New shocks?

[TxGearhead]

I've got 65,000 miles on my 2018 RAM. Cummins, 4X4, long bed, DRW. I carry the Bigfoot occasionally and the Landmark 5th occasionally more. Both 4,000# loads. Only mod is a Hellwig BigWig. I'm assuming I need new shocks.
My priority is as smooth a ride as possible. 90% highway use.
I realize this is a subjective issue.
Your recommendations?

[TxGearhead]

^^ No load.

[stevenal]

Grit dog wrote:

stevenal wrote:

TxGearhead wrote:
^Yeah I'm going to take the rears down to the mid 30's and see if that helps before I spend a sh@*load of money on shocks.
Dang I didn't know shocks had gotten that expensive,

You may find running on under inflated tires to be more expensive.

Did you assume the OP meant hauling his camper or heavy load with lower tire pressures, or do you not understand load vs inflation?

By under inflated, I mean not maintaining the proper inflation for the load. OP did not state for what loading he would be reducing pressure. No assumption made by me.

[Grit_dog]

^ This.
And tire size/capacity plays a role on pressure obviously. But suffice it to say, the overwhelming majority of HD truck rear tires can and should be in the minimum to maybe 40-45 psi range for no load/light load scenarios.
37s on our Ram, I run 25-30 psi empty, rear. Heck only run 45-50 psi when the toyhauler is hooked up. Weight bearing, no wdh.

[specta]

stevenal wrote:

TxGearhead wrote:
^Yeah I'm going to take the rears down to the mid 30's and see if that helps before I spend a sh@*load of money on shocks.
Dang I didn't know shocks had gotten that expensive,

You may find running on under inflated tires to be more expensive.

I ran 35 psi in BF Goodrich M/T on an empty 3/4 4wd for years and they wore perfectly even.

I run 50 psi front 45 psi rear in my current 3/4 ton when empty and they have all worn perfectly even too.

I wouldn't think that running 35 psi in the rear tires of an empty dually would cause premature tore wear.

Other than tire pressure I don't see any other way to improve the empty ride of a 1-ton pickup.

[Grit_dog]

Good to hear some good recommendations for Ranchos, as I have $600 worth of Bilstein paper weights that I need to try to return. And need to find alternatives to the otherwise very nice 5100s!

[JIMNLIN]

I've used other shock brands including Bilstiens on my 3/4 and one ton play and service trucks and always went back to the good old Rancho 9000 shock for carrying max rear axle loads from heavy GN trailers or my 10' 6" truck campers.

Bilstiens were just ok for my use on 1/2 ton trucks I've owned. Nice mushy ride like new OEM shocks but they did last much longer than OEM.

[Grit_dog]

stevenal wrote:

TxGearhead wrote:
^Yeah I'm going to take the rears down to the mid 30's and see if that helps before I spend a sh@*load of money on shocks.
Dang I didn't know shocks had gotten that expensive,

You may find running on under inflated tires to be more expensive.

Did you assume the OP meant hauling his camper or heavy load with lower tire pressures, or do you not understand load vs inflation?

[stevenal]

TxGearhead wrote:
^Yeah I'm going to take the rears down to the mid 30's and see if that helps before I spend a sh@*load of money on shocks.
Dang I didn't know shocks had gotten that expensive,

You may find running on under inflated tires to be more expensive.

[Hemi_Joel]

TxGearhead wrote:
I've got 65,000 miles on my 2018 RAM. Cummins, 4X4, long bed, DRW. I carry the Bigfoot occasionally and the Landmark 5th occasionally more. Both 4,000# loads. Only mod is a Hellwig BigWig. I'm assuming I need new shocks.
My priority is as smooth a ride as possible. 90% highway use.
I realize this is a subjective issue.
Your recommendations?

Look at your springs when the truck is loaded. There's probably some short, very thick overload springs. Maybe the bottom leaf of the main stack, or maybe an additional spring up above or down below the main leaves. If you've got the main spring pack compressed down to the point that the overload springs are engaged, the ride is going to be rough. My truck was beating me to death because with the camper in it was on the overload springs and they were stiff as a board. So I took them out and added a few of the longer, thinner leaves. And put in some air bags. Now it rides much much smoother.

[TxGearhead]

^Yeah I'm going to take the rears down to the mid 30's and see if that helps before I spend a sh@*load of money on shocks.
Dang I didn't know shocks had gotten that expensive,

[Grit_dog]

TxGearhead wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:
Why do you assume you need new shocks? With any luck they will last for several more years.

Are you having ride issues?

Yeah the ride is beating me to death. I've got the rear tires down to 42psi.

Unloaded? Keep going down in pressure. Even at 40psi, that's still over double the necessary load capacity. Akin to running 80psi in a srw.
You'll never get a dually to ride real soft, but in the past, I'd run duallys with little 215 size tires at 30psi in the rear tires. Bout the best you can do without getting too low on pressure.

That said, sacked out shocks will make a stiff ride more abrupt, so new shocks could help for sure.

[Grit_dog]

PButler96 wrote:
Buy Bilstein at your own risk and thats coming from a previous Bilstein fan.. Bought a set in Feb, noticed them leaking in Mar. Removed, returned, and when I opened up 2 of the replacements they were already leaking. Got 4 more in from the distributor, looked fine and installed in Apr, all 4 were leaking by June 1. Just swapped them out with Ranchos last week.

That's not good!
Considering I have 5 new Bilsteins to go on my old GMC....Another issue. They are listed as direct fit for the model and height of lift kit and NONE of them are right. In fact only the 2 front shocks actually bolt up, but they're too short and only allow 1.5" of extension or axle droop before max extension.
Rears are too short to even bolt up and the steering stabilizer doesn't have the right size bushings.
Not real happy with Bilstein myself right now, but didn't suspect their quality is going downhill.

[towpro]

I had a conversation with Ranch and ended up putting 9000's on the back and 5000's on the front of a 2015 Ram dually (exact same suspension you are using).
IT WAS A MESS. I could hit dips in the road at 45mph that would start the rear of the truck osculating and only thing that would stop it was to slow down.
Rancho sent me new 9000's which did nothing to stop the problem. Ended up sending all 4 socks back to Rancho (they have this test drive problem) and going with Biletein 4300's.

Later I got the 2018 which I left stock.

If you were loaded all the time I would suggest going to FOX shocks and have them valved for the weight. I put a set on my Sprinter MH that were valved by Agile Offroad (who also owned a Sprinter MH) and it made a world of difference in both ride AND body sway.

[TxGearhead]

JimK-NY wrote:
Why do you assume you need new shocks? With any luck they will last for several more years.

Are you having ride issues?

Yeah the ride is beating me to death. I've got the rear tires down to 42psi.