Abnormally rough ride

[asilverblazer]

13 hours ago, Another JR said:

Do you have camper springs or a plow package?  That will make the front stiffer. Have you lowered tire pressure when unloaded?  60 psi will ride a lot nicer than 80. (The rear tpms alarm pressure on my truck is 62 psi.)

 

Jettech was talking about the thickness of the four first-stage springs marked with the green arrow compared to the thickness of the second stage spring marked with the red arrow. 

 Don't know if I do or not - I haven't confirmed RPO codes. Generally, the front isn't too bad; the rear can literally test the padding in the headliner. Since the GVWR on mine is over 10k lbs I don't have TPMS, and run tire PSI at 60.

 

Still intend to compare my spring pack to others.

[Dr1ft3r]

18 hours ago, asilverblazer said:

EVERYONE complains how rough mine rides, 2018 CCSB 3500 w/ diesel. I attributed it to the previous owners adding airbags to it plus its not a long bed. My spring pack has the overload spring pack on top, but I'm not sure what the overload spring on bottom looks like (regarding thickness comparison above).

 

How does adding airbags make the suspension rough? My airbags made a noticeable improvement on my ride when empty and full. I don't lower the air pressure in my tires. I ride around with 70-80 psi all of the time whether under load or not. Nobody has told me that my truck rides rough. Even my 64 y/o mother thinks it rides fine.

There is either something wrong with your suspension, the roads you are travelling on are rougher than anything I have traveled on (I've been on and off road between Seattle and Memphis with this truck so far), or there are some soft guys on this forum.

[Pryme]

3 hours ago, asilverblazer said:

 Don't know if I do or not - I haven't confirmed RPO codes. Generally, the front isn't too bad; the rear can literally test the padding in the headliner. Since the GVWR on mine is over 10k lbs I don't have TPMS, and run tire PSI at 60.

 

Still intend to compare my spring pack to others.

My GVWR is over 10k also. Are you sure they don’t have TPMS? My display still shows the psi on all four tires? I haven’t had them low enough to trip a sensor though. 

[asilverblazer]

4 hours ago, Dr1ft3r said:

 

How does adding airbags make the suspension rough? My airbags made a noticeable improvement on my ride when empty and full. I don't lower the air pressure in my tires. I ride around with 70-80 psi all of the time whether under load or not. Nobody has told me that my truck rides rough. Even my 64 y/o mother thinks it rides fine.

There is either something wrong with your suspension, the roads you are travelling on are rougher than anything I have traveled on (I've been on and off road between Seattle and Memphis with this truck so far), or there are some soft guys on this forum.

My head has hit the roof... Supposed to keep about 5 PSI in the air bags, is that enough to matter, I wouldn't think so, but my truck is way rougher than any of my other trucks and rougher than any other 3/4 or 1 ton I've been in. I haven't been in a truck exactly like mine so I can't say its normal or not.

 

My head hitting the head liner is best indication I have that its not.

[asilverblazer]

1 hour ago, Pryme said:

My GVWR is over 10k also. Are you sure they don’t have TPMS? My display still shows the psi on all four tires? I haven’t had them low enough to trip a sensor though. 

It wasn't required in 2018 and it wasn't added.

 

[Jettech1]

On 10/19/2023 at 2:09 PM, Another JR said:

On my 2021 3500 hd cclb srw gas I measured the rear springs thicknesses as follows. This was done with a calipers and metal ruler and I feel I was accurate to the nearest 64th of an inch. I was measuring on the outside of the spring coatings, so take that into account. The primary springs are 3/8” thick, and the secondary spring is 9/16” thick. 
 

This was a p/n 84992006 spring assembly. My RGAWR is 7250 lbs. 

I guess my eyes weren't tricking me after all.  My primary springs are 3/8" thick, same are yours but my lower overload is 3/4" thick.

[Another JR]

59 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

I guess my eyes weren't tricking me after all.  My primary springs are 3/8" thick, same are yours but my lower overload is 3/4" thick.

3/4?  That’s hefty!

[Jettech1]

27 minutes ago, Another JR said:

3/4?  That’s hefty!

My thoughts exactly!

[reb0957]

In another thread I was asked about compression of bump stops. Here is what they look like in level ground. This looks okay to me. Thoughts?

[Jettech1]

2 minutes ago, reb0957 said:

In another thread I was asked about compression of bump stops. Here is what they look like in level ground. This looks okay to me. Thoughts?

I don't have a pic of mine.  I'll crawl under my truck tomorrow and get a pic for you.

[asilverblazer]

On 10/16/2023 at 12:45 PM, Another JR said:

My springs look like this.

 

[reb0957]

I don't know if they changed or not but you are comparing a 2018 to 2020+. That could be the difference you are seeing.

[asilverblazer]

1 hour ago, reb0957 said:

I don't know if they changed or not but you are comparing a 2018 to 2020+. That could be the difference you are seeing.

Not really comparing, just offering a data point. My 3500 truck, with springs similar to the pictured ones, with air bags, tires at 60 PSI, rides VERY stiff. 

 

More than others? Don't know.

 

Am I going to do anything about it? Not sure.

 

If I DO do anything, I would start by taking the main spring pack apart and take the bottom overload out.

 

This isn't my thread so I'm only offering my insights for others to opine over.

[Jettech1]

On 10/22/2023 at 9:44 PM, reb0957 said:

In another thread I was asked about compression of bump stops. Here is what they look like in level ground. This looks okay to me. Thoughts?

Here ya go.  Looks the same as mine..

[reb0957]

4 hours ago, Jettech1 said:

Here ya go.  Looks the same as mine..

No matter how much I read about how that is correct, I can't make my head wrap around it. To me that gives you maybe 2 inches of upward travel at the wheel.