I had Stinky all dialed in for a good ride in the front, and replacing him with Frankenstinky set me back on ride comfort. I'm not going to spend money on Frankenstinky the way I did on Stinky, but I find these little ride-improving trinkets from time to time. The sulastic leaf shackle looks interesting for improving the suspension on the truck and the tandem-axle boat trailer with leaf springs. If you know anything about these, please feel free to share.

 

no link for us to look at? you going to make us search.

 

I put a set on the rear of a buddy's late model (2015 I think) F-350 SRW. Night & day difference.

 

Interesting...I wonder if it would soften the ride for a towed trailer Sulastic. Leaf Spring Shackle

 

They soften the ride by flexing more easily than the springs flex. With a heavy enough load the shackles will 'bottom out' and you'll be back on your springs as normal, but most trucks ride ok with a load. Even loaded down, when you hit a bump and unload the suspension the shackles come back into play. Think of them as making the stock spring more progressive.

 

Are you familiar with the AirSafe hitch for bumper pull trailers and do you think this would offer a similar experience without having to deal with a 75 lb Airsafe?

 

I thought about that, but I know everybody here has a black belt at Google Fu - plus I was looking for info from people who already knew about them.

no link for us to look at? you going to make us search.

Kidding aside, I think the softer ride on the trailer axles will help a lot. I say that after towing different trailers of the same weight. Some trailers beat the snot out of you, others ride nice back there. If a boat or RV trailer is riding hard, that needs to be addressed anyway - your stuff is getting beat.

 

No and No Way.

they are a vibration isolator, they do not affect spring rate.
the ride feels softer becauce you have removed some harshness out of it by reducing vibrations that are otherwise to small to actually compress the suspension.

basically they are a secondary leaf spring bushing.

 

With that in mind, do you feel that they are valid improvement?

 

That's gonna be subjective. It depends on how much value a person puts on a more comfy ride. They sell for $400 bucks online, and I have to believe for some people that's probably a bargain, while others would say it's a waste of money.

Also, is there a cheaper alternative to achieve the same thing?

Stewart

 

probably not on your truck. notice in the video the demonstration of the unit on a test jig ? no shocks. ( probably none on the vehicle on the dyno either is my guess ).

on a vehicle with shocks the shock absorber would dampen those vibrations. the science is valid but me doubts you would notice much diffrence in your truck, the stock springs use a very large bushing to address this issue.

that said, i would certainly like to do a test with and without them but not on my dime ( or labor )

 

For $400, I personally would buy new springs.

 

Looks plausible. I'd be concerned about the rubber perishing, but that's down the road. Or tearing when you take it over some sweet jumps.

 

I have the B.F. Goodrich Velvet rides, which are essentially the same thing. They are now nearly 18 years old and I would say they are worth it. I didn’t think that they were quite “night and day difference “ as far as I remember when they were installed. More like an incremental improvement. I feel like mine have lost some of their effectiveness starting maybe 4-5 years ago, but that could be other factors like rubber bushings, shocks, etc. Maybe they are working even better than I think because I feel like my front end is more in need of ride improvement . The front Sulastic shackles really look interesting to me and I might give them a try.

 

I can vouch for new springs making a vast improvement in ride - nothing marginal about it. The problem is, it's not as cheap as implied here if you don't have the desire to lift the truck and do it yourself. Once the springs are replaced, the front alignment is gone, and has to be redone - adding to the overall cost. Once a good and honest mechanic (I have one) is in there, he'll almost certainly find something else that needs attention on our Jurassic front ends. Factor $1000 for springs. Hey... it's a diesel. What were you expecting?