Smoother Ride and my Sulastic Shackle Experience

[Mike1ch]

I purchased a 2015 Sierra 1500 Max tow 5.3 Crew cab standard bed 2 years ago. For these last 2 years its been a bone stock truck with the stock wheels and tires. Love the capabilities but the ride quality is getting to me. I have my parents and other "older" people in the truck and I can tell they are not comfortable. When hitting bumps I hear the bump travel through to their voice, so I know the ride is bothering them. I'll soon have a new born riding around with me too, so I feel the truck needs to ride smoother

 

I recently bought Sulastic Shackles SA-04 direct from Sulastic. Install took a lot longer than planned, just replacing the shackles right?.. Had to drop the hitch, the spare tire, and raise the back of the bed around 1.5" inches in order to get the bolts out of the existing shackles.

 

Once installed I feel the ride is definitely smoother, no doubt. These shackles are not supposed to limit payload or towing, but I feel the rear axle might move around a little more causing more sway. Maybe its not necessary sway but truck feels squishy when going around certain types of turns. Not sure if that feeling is in my head or not but I'm pretty sure it feels different around turns which bothers me.

 

Overall if I experience no issues or any major driving behavior changes, I think these are worth it. I don't expect replacing shocks or leaf's will make the same difference.

 

Next question is how do I make the front end take bumps smoother? I don't want to lower the tire pressures below the recommended PSI. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I'll provide updates when I tow something with weight, and also when I do longer highway trips.

 

 

[Hiserman79]

Bilstein shocks all four corners fixed my ride quality issues, absolutely hated the junk Rancho that came from the factory.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[Sierra706]

Try the bilstein 4600s. Designed for on road use.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Yondu]

On 8/6/2017 at 10:53 PM, Mike1ch said:

I purchased a 2015 Sierra 1500 Max tow 5.3 Crew cab standard bed 2 years ago. For these last 2 years its been a bone stock truck with the stock wheels and tires. Love the capabilities but the ride quality is getting to me. I have my parents and other "older" people in the truck and I can tell they are not comfortable. When hitting bumps I hear the bump travel through to their voice, so I know the ride is bothering them. I'll soon have a new born riding around with me too, so I feel the truck needs to ride smoother

 

I recently bought Sulastic Shackles SA-04 direct from Sulastic. Install took a lot longer than planned, just replacing the shackles right?.. Had to drop the hitch, the spare tire, and raise the back of the bed around 1.5" inches in order to get the bolts out of the existing shackles.

 

Once installed I feel the ride is definitely smoother, no doubt. These shackles are not supposed to limit payload or towing, but I feel the rear axle might move around a little more causing more sway. Maybe its not necessary sway but truck feels squishy when going around certain types of turns. Not sure if that feeling is in my head or not but I'm pretty sure it feels different around turns which bothers me.

 

Overall if I experience no issues or any major driving behavior changes, I think these are worth it. I don't expect replacing shocks or leaf's will make the same difference.

 

Next question is how do I make the front end take bumps smoother? I don't want to lower the tire pressures below the recommended PSI. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I'll provide updates when I tow something with weight, and also when I do longer highway trips.

 

 

Any updates on your review?  Still think they're worth it?

[Mike1ch]

I got so used to them now, I wouldn’t even know if they are still working as I originally posted. 

So far no long term drawbacks. I tow all the time with the truck and have had no known issues 

[Yondu]

3 hours ago, Mike1ch said:

I got so used to them now, I wouldn’t even know if they are still working as I originally posted. 

So far no long term drawbacks. I tow all the time with the truck and have had no known issues 

Does the ride quality of the truck still bother you a lot?  Sometimes mine does, but it's also around 10 degrees here and I know when it's cold vehicles ride a little rougher.

[Mike1ch]

Unloaded the ride quality is not smooth. Thats the sacrifice with the max tow package. however it is smoother than my friends 2015 2500 gas. Just need to ask yourself what your priorities are. To me the 1500 max tow was a good middle ground, and I wouldn't change my decision. I am doing a lot more towing these days (I race a car and tow it everywhere), so if anything I wish I had a 2500 for these long trips, especially with hills but I cannot justify the cost of a 2500 just because of hills sometimes. But overall I cannot complain, its been a great truck so far. 

 

Certain types of pot holes or road bumps hit harder than others even though they look like they shouldn't. Any yes the cold affects ride quality because rubber bushings in the suspension have less give and I assume the rebound rate in the shocks are not as effective, but that goes with any vehicle. 

 

I guess thinking back to my previous comment, the rear shackles do help and I do still notice them. When hitting a bump the front end definitely makes me feel it, but the rear of the truck seems to glide over those bumps a lot better than it used to. Try keeping your tire pressures on the minimum side of the trucks recommendation, if you are over inflated, the tires won't absorb as much impact from the road, just make sure not to run your tires low on pressure, that could be a safety hazard. 

 

Good luck