Rough ride with Timbrens and Rancho 9000xls

[dakonthemountai]

So I thought it would be a good idea to put Timbrens on my truck. The Lance 1055 camper is tall and a bit top heavy. It didn't ride bad or sway badly, but I thought that this would help for stability. And they do! No sway or roll, however now it seems the truck rides like a washboard over the smallest bumps like it never did before. Is this overkill? Should I readjust the rancho shocks to a lower number? I have them on nine before the Timbrens and did not change the setting. Have any of you experienced this issue? The freeways through Pasadena and Glendale were shear torture for the first time ever! The bouncing and jarring over the smallest bumps in the road has become really annoying. Thanks for any help or insight you can provide.

Dak

[dakonthemountai]

Short post... No wifi except at this rearaurant. LOVE the air bags!!! Difference is night and day from any truck/camper combo in decades of travel! Getting to Big Sur was a pleasure! Thanks again all for your help! 🙂

[AnEv942]

Hopefully update is positive!

Cant help but remember leaving our wedding reception in Fresno many years ago heading home to the coast and then honeymoon..
Didnt get out of town with my new bride and our our haul- decided I now had too much lose risking bald tires on our 52 Ford. Stopped and got new tires.

Hope the rest of your trip is great!

[JimK-NY]

I had my Ranchos on 9 but the ride was rough. Washboard roads were impossible. I got a set of supersprings to help and was able to set the shocks lighter. As I remember I am using about 5 in the front and 7 in the rear. Now the ride is very pleasant.

[TDWebster]

dakonthemountain wrote:
So I thought it would be a good idea to put Timbrens on my truck. The Lance 1055 camper is tall and a bit top heavy. It didn't ride bad or sway badly, but I thought that this would help for stability. And they do! No sway or roll, however now it seems the truck rides like a washboard over the smallest bumps like it never did before. Is this overkill? Should I readjust the rancho shocks to a lower number? I have them on nine before the Timbrens and did not change the setting. Have any of you experienced this issue? The freeways through Pasadena and Glendale were shear torture for the first time ever! The bouncing and jarring over the smallest bumps in the road has become really annoying. Thanks for any help or insight you can provide.

Dak

Yes, adjust the 9000's down, if they are as rigid as you say they are, you could, over time, do damage. Shocks are there to arrest movement, not stop it, might try starting in the middle, drive around town, then readjust and try it again. Let the timbrens do the work.

[dakonthemountai]

Ok. So here is what I'm doing on the second day of vacation... 😞 I'm at Xtreme Auto Sports in Canyon Country having an Air Lift brand air bag system installed. it's not cheap but I could go no further the way things were. Got the load Leveler 5000 and in the dual controller in the cab kit. I'll report on the rwsults after the next leg of the trip...

Thank you again for your comments and suggestions. It was MUCH appreciated and helpful in my final decision....

Dak

[3_tons]

mkirsch wrote:
Yup, Timbrens are one step above shoving a chunk of well casing between the axle and frame to hold the truck up.

They're little more than bump stops, so if you're wondering why your truck is riding like it's down on the bump stops, now you know!

Having had 'real world' experience with tembrens on two different trucks (SRW & DRW) with two different campers over a 11yr period, tembrens are similar to bump stops but the centers are hollow to allow for some give. My initial set rode rough indeed but it turned out to be the wrong tembrens for my truck, once corrected, the tembrens worked fine, no effect when unloaded, when loaded, helped reduce side sway (no dreaded sympathetic side sway requiring other fixes) and carried the TC well with never any maintenance issues.... I would recommend tembrens to others as an effective low cost suspension fix (assuming proper installation)... I would not recommend hypothetical pump casings - lol!!...Full disclosure is that adding more leaf springs ($800) proved to be the cats meow and less abrupt over poor roadways than tembrens...

[Buzzcut1]

Owning the same camper. I understand the weight and ride issues you face. I went with upper and more importantly in my opion,lower stable loads. I love the ride quality that they give me.

[egarant]

I tried the Timbrens TWICE.

They do in fact stop a lot of the sway from side to side, but, like you, the bounce was incredible.

Return them.

Regarding Shocks, I have used the factory OEM's, Bilstein's, Monroe Magnum's and currently Rancho RS-9000XL's.

In every case, they worked fine with the camper off, and they felt completely overwhelmed with the camper on. There is apparently just no way for a manufacturer to valve a mass produce shock to adjust to a truck carrying its MAX GWR.

I am about to order some Factory FOX 2.5 adjustable shocks and see how they do.

Good luck!

[mkirsch]

Yup, Timbrens are one step above shoving a chunk of well casing between the axle and frame to hold the truck up.

They're little more than bump stops, so if you're wondering why your truck is riding like it's down on the bump stops, now you know!

[MN_Ben]

Grit dog wrote:
Ok several replies from folks who don't understand Timbrens or what you have going on.

I apologize. I thought Timbrens were air bags.... looking at pictures of them, and assuming. :S:o

[HMS_Beagle]

Timbrens are just a rubber block between the frame and axle. They would not be my first choice for ride quality. There is pretty much no car or truck manufacturer that produces a suspension like this - for a reason. Springs and airbags on the other hand are quite common.

[3_tons]

I think the biggest part of your problem may be the poor condition of California freeways, I never had a problem with Tembrens any where else. It was hwy 5 north just out of Bakersfield that caused me to add two more leafs per rear side, this the ultimate fix.

As to my previous answer, I meant space between the Tembren and the axle 3/4", not the frame rail - sorry for my confusion. :?

[travelnutz]

OP, now you know why the smart RV tow'ers and TC haulers use airbags as they are infinitely adjustable and so quick and easy to do or even from inside the truck, if you choose, while driving. More or less air pressure from about 200 lbs all the way up to 5,000 lbs of additional suspension support and from side to side variable to level out the rig as needed or wanted. NO jolting ride at all as you are riding on a balloon filled with air for the additional needed support! We used to use other types of overloads (rubber type and steel) in our 52 years of RV'ing and know the vast differences in the rides. Will NEVER go back to them as the ride is terrible compared!

NO either hitting the overloads/Timbrens etc or not as they are truly supportive and progressive whether loaded or unloaded. Been using Air-Lift Systems airbags on every truck since 1993 and never had a leak or failure. In fact, the first ones installed on our 1993 GM which was sold to an asparagus farmer friend are still going strong and the truck presently has over 400,000 miles on it.

We carry our 11'4" Fully optioned out Lance TC on our OEM GM 2500HD D/A CC LB 4X4 which is enhanced the same as the same model year 3500HD SRW model and also has the airbags and Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks. Now have well over 75,000 miles of carrying the big heavy Lance alone and it rides and handles great! Truck (ordered new) has only been used for RV'ing with the TC or our Carriage Carrilite 5th wheel and is closing in on 200K on the odometer. Will only use oversize Michelin "E" LT tires on our trucks. Excellent combo for all our uses!

[Grit_dog]

Ok several replies from folks who don't understand Timbrens or what you have going on.
First, you were looking for sway control, not more load carrying ability.
Timbrens won't help sway(not really sway, but body roll) other than adding more spring rate to the back end making it stiffer. And that's what they did for you.
Forget about the shocks. Loaded with the camper, they don't affect how stiff the truck rides. They don't carry load.
How much did the truck sag before the Timbrens and how much of a gap did you set between the Timbrens and the bump stops? This is where you need to look.
I.e. If the truck dropped 3" before installing and you have 3/4" gap empty, then you're sitting hard down on rubber blocks that make it ride rough. Period.
If you can get some more gap in the Timbrens, take out spacers and washers so the gap is a little less, the same or a little more than the amount of sag, loaded w/o Timbrens, then they will engage later in the spring travel, or only when you start rolling to one side.
The bigger the gap, the less load they take and it sounds like you're sitting down hard on them.
I did this on my last company F150 because it was always loaded and sometimes woefully overloaded. The Timbrens kept me from going down the road doing the Cali lean when overloaded at the expense of riding like a wagon the rest of the time. It's what they do.