestone Transforce A+2 on stock 17,s. The chatter after the initial bump is what is bugging me, mostly at low speeds. Wasn’t sure if a shock change to Bilsteins would help.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2019 | 01:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Bigbadbronc
Yes, have been playing with pressure, first at 75, then 70, now at 65. Will lower to 50-55 and see. Truck is a ‘16 gasser, crew cab FX4. Has 154,000 miles on it and have owned it for three weeks. Getting it ready for a trip from bham al to west palm beach, hook up our sons car, and tow it to New York. I have added a Retrax bed cover. It also came with a Hammerhead front bumper. Just trying to make it as comfortable as possible. The tires are Firestone Transforce A+2 on stock 17,s. The chatter after the initial bump is what is bugging me, mostly at low speeds. Wasn’t sure if a shock change to Bilsteins would help.
I installed Billsteins on my 11 f250 gasser and it made little "if any" difference. Like mentioned above, lowering tire pressure makes a big difference.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2019 | 01:00 PM
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Originally Posted by screamineagle31
I installed Billsteins on my 11 f250 gasser and it made little "if any" difference. Like mentioned above, lowering tire pressure makes a big difference.
The problem with shocks like bilstein or fox is that they are gas-charged. For a softer ride, a set of regular hydraulic shocks will also help. In my last vehicle, a 2014 f150, I went with some zone off-road hydraulic shocks in the rear to mitigate that high-frequency bounce that would happen after driving over rough spots in the road. It had Fox 2.0 and air bags in the rear. After switching to the $35 zone hydraulic shocks it was almost completely gone. I feel like the airbags were contributing to the last bit of bounce that I could (barely) feel. I also live on a dirt road and did not experience any kind of wheel hop as I don't drive like I'm in a Baja race. If I was driving like that then I would definitely entertain the idea of bilsteins or similar gas-charged shocks.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2019 | 03:39 PM
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Great info, are the ranchos it came with gas or hydraulic?
 
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Old Apr 13, 2019 | 07:08 PM
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I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the factory FX4 shocks are basically just rancho branded cheapos and I know I've read that a lot of people have had issues with them. Even if they were good quality shocks you'd be well past needing to replace them at 150K. It may not fix your rough ride, but I'd definitely put some replacements on your list of things to do.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2019 | 08:14 PM
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Originally Posted by '01V10
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the factory FX4 shocks are basically just rancho branded cheapos and I know I've read that a lot of people have had issues with them. Even if they were good quality shocks you'd be well past needing to replace them at 150K. It may not fix your rough ride, but I'd definitely put some replacements on your list of things to do.
The factory FX4 shocks are not even Racho shocks they have FOMOCO stamped on them if I remember correctly. Only thing Rancho about them is the sticker on the side.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2019 | 08:46 PM
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This is great, I will be replacing them with some hydros, skyjackers May By?
 
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Old Apr 14, 2019 | 03:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Bigbadbronc
Hey guys, was wondering about the shocks that come on a 2016 CC FX4, the ranchos.Mine have 154,000 miles on them. First time I have ever owned a 250, the thing rides pretty stiff. I know shocks control rebound, and was wondering what everybody else has experienced with these shocks. Worn out? Will new shocks help the ride?
My 2016 F250 XL came with 17' wheels and the thing rides like a covered wagon on steroids. I have to keep no less than 70 lb of pressure in the tires or the stupid idiot low tire pressure light comes on in the dash. The only way to fix that would be to take the sensors out of the wheels, which I feel is more trouble than it's worth. If I have a load of as little as 200 lb, it's a vastly different ride. Likewise when I hook up my travel trailer, the ride is smooth. But empty, I can't talk for fear of biting my tongue off. Yeah, the ride is that rough! The combination of HD springs and the small wheels and tires make for the roughest ride. I am going to put 20" wheels on as soon as I get some moolah.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2019 | 04:02 AM
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Originally Posted by RockDodger
My 2016 F250 XL came with 17' wheels and the thing rides like a covered wagon on steroids. I have to keep no less than 70 lb of pressure in the tires or the stupid idiot low tire pressure light comes on in the dash. The only way to fix that would be to take the sensors out of the wheels, which I feel is more trouble than it's worth. If I have a load of as little as 200 lb, it's a vastly different ride. Likewise when I hook up my travel trailer, the ride is smooth. But empty, I can't talk for fear of biting my tongue off. Yeah, the ride is that rough! The combination of HD springs and the small wheels and tires make for the roughest ride. I am going to put 20" wheels on as soon as I get some moolah.
Hmmmm. I'm thinking larger rims combined with less sidewall will make it worse. Please educate me!
 
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Old Apr 14, 2019 | 07:48 AM
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Like maybe Hankook DynaPro 275/60 R20. A radial with plenty of sidewall for a better ride. Goodyear also has an ATA tire with these demensions. Also my speedometer is off by 3 mph consistantly. A larger diameter tire will correct that situation.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2019 | 08:15 AM
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Originally Posted by screamineagle31
Hmmmm. I'm thinking larger rims combined with less sidewall will make it worse. Please educate me!
Nothing to educate you on. You're right. A tire's sidewall is far more flexible than aluminum.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2019 | 08:16 AM
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Originally Posted by RockDodger
The only way to fix that would be to take the sensors out of the wheels, which I feel is more trouble than it's worth.
ForScan can be used to change the TPMS low warning light pressure.

My truck was set to 50psi from the factory so I don't get any TPMS lights.

From what other users have stated the super duty speedo's are 3mph fast, however the mph the computer records is correct.
 
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