Has anyone installed the Roadmaster Active Suspension kit?? The reason I ask is that I have and I an not real happy with it.
I followed the installation instructions and made the proper adjustments and my truck (1994 F150 SuperCab 2wd) now sits about 2" higher than stock height when empty and the handleing now sucks as I think too much weight has been transfered to the front.
I mainly bought the kit because when towing my car hauler the rear was sitting a bit low and the truck was kind of squirming in the rear.
Now when I tow the trailer it rides and handles just fine but 90% of the time I drive the truck empty. any imput?? Thanks!!

 

I have no experience with it and I havn't seen anyone talk about these for a long time....don't know how much help you'll find from members here but you can always all the company and ask them about the problems you've seen.


A better alternative.....air bag assist.

 

The F-150 2WD's all have a certain amount of rake, which is compensated for in the front alignment with caster. Putting the kit on the rear and raising it another 2 inches, you've kicked the caster of the front wheels out (too far forward). If you've not done anything to the front end yet, I suggest you have it looked at. I have a '92 SWB Standard Cab, and at about 110K, I had to have the eccentrics replaced due to wear. Bad caster will make it squirm like a night crawler on an anthill. Not to mention, it'll give your truck the notorious Ford Twin I-Beam tire eating syndrome because your local tire shop will align it with the slack in the eccentrics. As soon as they sit it back on the ground, it's out of alignment again. Your longer truck may appear to be squirming in the back. My short truck wobbled like it was drunk on uneven pavement until I got the eccentrics replaced. I bought new tires at the same time, and just rotated them after 35K. Wearing nice and even on the fronts, so I think they actually got the alignment right for highway use. Another thing you need to pay attention to. If you do a lot of highway driving, the downforce on the front due to the steep windshield and general aerodynamics of a brick will cause the front wheels to toe out because the tie-rods connect above the centerline of the spindle and run downhill from the steering sector. Simple geometery, if you flatten a triangle, and the top two sides stay the same length, the bottom side's gotta get longer. Have 'em toe it in ever so slightly, maybe 1/4 degree. You'll get better tire wear on the highway, and I also find it a lot less fatiguing to drive. It'll feel a little weird in city traffic, but that's not where you're going to get as much tire wear due to temperature, and it's not so noticeable after you get used to it.

 

Guys, Thanks for the replies and suggestions!! I know only all too well about the inherent problems with the Ford Twin I Beam front suspension.
I have a heavy truck shop in my town that has installed the eccentrics (they called them something else) and have the front end alligned perfectly and with the addition of Monroe Gas shocks the tires wear very well.
There is NO discount tire chain type place that can properly align the Ford Twin I Beam.
This Roadmaster kit I think was invented for the EXTENDED full size vans-(mainly Ford and Dodge) as GM puts their rear ends MUCH further back-the Roadmaster kits help greatly with body roll espessely when loaded heavy with passengers.
I think that if I drove my truck with a loaded car hauler 100% of the time I would be OK-so bottom line I think I'll remove the Roadmaster and get some progressive helpper springs and may be the "lift bars" on my trailer.

 

air bags are what you need.

you can adjust them for load or no load.

 

Bingo

They're not very expensive, and the bonus is onboard air for filling tires....

But you don't need to have an onboard air compressor, you can fill them with your house compressor to a particular PSI and go do your hauling and let air out when you're done.

Onboard air is nice though - I have it with my ARB locker.