F350 ride quality

I am at a point that I want my cake and to be able to eat it. Meaning I want a heavy duty pickup to ride like a Caddy while empty.

This is the third time that my little girl has thrown up from getting beat up by my Ford. I hate how it makes her sick. Not really a issue with the trailer hitched up.

All DRW ride horrible empty in my opinion. Even GM with the weak IFS. They don't ride we'll either.

I know Dodge is making huge improvements for 2015 that will set a new level for light duty suspension. My thoughts is that they will ride extremely well but I am not going to ditch a 2012 pickup and take a loss on this one.

But my question here is. Has anybody added a Carli Suspension to there DRW F350. My buddy did it on his Dodge an it was a night and day difference. The pickup rode very well. But that was on a SRW 2500. I am looking for feed back with their suspension on a similar pickup to mine.

The only kit at the moment would be there leveling Starter Kit as the commuter 2.0 hasn't been released. As the Commuter 2.0 is the kit that I am eying. It will not effect the OEM weighting as well. But the only difference between the two kits is the 2.0 has a better King Shock verses the Bilstien 5100 used on the Started Kit.

Any feed back would be great. I have heard the "Rancho" shocks on the Ford are horrible. They are also a Ford shock and not. Rancho shock.

mattpopp said:

I am at a point that I want my cake and to be able to eat it. Meaning I want a heavy duty pickup to ride like a Caddy while empty.

This is the third time that my little girl has thrown up from getting beat up by my Ford. I hate how it makes her sick. Not really a issue with the trailer hitched up.

All DRW ride horrible empty in my opinion. Even GM with the weak IFS. They don't ride we'll either.

I know Dodge is making huge improvements for 2015 that will set a new level for light duty suspension. My thoughts is that they will ride extremely well but I am not going to ditch a 2012 pickup and take a loss on this one.

But my question here is. Has anybody added a Carli Suspension to there DRW F350. My buddy did it on his Dodge an it was a night and day difference. The pickup rode very well. But that was on a SRW 2500. I am looking for feed back with their suspension on a similar pickup to mine.

The only kit at the moment would be there leveling Starter Kit as the commuter 2.0 hasn't been released. As the Commuter 2.0 is the kit that I am eying. It will not effect the OEM weighting as well. But the only difference between the two kits is the 2.0 has a better King Shock verses the Bilstien 5100 used on the Started Kit.

Any feed back would be great. I have heard the "Rancho" shocks on the Ford are horrible. They are also a Ford shock and not. Rancho shock.

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Matt

I put one of these https://kelderman.com/ford_super_duty_4_link_rear_air_suspension on my 2008 F450 with bilstein shocks. Great ride when empty. The truck doesn't change lane when I hit bad expansion joints anymore. I also added the auto level and onboard compressor with the 3 gallon tank. I talked to the tech and I can plump to an air hose fitting for airing up the tires. The system high pressure side goes to 150#. I haven’t toad with it yet. Empty the tuck sits level. I did hook-up and raise the level up to see what how the truck would do it may have dropped a half inch. My system installed was 7K.

Only suggestion I can give is to stay away from the firestone tech r4 rear suspension.

I'm looking at these guys, http://www.airbagit.com/. They claim to give you that Cadillac ride.

Honestly, I can't tell much difference between my F350 DRW and my previous 3500 Chev SRW. I expected a much harsher ride but that just isn't the case. I think it rides better than my wife's F250 SB, due to the choppiness of a short bed. Now our F550 flat bed makes me need to run to the bathroom every time I drive it. It rides much better with a 5K lb excavator bucket strapped on back.

My truck drives and rides well and is slightly firm when not loaded. In fact I enjoy driving it. It does have wheel hop on washboard roads if driving too fast-- after all it is a 4X4 with solid axles and not a Mercedes AWD with independent suspension. Trying to get heavy duty truck to ride and drive like a "Cadillac" is like believing in the tooth ferry.

"Ride" quality I guess is a personal preference. I guess that's why there are various rides and ride adjustments on the market. For me, I've always preferred the stiff feel of the road and really like my F350 DRW. We once had a Caddy, corvette, vans, Buicks, Silverado, Karman Ghia. Liked 'em all, but this truck I love.

mattpopp said:

This is the third time that my little girl has thrown up from getting beat up by my Ford. I hate how it makes her sick. Not really a issue with the trailer hitched up.

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I don't know much about suspensions on trucks but I do understand motion sickness. A couple of helpful hints that have helped me.
1. If possible, make sure your daughter doesn't drink anything carbonated before your drive.
2. Also, if possible, have her sit in the center of the back seat. Being able to see straight forward is very helpful to someone with motion sickness.
Getting sick in the vehicle is no fun for her or you. Hope these ideas can help her along with the ideas people here are giving you for the suspension.

I liked my F250 SRW short bed (solid front axle) but the ride was very hard. My Chevy, independent suspension, rides excellent (long bed). Also try matching your air pressure to the load on your axles. Michelin has a load chart online to look it up. Some people use air bags to get your auxiliary spring off the mounts for a better ride. Hope you find something to help your daughter. Good luck

Try reducing your air pressure in the tires when not loaded. I found reducing them from 80lbs to 60lbs helped a great deal. Of course it will cause a little tire wear, but you get a much better ride. Dave

Dave49 said:

Try reducing your air pressure in the tires when not loaded. I found reducing them from 80lbs to 60lbs helped a great deal. Of course it will cause a little tire wear, but you get a much better ride. Dave

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We drop to 60 psi with no effect on tire wear. The reason it doesn't increase tire wear is due the loading. (lack of) Upgrading shocks to the high end helps as well.

swap out the shocks for Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks, they made a big difference for me.
also dropping the pressure to 60-65, like previously mentioned, which it the recommended pressure for an F250 with the same tires.

Whether or not I buy the Carli kit. I will replace the shocks and replace the front coil springs with Carli's. more then likely add the longer track bar to offset the taller springs.

Dropping the air pressure on the rear to to 50 or 60 psi should be noticeable.


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stock shocks are junk so shocks and lowering the pressure is the cheapest way to begin

I just traded an F250 for a F350 DRW and was surprised that the dually seemed to have a much smoother ride. After reading this post I realize that difference probably was that I kept the 20 inch tires on the F250 @ 80 PSI and the 17 inch tires on the dually came with 65 PSI from the dealership.

HornedToad said:

I just traded an F250 for a F350 DRW and was surprised that the dually seemed to have a much smoother ride. After reading this post I realize that difference probably was that I kept the 20 inch tires on the F250 @ 80 PSI and the 17 inch tires on the dually came with 65 PSI from the dealership.

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If the F250 was a short bed that would also contribute to a less then quality ride.


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