Most comfortable riding

[billy1davis]

Which truck is the most comfortable when loaded with a heavy camper?

[HMS_Beagle]

Been years since I had a Dodge, but on my Fords:

The 2015 is better in every way than the 1999 - except the ride. The ride was about the same loaded, a bit worse unloaded. I assume because of the 14,000 GVWR springs vs. 11,500. The trucks were DRW F350 identical in every way except year.

I had air bags on the 1999 to get it closer to level with the camper loaded. On the 2015 I converted to full air ride in the back. The improvement was quite marked, both empty but especially with the camper loaded. It cost around $4K, but there is no way I would want to go back. The truck is all around better, less sway, slightly less vibration and noise. I do not regret the money spent at all. This winter I plan to build front air suspension for it, as the front end now feels harsh by comparison. It doesn't ride like a Cadillac, but it is half way there.

[bb_94401]

While the air suspension is nice in my Peterbilt dump truck, it is the air ride seat that makes it comfortable, loaded or unloaded.

There is an ongoing thread in a dodge web site Air Ride Seat Questions that has lots of information.

National Seating has a DOT approved suspension and seat combination for Dodge and Ford pickups, that isn't on their website. Part # for truck models can be found in a PDF from the above thread.

[burningman]

I agree 100% with "Reality Check". (And I have similar life-long truck seat time in everything from pickups to semis.)
Air ride will make it ride nicer than without, but I'd say the benefit is more when the truck is empty because that's when they ride the harshest.
An air-ride diesel-pusher bus coach is the only rig I could positively assure you is the smoothest ride possible in an RV.
If your wife is that sensitive, that may be your only option.
BTW, those 2nd-Gen Dodge seats are some of the more comfortable ones around.
A company called Katzkin makes really terrific new leather upholstery kits for most popular vehicles including those Dodges, and you can now get brand new lower seat foam for them from genosgarage (dot com). If you keep your '01 Dodge and want to make the seats nice and new again, the stuff is all readily available.

One other thing; this is a bit counter-intuitive but I'd try lowering your tire pressure.
That usually has a very noticeable effect on ride quality.
You could try installing the biggest fattest tires you can and running really low pressure. The bigger the tire, the more it can support on lower pressure. That Dodge has a lot of room in the wheelwells and you can put spacers between the rear duals for more clearance.
We used to do that with dump trucks that did a lot of off-road work.
It works. That technique could be your magic formula.

[Reality_Check]

billy1davis wrote:
So what I understand now is that no matter how new the truck is if it has leaf springs it is going to have the same ride but if I put air suspension and get rid of the leaf springs it will ride0 as good or better then I brand new truck with leaf springs
However according to another person on this chain of holsteins a brand new truck outfitted the way it comes stock or ride better than my old truck

Well, lets just say most will agree that newer trucks ride better than older trucks. Suspension, isolation, interior sound proofing (which affects perceptions), better seats... but, it's only opinion which is sort of like .... everyone has one.

billy1davis wrote:
, so if I install kelderman or air link suspension on my 2001 Dodge Dually I can be assured of a great smooth ride that is good as a new truck I hope that if there is anybody that disagrees with this they'll let me know probably as I need to do something right away for my wife to be able to continue to ride in this truck

My answer would be yes. Someone else is going to chime in 'maybe' and I suspect you'll have a different idea once you spend the money.

Face it; you're trying to get a donkey with a pack to ride like a Town Car. Ain't going to happen.

Ideas that folks are voicing are relative to their understanding, perceptions, expectations and above all, experience. What I call smooth as butter (based on previous sentence, million miles plus in trucks in everything from p/u grocery getters to small chassis flatbeds to med duty trucks to sprung and air ride haulers) might seem completely unacceptable to you.

There's no gospel here, and if you're looking for absolute "assurance", hmmmm... I won't offer it.

[billy1davis]

, so if I install kelderman or air link suspension on my 2001 Dodge Dually I can be assured of a great smooth ride that is good as a new truck I hope that if there is anybody that disagrees with this they'll let me know probably as I need to do something right away for my wife to be able to continue to ride in this truck

[billy1davis]

, so if I install kelderman or air link suspension on my 2001 Dodge Dually I can be assured of a great smooth ride that is good as a new truck I hope that if there is anybody that disagrees with this they'll let me know probably as I need to do something right away for my wife to be able to continue to ride in this truck

[billy1davis]

So what I understand now is that no matter how new the truck is if it has leaf springs it is going to have the same ride but if I put air suspension and get rid of the leaf springs it will ride0 as good or better then I brand new truck with leaf springs
However according to another person on this chain of holsteins a brand new truck outfitted the way it comes stock or ride better than my old truck

[Reality_Check]

billy1davis wrote:
Which truck is the most comfortable when loaded with a heavy camper?

Ours is... without a doubt.

Yada yada yada... if you have springs, it's a compromise. No way around it. Smooth here makes rough or incapable there.

Air suspension. Eliminate the springs. Same basic ride whether loaded or not. Change the load, truck ride height stays the same, ride stays the same. Have had these discussions before, and folks just don't get it sometimes. There are units that eliminate the stock suspension...not assist, not add on, not bags from the auto store. Air ride. It's the bomb.

A sprung 450-550/5500 riding empty is not compfy...it's painful and annoying. But, what do I know. I'm down to three of chassis versions.

For changing loads (read; camper on/off, different trailers), there is no better option than air ride.

[burningman]

I have a 2nd Gen 1999 Dodge one ton dually, same truck as the 2001.
Mine rides GREAT, because I put on a Kelderman air ride rear suspension kit.
This is not your standard overload airbags. This replaces the real leaf spring hangers with a large hinged bracket that has airbags. The truck's springs aren't directly attached to the frame at the rear, they float on the air bags. It takes a lot of harshness out of the ride.
I don't care how new a truck is, if it has leaf springs, it has leaf springs. There's no new technology magic, they are what they are.
This (the Kelderman) is better, and you don't have to buy a new truck to get it.

I also have the normal overload airbags because the Kelderman isn't a load capacity increaser, it's a ride-smoother. In fact it eliminates the factory overload springs.

I have zero problems carrying a 4000 pound camper while towing a 10,000 pound trailer. (A few engine and transmission modifications help too).

[Grit_dog]

Bedlam wrote:
My Ram 5500 rides better with the Host Mammoth than Arctic Fox 811. Empty, it is very stiff but not what I would call jarring unless driving empty on bad roads.

Not a bad tradeoff for the ULTIMATE camper hauler!

[SidecarFlip]

billy1davis wrote:
So I met a camper whois hauling about the same load as me on a Ford 350 one ton swd 4wd and he has put 60k on it and it rides just fine is it possible Ford better.and his 4wd mine 2wd....more space for betteraction
.is

40 for sure on the trailer, 20 2K round bales. Makes the tires squat a bit.... Have no idea what the weight is on the hitch ball is, just needs about 60 in the bags to level the bed.... and it's just from the field to the barn, not out on the big road anyway. I'd never be able to stop it in an emergency situation.

Having said and done that, I also have a 2 5/16" ball welded on the top of my rear bale spear so I can use a tractor as a prime mover as well. I put 2 bales on the front spears to offset the rear weight and go down the dirt road at a blistering 20 mph.

It's farming and farmers all abuse weight limits and equipment capability.

[zb39]

billy1davis wrote:
What air ride do you have and what is a 16 Ram

2016 Ram Laramie limited 3500 DRW. Factory air ride in the rear. Rides wonderfull loaded heavy or empty. Zero issues with my 5th wheel or my Host camper. No crazy sway or anything.
I have driven as fast as 78mph with the Host on but normally stay at 65 to 67. Faster with the 5th wheel, normally 67.
I have 22k on it now almost all with my old AF1150 or the new Host or the 5th wheel. I live in PA, this truck has gone to KY 3 times, Yellowstone and FL, NH in the last 14 months. All were with the TC, Yellowstone was 5th wheel. I love this set up. This truck is a keeper for sure.

[work2much]

GpnAZ wrote:


1. You can't fit a sway bar on the trucks fitted with factory air. I contacted Helwig and they have no plans at this time to develop one. The sway is a bit better than our 2004 ram 3500 with the same camper, but it would be nice to further reduce it. I might design my own.

I have the Hellwig Big Wig sway bar on my 2017 Ram w/ factory air assist. I had a 2014 SRW 3500 Ram that I put a Torklift Super Truss on and the HellWig bolted right up to that. I took the Super Truss and HellWig sway bar from that truck and had it installed on my new 2017' Ram. My new Ram rides so much better empty or loaded then my 2014' Ram did after all the suspension mods I made to carry the AF811. I made no mods to the suspension of the 2017' Ram except for the sway bar, the factory air assist really works nice in my case.

That's great news. When I asked Helwig tech support this is what they said:


Hi Greg, We do not currently have a rear sway bar that fits the Ram 3500 with the factory air suspension. The problem is that the factory air brackets go on top of the axle and move the hard brake lines down to the back side of the axle where our bar normally attaches. Both the brake lines and tabs interfere with our current mounting system and don’t leave any room to mount an aftermarket sway bar without starting from scratch. That application is not currently being worked on.

Thanks,

Ben Knaus
Director of Engineering
Hellwig Products
559-734-7451 ext. 135

Would you be willing to take a couple pictures? If I read you right the original application for the swayer was for a 2004 Ram. Do you by any chance have that Hellwig part number?

Very encouraged that a sway bar situation has been worried out.

[GpnAZ]

work2much wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:

I like the idea about air suspension Dodge offers for rear and reviews are good so far.

We have been pleased so far although...

1. You can't fit a sway bar on the trucks fitted with factory air. I contacted Helwig and they have no plans at this time to develop one. The sway is a bit better than our 2004 ram 3500 with the same camper, but it would be nice to further reduce it. I might design my own.

I have the Hellwig Big Wig sway bar on my 2017 Ram w/ factory air assist. I had a 2014 SRW 3500 Ram that I put a Torklift Super Truss on and the HellWig bolted right up to that. I took the Super Truss and HellWig sway bar from that truck and had it installed on my new 2017' Ram. My new Ram rides so much better empty or loaded then my 2014' Ram did after all the suspension mods I made to carry the AF811. I made no mods to the suspension of the 2017' Ram except for the sway bar, the factory air assist really works nice in my case.

2. The stock rear shocks seem to be shot after 15,000 miles. Passenger side showing a leak. In all fairness these are all miles with our camper on and a couple thousand of those on dirt roads in Alaska. Not a big deal, I was going to replace them anyway.

3. There is no way (that I am aware of) to inflate the bags individually. This became apparent with our AF1150 which is heavier on the slide side. In the old truck I would just add more air on that side.

The air bags look a lot like standard aftermarket units. If I were to do it over I would have ordered the truck with the standard heavier rear springs that would allow stable loads, sway bar and aftermarket airbags (if needed)