Bumpy Ride 04 Dodge Ram

i have an 04 Dodge Ram 2500 with an ez ride 6" lift and 37" tires. the ride has always been fairly bumpy and even worse with the lift. im assuming it being a 2500 has something to do with. at first it was kind of cool and wasnt a big deal. around town its not that bad, but when towing down 5 or 80 its so bad that i feel dizzy by the time i get to the delta. im thinking about getting new truck , so i can get a diesel, but i want another lifted truck. any advice on what truck and lift to get to minimize the bumpy ride. it also doesn't help that my wife is 5mo pregnant.she really hates the bumps.

Chevy or GMC

truck, lift, tires and road will all affect it.

if you need a 4x4 diesel with smooth ride, chevy or gmc will be the best because of the ifs. the sfa's (ford, dodge) are bumpier. Length of truck will also affect this.

havent ridden a 2 wheel dodge or ford. sorry

You could change out your shocks, that will help alot. The shocks that come with the lift kits are garbage.

any 2500 / 3/4 ton truck will be bummpy, because of the frnt solid axle, all the new 1500 / 1/2 ton trucks ride like cars.

any one make 1/2 ton diesel though?

(Message edited by rodltg2 on November 07, 2007)

(Message edited by rodltg2 on November 07, 2007)

"any 2500 / 3/4 ton truck will be bummpy, because of the frnt solid axle, all the new 1500 / 1/2 ton trucks ride like cars."

Everything seems clearer now, thanks for breaking it down for us............

GM 3/4 ton uses independent front a-arm with torsion bar setup. They ride softer than the dodge or ford just not as "flashy" looking.

Why lift when you can get a real suspension with KORE or Lorenz. Awesome suspension systems, KORE has run their Dodge RAM out at Baja 1000 a few times. They even drive it to the race.

Chris
www.wakejunky.com

yeah my 03 dodge 1500 rides like crap too

It's also got a lot to do with the fact that it's a 3/4 ton and made for carrying loads of weight in the bed. Check out how many leaves you've got compared to a 1/2 ton.

I'm sure that you can't buy a 1/2 ton diesel. You're gonna have to compromise somewhere along the line.

what kind of lift i role in my buddys 2500 dodge cummins lifted and it rides awesome pulling a 23 ft enzo
and not pulling

Chevy/GMC with a 6" Cognito lift( the cognito is one of the best, and it doesn't increase the track width of the front wheels like almost all other kits). If you really want a smooth ride, do a 3 or 4 link system on the rear axle with airbags and Fox(or equivalent) coilovers. With lift's, you REALLY get what you pay for. Cheap lift = crappy ride. Very nice lift = better than factory ride.
IMO

I have a 1500 ram hemi, smooth like a sports car, plenty of power, it accelerates and passes cars going up steep hills while towing. I thought of buying a diesel, but why if I am going to use it once a week to pull the boat. The rest of the time it is an every day driver,(race around town), fun to drive. (15mpg around town, 12mpg while towing, I can eat the 3mpg, heck I have a boat.)

Why the need for huge diesels, 95% of them I see dont have anything besides one guy driving it in them, 2% have a tool box in the back with an extra gas tank, 2% use the diesel for something any v8 could do, and the other 1% actually uses it for huge loads.
Am I missing out on something?

I did drive a lifted tahoe, and it was cool to sit high, and without towing anything it was all over the road, and not asmooth ride... And I drove the same type of tahoe without a lift and it was great....So it might be the huge lift, and tires?

Its bumpy on roads like i80, which i assume your talking about. It is becasue the front and rear tires are hitting bumps at different times, essentially oscilating your truck. IFS is better but the key is big 'ol resivoir shocks. A freind had them on his 8 inch lifted chevy with 35-15 TSLs, rode like on pillow with those shocks. They are buck, but like said by Darin, you get what you pay for. Also the load of the boat amplifies this oscilating effect because of the weight.

"15mpg around town, 12mpg while towing"

Please. I had one and went diesel. I got 12mpg on the freeway not towing. Towing I got 7-10 depending. I get 15-18 now towing depending on terrain.

I sell Ford's and my dealership does tons of lifts on trucks we sell so I have a pretty good sampling of ride quality. The Chev/GMC does ride a little better stock but once you lift them they are legitamitly the same. I have sold both and actually like both trucks but definitly prefer the Ford for cab space and interior refinement plus the new diesel is extremely nice but then again so is the Duramax.

Rod,
The bumpy ride on the interstate is going to be most affected by the tires and the shock valving. A different brand of tire can have a huge difference in the ride. Unfortunately you don't get to demo tires. There are some that are specifically designed for a smooth or quiet ride and they make a big difference.
Shocks are definitely going to make a difference and you might even be able to fix your truck with a different set. I just don't know which ones will make the best change though, so I can't help you there. Being on a big lift might give you more sway but it's the ability to absorb the road ripples and joint lines in the concrete that make the biggest difference.
Next you make the ride better by the difference in sprung and unsprung weight. That means the part suspended by the suspension should weigh lots and the part that gets kicked around by the road should weigh little. Throw a hundred gallon water tank in the back and the bumps get less noticeable. Take 10 lbs of each tire and wheel set and the bumps get less noticeable. That's the part of a lifted truck that hurts the comfort - oversize tires and wheels.

I have the same truck in 4x4...shes no caddy

both gm and ford and will be coming out with half ton diesels around 2008-2009.

I'm waiting for GM's 4.6 duramax diesel. It's expected gas mileage is going to be in the high 20's. That'll be perfect for me. I currently have a 2500hd with the duramax, but it too much truck than I really "need". I don't need a 12,000lb tow capacity, I just love the power they put out.

I have a 1999 Ford F250 Superduty and it rides super soft. It all depends on the spring pack and shock valving. Donahoe makes some of the SOFTEST springs and bilstein 7100 or properly valved fox or king shocks will give you an awesome ride. Dont get wrapped up in mounting a bunch of shocks on your ride. Yeah it looks cool but it is gonna make the truck ride stiff unless the shocks are valved REALLY soft. Most people think that every fox, king or whatever shock is the same but inside they can all be different. IMO a properly shocked and built lift on a Ford will be the softest ride.

Hey nubu, you want me to take a pic of the computer in my truck, dang bro.
I do have 3.92, and Royal purple which does help. So my computer is wrong, and my odometer is also wrong, and I can't tell how many gallons I put in each time I fill up. Please, I am not stupid. It is what it is.

thanks for all the input. ive pretty much decided to keep the truck after looking at the new ones this morning. i test drove a 2007 2500 chevy durmax. it was lifted with 35" tires. rode a bit better was a bit nicer inside. but not $70,000 nice!!! i wouldnt buy the lifted one from a dealer but they still are around 50K. forget it , ill live with mine and replace the tires, shocks and maybe the lift too.

Thats how I think. Is it worth the extra $ to pull a boat every so often? Late.

Jason if that is the case you must have the best mileage hemi out there, congrats.

nu bu, so what is with the mobius lsv username? I didnt bother to chec your profile pic because I didnt feel like looking at a moomba. But I like the malibu. What year, size? How do you have it set up? Way to Represent. So am I missing out on the diesel? or is it an extra luxury?
I did look at them briefly, but decided there would not be a huge benefit at this point for me. I have a lead foot, so I would rather get a sports car, and keep the hemi.

Jason's Hemi sounds better than mine but Nu bu's.. that's the worst I've ever heard.

My 05' Ram 1500 QC 4x4 with 3.93 gears is 16mpg hwy, 12 city, 10 towing.

mine is way worse. right now averaging 8.2. its about 10 highway 9 city 6 towing.

You all May find it strange, but I started using royal purple oil(two years ago), and it jumped from 13 to 15mpg, and we did the same in a mustang gt, and it jumped up at least 30 miles per tank if not more, so like 2mpg as well. it is expensive oil, but I change it every 6k miles, and it is still in great shape, people run it up to 10k and even more by reusing it after changing the oil filter, I think that is too much though. My dad has a 5.9, and it is awful in the single digits.
Another thing I read is that dodge's getter better mpg also the older they get (say up to 80k to 100k miles) because of the way the engine still breaks in. Have heard that from more than two people. And I was reading about early 90's lt1 engines, and the difference in hp, torque in the vettes ranged, from say 300 to 360ish in a few rare cases) Each car that was dynoed was different being on avg like 320 or so. Also I believe the 07 zo6 vette was rated at 505hp from chevy, but actually dynoed at 530 or better.. So it could be that every engine is different. There are a lot of other factors that go into mpg as well.

Don't use Royal Purple! Use Amsoil instead! Do some research. I've been an SAE member for 10 years and have read tons of studies on this.

Royal Purple uses a different chemistry than most. They are one of only a handful of marketers using Moly in their oil. Moly is a solid, specifically banned by Cummins, due to excessive valve train wear.

Moly (Molybdenum Disulfide) is a processed mineral that is similar in appearance to graphite. Moly has good lubricating properties when used either by itself (in dry power form or as an additive to oil or other lubricants). Particles of the Moly can come out of suspension and agglomerate. This can actually clog oil filters or oil lines and the rest normally settles in the bottom of the oil pan. This seems to be more likely when using extended drain intervals. The only test we ran on RP involved their 20W50 Racing oil versus our AMSOIL Series 2000 Synthetic 20W50 Racing Oil (TRO). We ran two 4 ball wear tests with different parameters, a spectrographic baseline, FTIR scan and volatility tests. The Royal Purple showed a significantly high volatility rate with a 12.51% boil off rate. This compares to TRO with a 4.47% volatility rating. Wear scars were also smaller with the TRO. For example the TRO left a .41mm scar and the RP oil left a .66mm scar. There was also a surprising difference in the viscosity index. The RP has a VI of 129 versus 155 for the TRO. The higher the VI, the better the viscosity stays in place at high temperatures.



Dyno Test

(Message edited by bocephus on November 09, 2007)

B-man, where do you get this stuff in az? I did read it was bad for older engines, but ok for new engines. If I am using 10-30 Rp, what should I get in amsoil? Price is not a factor. and how long do you recommend oil changes? Thanks.

just curious- how long does it take for an engine to be noticebly affected by the stuff in rp? 100k, 200k, 500k? Is it longer then you will keep the truck?