Fox 2.5 HTO installed.

[UWSkier]

8 hours ago, kylant said:

I have a set for sale, less than 2k miles on them. Will make a very good deal on them. 

Why parting with them after so few miles?

[Epsilon Plus]

Truck should be easily 1.5+" lower in the front. All HDs are raked. Even ZR2s are higher in the rear.

 

I bet your bars are cranked.

[Chuck FB]

13 hours ago, Epsilon Plus said:

Truck should be easily 1.5+" lower in the front. All HDs are raked. Even ZR2s are higher in the rear.

 

I bet your bars are cranked.

The clearance of the A arms to the jounce bumpers would also bare that out as well as the cv shafts and tie rod angles but heres the thing with the fender to ground or axle centers, the rear fenders relative to the straight section of frame are lower than what the front fenders are. Or put in a different context, when the front and rear fenders for example are the same distance to the ground, the front of the box at the top of the box side is still lower than what it is at the rear of the box. That front to rear fender height design gives the illusion that the truck is more level then it really is. I assume they did that for a reason of a look they were going after. Before I was able to measure mine I had a bak flip cover and a rubber bed mat in it and I do have the fifth wheel prep so that all adds weight, so I was at about 3/4 of an inch higher in the rear on a new truck in part due to those add ons. Hard to say what this truck in question of PBNB's did in its former hands life but it may be settled down some in the rear due to carrying weight or towing with a heavy tongue weight. 

Edited September 7, 2025 by Chuck FB

[kylant]

16 hours ago, UWSkier said:

Why parting with them after so few miles?

I picked up a set of custom tuned shocks from Accutune

[kylant]

20 hours ago, PBNB said:

Tell us more about this good deal?

$800 plus shipping

[PBNB]

1 hour ago, kylant said:

$800 plus shipping

That's a great deal! From what I have seen online. What made you take them out? Did you go back to the Ranchos?

 

Do you have any pics of your shocks that you can post?

[Epsilon Plus]

I purposely hit speed bumps now with zeal. The front soaks them up. The rear still hops a bit on those heavy leafs with no weight on them. The bump is still there, but the jolt you'd normally feel in your lumbar is gone.

 

Day to day it's still a bouncy truck as an HD, but they look out all the harsh "hits" if that makes sense. The Bilsteins were like having a piece of rebar welded between the perches. The only thing they will do is keep the body roll out and probably do better with trailer porpoising if that's an issue on ones set-up. Unloaded they ride like a shopping cart.

[Chuck FB]

20 minutes ago, Epsilon Plus said:

I purposely hit speed bumps now with zeal. The front soaks them up. The rear still hops a bit on those heavy leafs with no weight on them. The bump is still there, but the jolt you'd normally feel in your lumbar is gone.

 

Day to day it's still a bouncy truck as an HD, but they look out all the harsh "hits" if that makes sense. The Bilsteins were like having a piece of rebar welded between the perches. The only thing they will do is keep the body roll out and probably do better with trailer porpoising if that's an issue on ones set-up. Unloaded they ride like a shopping cart.

Where would you rate the original Rancho's in the mix of shocks you have run so far ?. 

 

I still have the belief that if you are running a lot unloaded that you should try experimenting with lowering the tire pressures down to the minimum pressure required for your axle weights and get a little more flex from those large tires. Yes the TPMS will throw a tantrum unless set lower but I would be curious to hear your impression and for that matter your wife if she would notice a ride difference. Tire pressures, one of the few no cost items one has left these days !. 

Edited September 7, 2025 by Chuck FB

[Epsilon Plus]

Right now I'm at 40. I don't think I'd want to go under 35 but I can see if it helps. TPMS isn't a worry. My Pulsar LT allows me to adjust the threshold. 

[Chuck FB]

3 minutes ago, Epsilon Plus said:

Right now I'm at 40. I don't think I'd want to go under 35 but I can see if it helps. TPMS isn't a worry. My Pulsar LT allows me to adjust the threshold. 

That's been a while now since your tire size and type was brought up but sounds like your running a bit lower than a while back. The LT metric tires they caution going below 35 psi for highway speeds, yet the floatation series (TRA floatation on the chart that are inch based sizes ) are a minimum of 25 psi. Of course based on axle weights though but I know it throws a person to hear low pressures like that when one is used to hearing high pressures for max weights on HD trucks. Also its not really suggested to drive really fast highway speeds ( Texas speeds ) in really hot weather with tires right on the line for pressure to weight, to give a margin of safety. Perhaps when the weather cools off to something more sane during the winter ( I assume your in a fairly hot location ) you could try an experiment with just the rear tires set lower initially and see if it mellows out that kick a bit on expansion joints etc. 

[Epsilon Plus]

@Chuck FB

 

I was actually at 45. I dropped to 40 yesterday and looks like I have good contact patch and it feels like the softest it's going to be short of bar and spring changes. Every bump and crevis still transmits but there is no harshness or jolting. I can hit speed bumps at full speed and the truck feels even softer and soaks them up. The combo is working well. 

 

I'll try 35 next and chalk line them.

 

Thanks.

Edited September 15, 2025 by Epsilon Plus

[UWSkier]

8 hours ago, Epsilon Plus said:

@Chuck FB

 

I was actually at 45. I dropped to 40 yesterday and looks like I have good contact patch and it feels like the softest it's going to be short of bar and spring changes. Every bump and crevis still transmits but there is no harshness or jolting. I can hit speed bumps at full speed and the truck feels even softer and soaks them up. The combo is working well. 

 

I'll try 35 next and chalk line them.

 

Thanks.

apples to hand grenades, but I was running the factory Michelins on my truck down around 50/45 F/R for several months and they started getting loud.  Put them back up to factory spec before the 2500 mile RV tow back from East to Arizona and they got much quieter after the first 200 miles.

 

I like the ride with them softer, but the noise got on my nerves.  Think I'll keep them 55/55 or thereabouts for non-towing.

[Chuck FB]

4 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

apples to hand grenades, but I was running the factory Michelins on my truck down around 50/45 F/R for several months and they started getting loud.  Put them back up to factory spec before the 2500 mile RV tow back from East to Arizona and they got much quieter after the first 200 miles.

 

I like the ride with them softer, but the noise got on my nerves.  Think I'll keep them 55/55 or thereabouts for non-towing.

That's interesting, I wonder if the more moderate tire pressures allowed for a wear pattern that brought out that sound. I know some tire treads are susceptible to a wear that causes the leading edge of the tread blocks to stand up higher than that the trailing edge if not rotated fairly often. The rotation typically would be rears straight forward and the fronts crossed to the rear to reverse the rotation of those two. A couple of years ago my brother was struggling with bad noise and vibration on a set of Goodyear Duratracs on a TJ, light vehicle for the size of the tire but oh boy did those tires have the most stupid wear on them like a wavy pattern all around the tire and he had not been rotating and then by rotating the noise and vibration was even worse, had the tire shop re balance them but it was all futile, had to throw the tires off as there was no fixing that mess and the Goodyear tire shop admitted that much that the Duratrac not being rotated has issues ( they seem to have issues anyway ). So he bought a set of Toyo A/T3 and runs the same pressure and they have been wearing perfectly and are way more quiet then those Duratracs were new. I am just surprised the factory Michelin tires are even capable of making noise. 

[PBNB]

I have ordered a set of Centramatic balancers as they are supposed to help with uneven tire wear like cupping and also help with the noise as the tires get strange wear patterns. I am looking forward to putting them to the test. 

 

I noticed my Falkens getting a bit noisier on our last trip.