next after Upper Stableloads? Jittery ride on rough pavement

[LosAngeles]

next after Upper Stableloads? Jittery ride on rough pavement.

Hi all - we have a 2020 F350 SRW gasser crew cab, 8’ bed…. and a 2020 Hallmark 9.5’.

We and fully loaded the whole rig weights 11,300 lbs

On smooth pavement the ride is very, very good. We have the Upper Stableloads
and the highest Ford leaf springs are very slightly engaged always.
(and we do NOT want to get Lower Stableloads under any circumstance)

However on mediocre paved roads the ride is pretty “jittery” for lack of a better word.

If I was to do something to try to smooth out the jitters when on rough paving (hopefully without making the very good ride on smooth pavement any worse!) … what would the next step be?

Thanks.

[LosAngeles]

joerg68 wrote:
"Jittery" is difficult to make sense of (especially for this non-native speaker).
Do you have airbags?
What pressure do you run in your tires? OEM wheels?
Is it more of an up-down or a left-right movement?
IMO you have plenty of truck for that camper, have you tried running it without the Stableloads? It may just be too "stiff".
You might try to replace the stock shocks. Personally, I have good experience wirh Bilstein 4600s, but there are many other opinions around. Then again, it is a new truck - throwing money on an issue that is not well understood may not solve it...

No airbags.
tire pressure at what Ford suggests.
Jittery can describe jerky or nervous actions. (according to internet definition)
The StableLoads are just barely engaged, so i dont think that is the problem.
Hallmark (who made the truck camper) recommended the Rear StableLoads, and I trust them 100% 🙂

thanks

[TruckCamperNoob]

How much does that camper weigh? We have a 2020 F350 shortbed diesel SRW and an 855S. We plan on towing our boat as well, so we have done the Bigwig sway bar, airbags, and upper stableloads. The responses you’re getting here make me wonder if we’ve “over-improved” our suspension, but to be honest, although the ride is pretty darn good, it still has noticeable sway and some squat without airbags inflated. Maybe you’re a lot lighter than we are, or maybe we’ve overdone it.

Btw, is the true brand new? I keep reading how the tires can be squirrels for the first 3-400 miles. I didn’t notice any of that, but it seems that might be described as “jittery”.

[Geo_Boy]

Your truck has a 11,500 lb. GVW, I would remove the stableloads and see how it rode.

[NRALIFR]

From your past posts, it looks like the Stableloads were installed at the same time you got the camper, so you don’t know how the truck rides with the suspension bone stock.

You probably aren’t going to like this suggestion, but I would remove the Stableloads, reinstall the OEM overload spring pads (hope you saved them) and see how the ride is then.

I have upper Stableloads on my truck, but I installed them after making a few trips with no suspension mods. The Stableloads at the front of the overload springs are just barely touching when the camper is off the truck, and to be honest the unloaded ride is at times horrible. There’s a 2-3 mile section of concrete hiway on I-40 near me that is just ridiculous when the truck is unloaded, but totally fine when there’s an extra 5500 lbs on the rear axle. That section of the road works the rear suspension up and down at a high frequency, but just an inch or two in height. The boss and any passengers hate it, but I don’t use the truck unloaded much so I just live with it.

If I were to guess, I’d say your camper isn’t loading the overload springs enough, and is bouncing off of them at times. Your best ride is going to be when the truck is sitting down firmly on the overloads, and doesn’t come off of them from normal paved road irregularities.

Edit- Looks like we were thinking along the same lines Brent :W

:):)

[TxGearhead]

How much does the Hallmark weigh?
I'm thinking you shouldn't need to do anything to a stock F350.
Dis-engage the Stableloads and see how it rides. You may be bouncing off and on the springs. Get the springs loaded and let them do their job.

[billtex]

Hmmm.I usually relate jittery to unladen ride on rough pavement. As mentioned, there are certain road surfaces that just suck.

Not sure why you are opposed to lower SL’s. I am running upper and lower SL’s on the new truck and am VERY pleased. Nice firm ride when loaded and 100% stock ride unladen. Couldn’t be happier.

Have you been to the scales? Maybe you need to get some weight forward?
Where’s your water tank? Try a full tank. Sometimes that helps. A front hitch with some junk on it can help also.

Safe travels, bill

[ticki2]

Check your door sticker . It may be that your truck is only at its rated GVWR . If so you shouldn't even need the stableloads . Also check the tire pressure for the load they are carrying . Over inflated tires can do that . That being said there are roads that are miserable no matter what you do . The old concrete paved roads come to mind .

[joerg68]

"Jittery" is difficult to make sense of (especially for this non-native speaker).
Do you have airbags?
What pressure do you run in your tires? OEM wheels?
Is it more of an up-down or a left-right movement?
IMO you have plenty of truck for that camper, have you tried running it without the Stableloads? It may just be too "stiff".
You might try to replace the stock shocks. Personally, I have good experience wirh Bilstein 4600s, but there are many other opinions around. Then again, it is a new truck - throwing money on an issue that is not well understood may not solve it...