Blistine or Rancho 9000 Shocks?

[ken_burke]

The shocks on my 2011 F350 are bad (35,000 miles) and I want to add a new set of shocks. What would you recommend??

The truck is a little bouncy when I tow the 14,000 # 5th wheel. When unhitch and the tire pressure at 40 PSI, the truck REALLY bounces on a dirt road. I mean Really. I want to drive on dirt roads with a lot less bounce.

I have read that most folks go for the Blistines or Ranchos.

Your help is, as always, appreciated.

thanks ken

[pnichols]

Mex is right in what he's getting at.

Shocks have to have something to do in order to do it. A heavy duty chassis NOT LOADED is sitting on, and almost exclusively controlled by, it's under-utilized stiff springs.

Only when the chassis is loaded can shocks have their best effect. In the case of our constantly loaded (~11,800 lbs.) E450 based motorhome - I'm really counting on Koni FSD shocks to tame the rear end of it on those infamous expansion joints - which will fully exercise the "high frequency" portion of those dual-mode Koni FSD shocks.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

pnichols,

I COULD NOT BELIEVE how well a Citroën rides on a badly potholed road. I was driving 40mph on a dirt track that would have required 5mph in my pickup truck. Really DEEP suspension travel. The ride handling was a tiny bit hobby-horsey on pavement, but I'll trade that any day for what that critter does on a truly asteroid impact grade roadway. My K-car toad rates right down there with the worst of them on a bad road but it's paid for, and ugly enough to eliminate any possibility of carjacking or highway robbery down here.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

None of our CLT9000's, Frightliners, Kenworthless'es, or Pete's had shocks. What the hell good is a world-class shock absorber installed on a heavy duty suspension one ton UNLOADED pickup truck where the springs might flex a quarter inch if that?

I talked Celso into putting KONI's on his HD sprung E-350 and it rode WORSE empty. I was not a hero for suggesting he purchase them over Monroe's or Gabriels. You ain't seen chuckholes son 'till you pass the Rio Grande.

Put a load on those vehicles and the whole world changes. I purchased my first set of KONI's in 1966 and remain firmly convinced they are the Rolls Royce of shock absorbers.

Hoooo-eeee

The next thing I know someone is going to tell me that FRONT BRAKES are now mandatory on two axle tractors.....

[pnichols]

These are probably the best RV shock out there ... if they offer a model for your chassis. These adjust dynamically and differently for large bumps/corners versus expansion joints/rough roads:

http://www.konirv.com/FSD.html

I'll probably put these on my E450 chassis RV when I get rid of the OEM shocks, soon.

[_1Flyboy]

. . .Koni; .. .not cheap

[NHIrish]

UTCoyote wrote:
I disagree that the shocks won't be an improvement. The better than OEM shocks definitely do have better damping. Which will slow down the frequency and severity of the bounce on washboard. They'll give a more controlled ride. Even more importantly, the monotube Bilstein 5100's will not fade nearly as fast as the OEM twin tube shocks. After only a couple miles of washboard the factory shocks will fade badly.

It will still ride pretty rough, but it will definitely be a more controlled, less harsh version of rough. A definite improvement.

FWIW, I bought a brand new '13 pickup a couple weeks ago and put 5100's on it the first day.

Unless they area a special package, factory shocks are usually of very poor/cheap quality and replacing them even when new will make a noticeable improvement to ride and handling. It is one of the easiest, best bang for the buck modifications there is for practically any new truck.

- Coyote

Yup. I have replaced my stock Ford and Chev shocks with Bilsteins. The Ford shocks were absolutely worthless at about 20,000 miles. There was nothing left to them.

The Chev shocks got replaced much sooner. Yes, there is a big difference in dampening ability. I also added Timbrin springs to the rear of the Chev. to improve stability while towing.

[UTCoyote]

I disagree that the shocks won't be an improvement. The better than OEM shocks definitely do have better damping. Which will slow down the frequency and severity of the bounce on washboard. They'll give a more controlled ride. Even more importantly, the monotube Bilstein 5100's will not fade nearly as fast as the OEM twin tube shocks. After only a couple miles of washboard the factory shocks will fade badly.

It will still ride pretty rough, but it will definitely be a more controlled, less harsh version of rough. A definite improvement.

FWIW, I bought a brand new '13 pickup a couple weeks ago and put 5100's on it the first day.

Unless they area a special package, factory shocks are usually of very poor/cheap quality and replacing them even when new will make a noticeable improvement to ride and handling. It is one of the easiest, best bang for the buck modifications there is for practically any new truck.

- Coyote

[64thunderbolt]

It's a 1T, gonna ride that way. Mine rode like a car but when the tires are maxed to accomodate the 5er it's rough. Then I converted it to DRW and the extra sidewalls made it worse. Price to pay for increased payload & stability. No shock will improve it. In fact they will both make it tighter and more uncomfortable. Just go with a good oem quality shock & call it good. It's what I did.

While towing the airbags helped it a ton. The bags take it off the overload leaf and improves the ride.

[pnichols]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Does the damned pickup have air suspension? C'mon, let's not quibble about something so dumb as to warrant zero waste of time...

Yes ... some pickups do indeed have full true air suspension. I rode in a 2014 Dodge RAM pickup several weeks ago trying it out from a dealer's inventory. Rode great. Had several ride adjustments. Even squated down to get in it easier then rose back up to your set ride comfort setting for going down the road. Automatically leveled itself for all loads you might put in it. Very nice, indeed.

I can hardly wait for the various chassis manufacturers to include full true air suspension systems - as standard - so that Class B/C motorhome builders can/will (finally) build on them. There's no reason that the suspension physics of a 5000 pound Mercedes sedan (for example) can't be scaled up to carry a 15000 pound Class C motorhome at the same comfort level.

It's about time that the good old Citroen sedan suspension concept got carried into this century for use on modern vehicles.

[ken_burke]

UTCoyote wrote:
I prefer Bilstein 5100's over 9000's (have run multiple sets of both on multiple rigs). If you are talking the regular HD Bilsteins, then the 9000's would be better.

But an F350 is never going to ride much better than a covered wagon on dirt roads no matter what kind of shocks you run.

- Coyote

Good point. In my case it may not matter what I get . . . Bilsteins or Rancho 9000xl. But new shocks should help.

thanks all . . . . ken

[robatthelake]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Some heavy duty suspensions have no give at all so the world's finest shock absorber would be about as useless as the cheapest. The vehicle flexes on its tires and if you inflate the tires rock hard, then oh-well.

Ever look inside the cab of a big-rig? Freedman air seats? For that matter try your darndest the next time you park next to a big rig to FIND shock absorbers on it. Good Luck.

Surely You Jest!

My son owns a Trucking Company...I can assure You that Every one of those 40 odd Rigs has Shock Absorbers. Same on the 80 + sets of Trailers. , Super B Trains and Reefers!

Every one of them has Shocks..Big Shocks!

[Norskeman]

Bilsteins' for me - have had them on my last three trucks. Installed on my 2011 at 22,000 miles - OEM shocks were shot. Improved the ride when towing.

I have air bags on the truck too - 8-9 lbs empty and 45-50 lbs when towing.

I run 60 lbs in the front tires and 76 lbs in the rear (sticker on door has 60 lbs front and 80 lbs rear) when towing.

Unloaded I run 60 lbs in the front and 60 lbs in the rear tires.

I carry a pancake style air compressor in the fifth wheel so I can adjust the air bags and tires as needed.

I have a 3500HD - similar to the Ford F350 - it is stiff on any road that is not smooth. Just got to take is slow.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Does the damned pickup have air suspension? C'mon, let's not quibble about something so dumb as to warrant zero waste of time...

[pdogg]

I have the Blisteens, love them!