I want to soften the suspension on my Tow Rig?

[Blanco1]

When I bought my Tow rig ( 1997 Dodge RAM 3500 Dually ) it seemed very stiff & then we put the truck camper in its bed & that was what it needed it was a much nicer ride with the camper in there.

But I sold that & now I'm towing a travel trailer with an empty bed & the wife hates it!
I must admit its VERY STIFF!
Its a work truck suspension & being all the miles we have already towed our new trailer ( About 2000 miles on our very 1st trip ) we both can agree it would be nice to soften up the ride a bit.

My 1st thought was Shocks?

What are your thoughts?

I have disengaged the awesome lower Stable Loads I have from TorkLift before our trip.

Would shocks alone make much of a difference?

[transamz9]

FishOnOne wrote:

transamz9 wrote:

Wadcutter wrote:
Take a look at these from Sulastic.
Sulastic shackle replacement
We tried a set on one of our Dodge 3500 pickups we use as the farm truck. Empty it was a really rough ride. We decided to give the Sulastic shackles a try. The difference was like night and day. Now empty it rides like a soft sprung 1/2 ton pickup. No more rough ride when empty and it doesn't affect the load carrying when hauling weight.
What the Sulastic does is replace the rear shackle with a pivoting shackle that has a rubber tensioner. When empty the rubber tensioner flexes an inch or so. When you add weight to the truck the tensioner flexes until it hits the stop and then the regular springs are used like normal. We've run with some pretty good weight in the 3500 and the Sulastic works like designed where the stop engages and the regular springs are used. Remove the weight and it's a soft ride. It's a pretty simple design and one of those 'why didn't I think of that." It takes all of about 15 minutes to swap the shackles on each side. I've got a set for my F-350 Ford coming. I'll swap out the shackles on every heavy duty truck from now on. Best $400 alteration I've made.
There may be other companies making similar type shackles. The reason we tried the Sulastic is a neighbor had a set on his truck. I have no affiliation with Sulastic other than being a very satisfied customer and get nothing from anyone for recommending Sulastic.

Have you noticed any extra side to side flex with them? I've thought about trying them but I'm scared they would make my truck feel loose in the rear.

Z,
If you go to my post a attached a link to Big Truck Big RV who attached them to his F450.

Yeah, I had seen the video when it first came out. It's a very cool concept that I am interested in I just have a couple things that I worry about them on my particular suspension set up. Wadcutter eased one of them.

[transamz9]

Wadcutter wrote:

transamz9 wrote:

Have you noticed any extra side to side flex with them? I've thought about trying them but I'm scared they would make my truck feel loose in the rear.

None at all. It feels and handles like a soft riding 1/2 ton pickup but then carrying a load where the stop engages the truck rides normal. No side flex at all. We tried pushing them hard in curves, over really rough roads, anything we could think of to max out their design. We loaded the pickup to where the shackles were just about limited and just prior to hitting the stops to see if when driving across rough roads if the bouncing would cause a change in handling as the rubber shackle hit the stop and the regular truck springs took over. Not a problem. They gave a consistently softer ride.
It's kind of like a modified torsion suspension.
Theyre one of those deals of "why didn't I think of that?" Simple solution.

Thanks for the info. My truck has the factory air assist (Ram 3500) and for the most part rides very good for a 3500. The rear suspension is pretty soft sprung for the first inch or two but for those rouge bumps like bad bridge approaches and frost heaves that cause it to hit the half spring they have in there to eliminate axle wrap , it becomes a buck board wagon. HAHA I've toyed with the idea of removing the bottom half spring from the pack and deal with the axle wrap a different way but these things would do wonders and axle wrap wouldn't be a problem.

The only other question I have in my mind is how they would work with the auto leveling. They are designed to hold the weight of the empty truck in a suspended state and then when a load is applied they compress to a stop. With the auto leveling, when the load is applied the air springs pick the truck back up essentially carrying the load which would put the spring hangers back into the soft suspended range. I wonder if this would cause a handling problem while loaded heavy.

Again, thanks for the info.

[Blanco1]

transamz9 wrote:

Wadcutter wrote:
Take a look at these from Sulastic.
Sulastic shackle replacement
We tried a set on one of our Dodge 3500 pickups we use as the farm truck. Empty it was a really rough ride. We decided to give the Sulastic shackles a try. The difference was like night and day. Now empty it rides like a soft sprung 1/2 ton pickup. No more rough ride when empty and it doesn't affect the load carrying when hauling weight.
What the Sulastic does is replace the rear shackle with a pivoting shackle that has a rubber tensioner. When empty the rubber tensioner flexes an inch or so. When you add weight to the truck the tensioner flexes until it hits the stop and then the regular springs are used like normal. We've run with some pretty good weight in the 3500 and the Sulastic works like designed where the stop engages and the regular springs are used. Remove the weight and it's a soft ride. It's a pretty simple design and one of those 'why didn't I think of that." It takes all of about 15 minutes to swap the shackles on each side. I've got a set for my F-350 Ford coming. I'll swap out the shackles on every heavy duty truck from now on. Best $400 alteration I've made.
There may be other companies making similar type shackles. The reason we tried the Sulastic is a neighbor had a set on his truck. I have no affiliation with Sulastic other than being a very satisfied customer and get nothing from anyone for recommending Sulastic.

Have you noticed any extra side to side flex with them? I've thought about trying them but I'm scared they would make my truck feel loose in the rear.

I will call tomorrow for info!

[Wadcutter]

transamz9 wrote:

Have you noticed any extra side to side flex with them? I've thought about trying them but I'm scared they would make my truck feel loose in the rear.

None at all. It feels and handles like a soft riding 1/2 ton pickup but then carrying a load where the stop engages the truck rides normal. No side flex at all. We tried pushing them hard in curves, over really rough roads, anything we could think of to max out their design. We loaded the pickup to where the shackles were just about limited and just prior to hitting the stops to see if when driving across rough roads if the bouncing would cause a change in handling as the rubber shackle hit the stop and the regular truck springs took over. Not a problem. They gave a consistently softer ride.
It's kind of like a modified torsion suspension.
Theyre one of those deals of "why didn't I think of that?" Simple solution.

[FishOnOne]

transamz9 wrote:

Wadcutter wrote:
Take a look at these from Sulastic.
Sulastic shackle replacement
We tried a set on one of our Dodge 3500 pickups we use as the farm truck. Empty it was a really rough ride. We decided to give the Sulastic shackles a try. The difference was like night and day. Now empty it rides like a soft sprung 1/2 ton pickup. No more rough ride when empty and it doesn't affect the load carrying when hauling weight.
What the Sulastic does is replace the rear shackle with a pivoting shackle that has a rubber tensioner. When empty the rubber tensioner flexes an inch or so. When you add weight to the truck the tensioner flexes until it hits the stop and then the regular springs are used like normal. We've run with some pretty good weight in the 3500 and the Sulastic works like designed where the stop engages and the regular springs are used. Remove the weight and it's a soft ride. It's a pretty simple design and one of those 'why didn't I think of that." It takes all of about 15 minutes to swap the shackles on each side. I've got a set for my F-350 Ford coming. I'll swap out the shackles on every heavy duty truck from now on. Best $400 alteration I've made.
There may be other companies making similar type shackles. The reason we tried the Sulastic is a neighbor had a set on his truck. I have no affiliation with Sulastic other than being a very satisfied customer and get nothing from anyone for recommending Sulastic.

Have you noticed any extra side to side flex with them? I've thought about trying them but I'm scared they would make my truck feel loose in the rear.

Z,
If you go to my post a attached a link to Big Truck Big RV who attached them to his F450.

[transamz9]

Wadcutter wrote:
Take a look at these from Sulastic.
Sulastic shackle replacement
We tried a set on one of our Dodge 3500 pickups we use as the farm truck. Empty it was a really rough ride. We decided to give the Sulastic shackles a try. The difference was like night and day. Now empty it rides like a soft sprung 1/2 ton pickup. No more rough ride when empty and it doesn't affect the load carrying when hauling weight.
What the Sulastic does is replace the rear shackle with a pivoting shackle that has a rubber tensioner. When empty the rubber tensioner flexes an inch or so. When you add weight to the truck the tensioner flexes until it hits the stop and then the regular springs are used like normal. We've run with some pretty good weight in the 3500 and the Sulastic works like designed where the stop engages and the regular springs are used. Remove the weight and it's a soft ride. It's a pretty simple design and one of those 'why didn't I think of that." It takes all of about 15 minutes to swap the shackles on each side. I've got a set for my F-350 Ford coming. I'll swap out the shackles on every heavy duty truck from now on. Best $400 alteration I've made.
There may be other companies making similar type shackles. The reason we tried the Sulastic is a neighbor had a set on his truck. I have no affiliation with Sulastic other than being a very satisfied customer and get nothing from anyone for recommending Sulastic.

Have you noticed any extra side to side flex with them? I've thought about trying them but I'm scared they would make my truck feel loose in the rear.

[FishOnOne]

Me Again wrote:

Blanco1 wrote:
Let's make America great again by buying American!

I have a hat that says "America is already great"! Chris

Probably has one that says "Hillary is my Hero".

[Blanco1]

Wadcutter wrote:
Take a look at these from Sulastic.
Sulastic shackle replacement
We tried a set on one of our Dodge 3500 pickups we use as the farm truck. Empty it was a really rough ride. We decided to give the Sulastic shackles a try. The difference was like night and day. Now empty it rides like a soft sprung 1/2 ton pickup. No more rough ride when empty and it doesn't affect the load carrying when hauling weight.
What the Sulastic does is replace the rear shackle with a pivoting shackle that has a rubber tensioner. When empty the rubber tensioner flexes an inch or so. When you add weight to the truck the tensioner flexes until it hits the stop and then the regular springs are used like normal. We've run with some pretty good weight in the 3500 and the Sulastic works like designed where the stop engages and the regular springs are used. Remove the weight and it's a soft ride. It's a pretty simple design and one of those 'why didn't I think of that." It takes all of about 15 minutes to swap the shackles on each side. I've got a set for my F-350 Ford coming. I'll swap out the shackles on every heavy duty truck from now on. Best $400 alteration I've made.
There may be other companies making similar type shackles. The reason we tried the Sulastic is a neighbor had a set on his truck. I have no affiliation with Sulastic other than being a very satisfied customer and get nothing from anyone for recommending Sulastic.

Looks very Impressive & affordable?
Might try that before even swapping out the shocks.

Thanks for the link!

[Wadcutter]

Take a look at these from Sulastic.
Sulastic shackle replacement
We tried a set on one of our Dodge 3500 pickups we use as the farm truck. Empty it was a really rough ride. We decided to give the Sulastic shackles a try. The difference was like night and day. Now empty it rides like a soft sprung 1/2 ton pickup. No more rough ride when empty and it doesn't affect the load carrying when hauling weight.
What the Sulastic does is replace the rear shackle with a pivoting shackle that has a rubber tensioner. When empty the rubber tensioner flexes an inch or so. When you add weight to the truck the tensioner flexes until it hits the stop and then the regular springs are used like normal. We've run with some pretty good weight in the 3500 and the Sulastic works like designed where the stop engages and the regular springs are used. Remove the weight and it's a soft ride. It's a pretty simple design and one of those 'why didn't I think of that." It takes all of about 15 minutes to swap the shackles on each side. I've got a set for my F-350 Ford coming. I'll swap out the shackles on every heavy duty truck from now on. Best $400 alteration I've made.
There may be other companies making similar type shackles. The reason we tried the Sulastic is a neighbor had a set on his truck. I have no affiliation with Sulastic other than being a very satisfied customer and get nothing from anyone for recommending Sulastic.

[Me_Again]

Blanco1 wrote:
Let's make America great again by buying American!

I have a hat that says "America is already great"! Chris

[Cummins12V98]

Me Again wrote:
What is the world coming to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think he is getting ready to buy an AMERICAN Made RAM that is Foreign owned. Baby Steps, Baby Steps!!!

[Blanco1]

Let's make America great again by buying American!

[Me_Again]

What is the world coming to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FishOnOne]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
FISH, what the he!! ? Bilstein's are foreign owned!

So are the Michelin tires I purchased last week for my wife's Edge Sport.