Just moved up from my 6.0 to a new 2018 Loaded lariat 350 Crew SRW. It has the camper package and Fx4 off road package. Basically broke it in pulling my 5'r through Michigan the ride was pretty rough to say the least. Those roads with the breaks in pavement every 50 yards or so would cause the truck to Jutter / shutter something awful. It wasn't bottoming out, it would just jar the truck.

There was a fair bit of weight, the truck and it was on its helper springs but nothing to crazy. If there was a dip in the road the truck soaked it up fine. Just feels like the tires and shocks are made out of concrete. Trailer weight is about 16000lbs.

So
A) Is the truck just not broken in yet ? (only 1200 miles)
B) Do I need to get air bags or take a leaf spring out or change the shocks ?
C) Suck it up its a 1 ton truck.

My 6.0 with air bags rides way better than this beast. As for the power - no comparison. Love the truck.

 

You can try the shock route. If you lighten up the springs it will sag. I wouldn't do anything with the springs unless you upgrade to airbags. Aside from that, shocks may be the least expensive route to try. The Rancho 9000's are adjustable with either a dial on the shocks or you can replace that with the MyRide electronic/pneumatic adjustment system. That will allow you to tune your ride to the load a bit as opposed to a fixed value shock.

Another route is a shock absorbing hitch or pin box. This will add weight, though, and go against your pin weight.

I would like to try an air ride type hitch like the Trailer Saver TS3. They are heavy though. When you aren't towing you can remove it like any other 5th wheel (they have an adapter for the factory puck system).

How would you rate the ride with the truck empty? If you still think that is too rough you may be better off with shocks and/or airbags to get the ride you want. If the ride is good you may look in to a shock absorbing hitch as that will affect the ride quality with the 5th wheel in tow and help to tame the jerking forwards/backwards on rough roads.

 

Can confirm, the tires are made out of concrete.

I've got a 2015 F350 CCLB SRW with the helper springs and the bumps are pretty hard. The FX4 package gets you the white "rancho" shocks underneath. Many reports say upgrading to Rancho 9000XLs or Fox shocks improves the ride significantly. IMHO, more weight helps too. When I've got 2 tons of rock in the bed, it rides real nice. When unloaded, letting some air out of the tires helps alot (80psi vs 65psi).

 

Concrete tires was reference to the tires not having any 'give'. Front are 65psi the backs are 80psi from the factory.

The shocks in this truck are black - I was expecting Rancho shocks ?? Curioius if they got that wrong. Also its suppose to have 3.55 gears yet its 1200rpm at 60mph in 6th gear. Another thread I need to start.

The truck rides okay empty it still does a bit of a shutter however I would expect that being empty. I'm certain the 5'r was putting about 2000lbs on the hitch. I didn't have anything in the back of the Toy Hauler I would have thought it would have been a better ride. If the shocks don't move when the tire hits an abrupt edge I'm thinking that is the problem.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed the same and perhaps I just need to break it in further ?

 

Looks like the 2018 doesn't get rancho shocks. Don't worry, you're not missing anything. Here's another thread about it:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ho-shocks.html

Yes, I was joking about the tires being made of concrete.

I've broken my truck in real well, hauled lots of weight, and am on aftermarket tires too. None of that seems to matter. Next attempt will be shocks.

 

If I am not mistaken you should find this on the door sticker, if not plainly the axle code should decode to show it.

Edit - you should find it from the code. Mine is a 3J and comes up as 3.55 limited slip (limited slip = electronic locking on these). Check your code and do a google search on it. This thread has a chart posted in it for 2011, different model years may be different.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-ratio-3j.html

 

I am also interested in what guys have done to improve the ride of these trucks. I have a 18 F-350 Limited and for a 1 ton yes, its decent but the more I drive it, the more I pick up on things and its actually starting to be annoying the feed back. I drive with a 1.5" steel plate in the back and with my tools it almost levels the truck out, but when I hit bumps its like a "clunk" or harsh hit - hardly any give. I run 50psi in the front and 55 in the rear on the factory tires.

I've looked into Carli at their suspension upgrades (shocks, dual rate coils, full progressive leafs) but for $5k, I can't justify it.

I see I-Con offer front coils or a Ready Lift set up which is similar.

I've heard guys goto the Rancho 9000XL, I used them on my 07 Duramax and eventually the adjustment valve seized, but the shocks did provide a improvement. Not sure if they have improved the quality of the shock since.

Or, I've been thinking about piecing together my own. Carli full progressive leafs/ rancho shocks/ i con coils but not sure yet. Even the Carli 2.5 kit is still 4k with the full progressive leafs.

So, I/m very curious what some of you guys have done to improve the ride. I could care less about the "off-road" factor , I'm not interested in the daily highway driving and have something ride like my Duramax did.

 

Anyone tried the Sulastic RR leaf spring shackle replacement ? Looks like a fairly inexpensive improvement.

Either that or bilstein shocks seem to be an improvement.

 

When I am not towing, I run 65psi all around. 80 psi unloaded makes for a harsh ride.

 

I would start with FOX 2.0 shocks as the Ford shocks are junk. Bilstein are fine but give a bit rougher ride when unloaded. The 2.0's improve both loaded and empty ride. Then get either airbags or what I did.... TorkLift StableLoads. I liked the simplicity of the StableLoads vs. air bags. They engage the lower overload spring sooner preventing sag and providing a much better ride. I installed the StableLoads after my first trip with my 2017. I almost forgot how much they helped until a recent trip. I was almost to my destination in KY and stopped for a couple nights at a KOA outside Louisville. The last leg of the trip was only an hour so I didn't bother engaging them. WOW, what a difference. I was experienced the same as you describe all the way to Mammoth Cave. If it was any more than an hour, I would have pulled off and engaged them. They make a huge difference for sure. Air bags would provide similar results through a different approach but I went a alternative route on my 2017 and am very pleased with the results.

PS: If you look into them, they make an upper and lower version. I prefer the lower as the uppers can not be disengaged for everyday driving.

 

 

I've seen positive reviews of the Sulastic shackles. Bilsteins will add control but will not soften the ride noticeably.

 

Let some air out of your tires. 65 and 80 psi are way too much when unloaded. To help with the ride when unloaded run the back tires lower than the front as there is more weight up front. The problem with running your tires lower than what's on the door is the TPMS. It is my understanding that the threshold for the TPMS sensors is set at 75% of the recommended 65 psi front and 80 psi rear pressures (F-350). I like to run my rears lower than my fronts when unloaded so I retrained the system and told it that the fronts were in the rear and the rears in the front. I aired down to 80% of recommended which puts me at 64 psi for the front tires and 52 psi for the rears.

This is an inflation chart that I got from Michelin. Based on a rough average axle weight for superduty's of 5000 lbs front axle and 3000 rear you can run with a much lower tire pressure than the max values on the door.

 

You should run the truck and 5ver thru the scales. When I had a 16000lb 5ver my pin weight was closer to 4k not the 2k you had mentioned earlier. I would go with airbags as it makes the 5ver ride on a cushion of air. Best thing I did to the F-350 DRW at the time. The last setup I had I ran a air hitch along with airbags. You could leave a glass on the counter in the trailer and it would still be there when you stopped later. Much less stress on the trailer also.

 

These appear to be for only when the truck is loaded? In general is there something that can be done to help with empty to maybe 25% of the payload being used? So far it seems shocks and silastic shackles maybe the cheapest of the route for the rear vs. the full progressive springs from Carli.