Silverado RST Z71 Ride Quality Sucks

Sin City Trail Boss · July 21, 2019

1 hour ago, econometrics said:

Your TB Z71 Ranchos are monotube, whereas the non TB Z71 are twin tube shocks. Monotubes perform better.

Also, your 18” wheels and Duratracs will ride more softly than the 20’s on the RST.

Interesting, I did not know that. I thought everything was the same except for the lift.

Philipgonzales3 · July 21, 2019

My 2019 4WD Z71 LT was bouncy at first. I lowered the PSI in the tires and now it drives good. Very smooth, not steering wheel jerk or anything crazy like that. I even asked my fiancee and she said it seemed really smooth. Maybe this is all relative but I have no issues with the way the truck rides.

MacLaren · July 21, 2019

8 minutes ago, Philipgonzales3 said:

My 2019 4WD Z71 LT was bouncy at first. I lowered the PSI in the tires and now it drives good. Very smooth, not steering wheel jerk or anything crazy like that. I even asked my fiancee and she said it seemed really smooth. Maybe this is all relative but I have no issues with the way the truck rides.

Mine was great from go.

But, when I got mine, they went ahead and filled the tires up with Nitrogen. So, they were 35 pound when I got her. I love the way mine drives.

That RST explanation makes sense though.

HondaHawkGT · July 22, 2019

There's so much exaggeration goong on about the ride that's hilarious. Some guys are making it sound as if the truck racts like it jumped a curb whenever you drive over a crack in the pavenment. Drive a half-ton with 10-ply tires and get back to me on how a 2019 Silverado rides. Yeah it's a firm ride if you have the Z71 package. The Z71 package has ALWAYS been best described as a firm if not jittery ride thanks to the twin-tube Ranchos. It should be re-iterated that most 2019 Silverado RST's have a high GVWR relative to the cirb weight of the truck. The truck is designed to ride level when there's a significant amount of weight on the rear axle. That's always going to result in a firm ride as your unloaded suspension travel is going to be less. It's an inherent trade-off in truck design and has been that way since the truck was invented. You can get a softer sprong rate, but then your truck is a floaty, unstable POS when hauling weight or towing a heavy trailer. That or even a little tongue weight causes the soft rear suspension to sag quickly and you end up blinding traffic with your low beams at night and your high beams are confusing pilots flying overhead.

Riding rough on a dry, hard packed dirt road won't be the biggest concern. If a half-ton truck has a soft spring rate and softer shocks for driving fast on dirt roads, you're going to end up going through stock shocks a lot faster. I've seen trucks melt the seals on their Bilstein shocks by drivong down such roads in the summer. Want a soft riding half-ton that can run down a rough dirt road at high speed? Buy a lower GVWR half-ton truck. A 7200 lb GVWR truck with cheap twin tube Ranchos isn't what you need for that kind of stuff.

FiatDale · July 22, 2019

@hondahawkgt spot on. These trucks ride and drive amazing. I’m not sure what your expectations are or what you’ve had in the past, but these pickups are fantastic.

bullet3z · July 22, 2019

Think what you want. I do not have the Z71 package on my RST. The truck has already been back to the Dealership for service. The passenger side rear shock broke in half. When I say half, it was completely folded in two. It was replaced under warranty. That will be for another thread.

Apparently local road conditions play a large factor in these complaints. I do not drive off road or on dirt roads. My experience has only been on paved roadways. Approximately 3,000 miles to date. You are more than welcome to go for a ride in the truck and see if a 2019 truck should react like it does in my driving conditions. The rear end kick out on stutter bumps is no joke. This is not my 1st full Silverdao. My 03 Silverado Z71 rode and handled great. It did not react the same as this truck does on the same roads.

I do not hate the truck. I just do not like the way it handles and reacts.

HBKidJr · July 22, 2019

I have to admit that the rear-end kickout thing is real. It hasn't stopped my shopping for a new truck, but I've driven 3 different AT4s (all with 6.2s, one with the Duratracs, one with 18s and ATs, and one with the 20s), and they all kick out. Fairly violently. Coming of an on-ramp on an interstate and hitting the pavement transition and kicking out is pretty jarring. I can see how doing that in a crowded area would cause a problem.

That said, I've also driven a High Country and an LTZ and didn't get it. But neither of those were setup with the Z71 package.

Wiggums · July 22, 2019

45 minutes ago, HBKidJr said:

I have to admit that the rear-end kickout thing is real. It hasn't stopped my shopping for a new truck, but I've driven 3 different AT4s (all with 6.2s, one with the Duratracs, one with 18s and ATs, and one with the 20s), and they all kick out. Fairly violently. Coming of an on-ramp on an interstate and hitting the pavement transition and kicking out is pretty jarring. I can see how doing that in a crowded area would cause a problem.

That said, I've also driven a High Country and an LTZ and didn't get it. But neither of those were setup with the Z71 package.

I believe it. Once, it fishtailed so badly on a straight but very dirty road, I was at a 45 degree angle. It is a safety issue. It's done that two more times but wasn't as severe as the first time. I'm already thinking about getting rid of it but will see if it gets better as I put more miles on it. Others reported improvement.

Belo · July 22, 2019

interesting thread. My history is my sig, and this is the smoothest riding chevy truck I've ever been in. I will agree that the one time I had it on a dirt road it didn't impress, but I also admit I was driving faster than normal and I wouldn't say it was any worse than the 16. Maybe some slight kick out too, but not sure how much of that was put in my head by this forum haha. On the pavement and even bad pavement this thing rides like a cadillac. And i'm on 20's...

Edited July 22, 2019 by Belo

Passivaggressor · July 22, 2019

I think ride quality is as subjective as looks sometimes. When people say "rides like a Cadillac" I imagine a very soft ride that absorbs bumps but will be very bouncy and handle terribly. When people say "rides like a sports car" I imagine a more firm ride that handles well and still absorbs bumps but you feel them more.

I also think that some people don't fully know what they want, including me. I know that there is a certain section of road I hit everyday in my truck that makes the rear end step out a bit. When I put some old Bilsteins on my truck to try it did not step out on those bumps. My thought process is that the stock suspension and shocks are so soft that its just bouncing around on those bumps and there isn't much there dampening the travel. Where with the stiffer Bilstein there is much more dampening there controlling the travel of the suspension much better attributing to a smoother ride. My question is my logic correct? Should I want stiffer suspension in that scenario or softer?

econometrics · July 22, 2019

I got “Rancho’d” again on the way home from work tonight.

Went over a pavement-to-concrete seam onto a bridge while I was accelerating pretty firmly. Might have been doing 30 and going up to 60 when I hit the seam.

The back end skipped over the bump so harshly that I felt the tires lose traction then bite down on the road again, even causing a little engine rev.

I drive over this seam daily on the way home from work. My 2007 CC always rode harshly over that spot, but never did what my RST did today.

Also been noticing how much the truck will bounce when I go over the crappy sections of 635 in N. Dallas doing around 80.

As Beyoncé once said, imma UP-GRADE-YA, Ranchos. As soon as Bilstein lets me.

Edited July 22, 2019 by econometrics

Philipgonzales3 · July 23, 2019

1 hour ago, econometrics said:

I got “Rancho’d” again on the way home from work tonight.

Went over a pavement-to-concrete seam onto a bridge while I was accelerating pretty firmly. Might have been doing 30 and going up to 60 when I hit the seam.

The back end skipped over the bump so harshly that I felt the tires lose traction then bite down on the road again, even causing a little engine rev.

I drive over this seam daily on the way home from work. My 2007 CC always rode harshly over that spot, but never did what my RST did today.

Also been noticing how much the truck will bounce when I go over the crappy sections of 635 in N. Dallas doing around 80.

As Beyoncé once said, imma UP-GRADE-YA, Ranchos. As soon as Bilstein lets me.

I never knew Beyoncé drove a Chevy! That's pretty neat lol.

Belo · July 23, 2019

21 hours ago, Passivaggressor said:

I think ride quality is as subjective as looks sometimes. When people say "rides like a Cadillac" I imagine a very soft ride that absorbs bumps but will be very bouncy and handle terribly. When people say "rides like a sports car" I imagine a more firm ride that handles well and still absorbs bumps but you feel them more.

I also think that some people don't fully know what they want, including me. I know that there is a certain section of road I hit everyday in my truck that makes the rear end step out a bit. When I put some old Bilsteins on my truck to try it did not step out on those bumps. My thought process is that the stock suspension and shocks are so soft that its just bouncing around on those bumps and there isn't much there dampening the travel. Where with the stiffer Bilstein there is much more dampening there controlling the travel of the suspension much better attributing to a smoother ride. My question is my logic correct? Should I want stiffer suspension in that scenario or softer?

I should clarify, because you make a great point. I feel, that for a truck the ride is very smooth and the handling is on par for what I'd expect from a truck. The ride isn't as smooth as my wife's 15 explorer and it doesn't handle like my pontiac g8. But for a truck, and that's not intended to be negative, i've been very impressed with the feel and comfort relative to the class of vehicle.

Wiggums · July 23, 2019

When it comes to ride quality, I didn't care much for it and I do find it better than most cars. My Ford F-150 was much softer and bouncy than the Silverado, but as for liking it, both are the same. And the "rides like a Cadillac" - you referring to the gorgeous 1968 Sedan de Ville with the 475 V8 engine or the new 2019 CTS? Silverado does seem to get the jitters quite more often than my F-150 though, I didn't care much for it, but when the jitters causes the fishtailing... that's when I draw the line.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Wiggums

HBKidJr · July 23, 2019

16 hours ago, econometrics said:

I got “Rancho’d” again on the way home from work tonight.

Went over a pavement-to-concrete seam onto a bridge while I was accelerating pretty firmly. Might have been doing 30 and going up to 60 when I hit the seam.

The back end skipped over the bump so harshly that I felt the tires lose traction then bite down on the road again, even causing a little engine rev.

I drive over this seam daily on the way home from work. My 2007 CC always rode harshly over that spot, but never did what my RST did today.

Also been noticing how much the truck will bounce when I go over the crappy sections of 635 in N. Dallas doing around 80.

As Beyoncé once said, imma UP-GRADE-YA, Ranchos. As soon as Bilstein lets me.

What exactly is the holdup on these shocks? Seems this is dragging out longer than usual. Has anybody here replaced their shocks with any other manufacturer with good results? Or are there no other options anywhere right now?