How much air psi you running and are the KO2's C, D, or E rated ?

 

IMO....you need to put Bilsteins on the front as well.
I have stock 275/65/18 E Geolanders on `14 4x4 OffRoad & Payload Package truck with Bilsteins all around....my ride is firm and smooth.
Not at all uncomfortable.
I also run 45psi cold all the time.
Rides great.
Replace your front shocks to equalize and distribute the trucks weight.

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I have all stock suspension and LT275/70-18 E rated 48 psi and my ride is fine. A tad more harsh than P275/65-18 with 35 psi, but I think not bad because the 70 series are taller and that helps the ride.

 

I'm running 35" Geolandar X-AT's on 17" fuel wheels with a 3" spacer lift on the stock struts and my ride is not that much worse than when I was running stock with no lift. Sounds like you might have something broken. Might as well replace the fronts like you planned.

 

I have a 2013 FX4 with 60k. Bilstein 5100 in the front only which level the truck. 295/70/18 Falken Wildpeak A/T tires. My truck shakes violently also lol. Usually just when i hit bumps at high speed. Smooth ride otherwise. Ive never tuned for my tires but im only getting 12.5 mpg also. Love the truck but.....not much else to compare it to so Im not sure if other trucks ride smoother.....

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Normal mpg at least.

 

Is that normal mpg for EB? I read all these posts about people getting 15-18 mpg with similar setups...people be kidding, huh lol

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Mine can be adjusted from moderately soft to rather firm. But the entire range of damping adjustment still falls within the description of "composed". Nothing harsh about it. Albeit, pretty expensive bits.

Her truck is the less expensive example, Bilstein 5100 front and rear, and it too rides firmer than oem, considerably, but again very composed. Probably the biggest difference I experience when jumping from mine to hers is a vagueness to the feedback, comparatively. But the value equation on the Bilsteins is fantastic. That's an amazing transformation for the dollar$ spent.

OEM shocks on an empty truck, especially the rear, don't do a very good job of composing the truck. (in my opinion) Brand new, they do OK at the front. But they seem to get a little sloppy before the bumper to bumper coverage is up.

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Any E rated tire on these light trucks will transfer bumps and vibes straight into the cabin.

It's you're tires brother. I promise. It's not the shocks.

I have 33" Nitto Ridge Grapplers, load range E, on my truck. Purchased them after owning a set of 315/70/R17 K02s, load range C (raptor tires). The Nittos were recommended by a friend. That friend drives a 2017 F250.

I also have KING shocks all the way around. With the load range C, K02s it rode like a damn cadillac. Even off road. It was impressive actually. Ever since the switch to the Nittos I believe I have converted into a mexican jumping bean. LOL Seriously, they're very hard tires. The cabin shakes over every little bump. Annoying. Very annoying. I also run my Nittos at a pretty low pressure. Gas mileage suffers due to this. Run em at 35psi in the front and 30 in the rear. I dont tow though... Like ever...

To make things worse, the Nittos are marketed as MT/AT hybrid tires, so you'd assume they would perform better than a straight AT tire (K02) offroad... Nope... They definitely do not... My K02s had better traction in almost every single condition.

The Ridge Grapplers I see being good for like F250s and other larger, straight axle trucks for rock crawling or somethin. They aren't HORRIBLE but they certainly aren't comfortable for such a light truck.

Once these tires are done, I will never purchase load range E tires for this LT ever again! Back to the ol K02s for me.

Also, options are very limited for load range C tires in the 17" wheel size. Found that out the hard way too... lol

 

Interesting. I am running 48 psi and thinking of going up to about 54 because they seem underinflated, especially in front.

 

Your tolerance for a rough ride is probably higher than mine. That kind of pressure on load range E's on these trucks would rattle every panel loose in a matter of months. lol

My Ridge Grapplers came pumped up to 42psi when I had them delivered. I ran them like that for all of 2 days before I started adjusting them.

 

Load E
KO2's

Rides awesome. On and Off road. Empty, At about 38-40lbs cold. Not Buick smooth. But very nice for a truck.

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Load E
KO2's

Rides awesome. On and Off road. Empty, At about 38-40lbs cold. Not Buick smooth. But very nice for a truck.

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But see its that whole, "rides nice, for a truck." Part that always gets me. It's always open to each persons personal opinion on what they percieve as ride quality.

I guarantee you my truck with the King shocks and the 315/70/R17 load range C K02s would make your truck feel like it was riding on solid wagon wheels compared to my setup.

Load Range E tires will ALWAYS take a toll on ride quality with these trucks. Even the E1 K02s that you have. Though they are a bit softer than E2s. But not by much.

Another thing to note with load range E tires. They will work your shocks more than stock tires or load range C tires. If you are running load range E tires, expect your shocks to wear out quicker.

Many people don't realize that the first component in your suspension system is actually your tires. Your tires are also dampeners. Softer tires, like load range C and P, offer the best ride quality because the sidewalls are softer and provide more dampening ability. With load range D, E1, E2 and up the stiffer sidewalls don't provide much for dampening. They are stiffer for a reason.

This inherently reduces ride quality unfortunately.

 

"Firm" is a misfortunate word in our language. It could be considered a synonym of harsh, thus seem like going in the wrong direction.

But, if you couldn't tell the difference between oem and the 5100's on the back, I gotta admit I don't know what to say. If you had both of those dampers on a workbench, it'd be pretty obvious that they aren't that similar in damping characteristics.

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Hm... I'd have to agree with snakbitten here.

If softer tires and softer shocks dont improve anything I'm not sure there's much else you could just replace that will have the dramatic difference it seems you're after.

Have you inspected your bushings? Seems like a long shot there but thats the next inner-most component of the suspension. Aside from that.... 🤷‍♂️ ?

Have you looked into the cost of air-ride?

What are the exact symptoms you want to reduce? Jarring the cabin? Rear end side stepping?

 

Hm... I'd have to agree with snakbitten here.

If softer tires and softer shocks dont improve anything I'm not sure there's much else you could start replacing that will have the dramatic difference it seems you're after.

Have you inspected your bushings? Seems like a long shot there but thats the next inner-most component of the suspension. Aside from that.... [emoji2369] ?

Have you looked into the cost of air-ride?

What are the exact symptoms you want to reduce? Jarring the cabin? Rear end side stepping?

If my bilstein 5100's are extended all the way up 2" to level the truck, would that effect how it rides?

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I thought you only had Bilsteins on the rear?

But yea, even if you used the Bilsteins up front to also raise the truck, (nice feature) 99.9% of the reviews are "great improvement in ride".

In fact, Bilstein enjoys perhaps the closest to unanimous thumbs up than any other aftermarket manufacturer I know of.



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Using preload on coilovers to lift the vehicle stiffens the ride. Yes. Absolutely. It can be quite dramatic too, depending on the shocks and their preferred operating ranges.

I used a small amount of preload on my king coilovers to bump my front end up a little myself. If you go too far with your suspension it will make the front end feel "perched" or "pigeon toed". It'll tend to be a bit more jarring. Too much preload on front coil overs will also make it more difficult to align the vehicle. Toe and camber will both be affected.

Only use small amounts of preload. I wouldnt recommend using preload for anything over 1.5".

 

I’ve found you can use the full 2” inches the Bilstein’s offer and still have plenty of adjustment room in the lower control arms to have the Caster and Camber where you want them. The Toe is a non-issue, plenty of room to set properly. I guess what I should say is this worked for me and a friends I put some on.

 

My only complaint since owning my truck for 3yrs is the ride. It's rough.
I am currently running 275/70/18 BFGoodrich AT K02' s but honestly it doesn't affect it much as I have a set of stock wheels and tires that I swap over frequently.
I have driven many other F150s and mine has the most harsh ride.
I added Bilstein rear shocks last fall with little to no improvement. I have been thinking about doing the fronts just to try to mellow it out a little bit.
Is there anything besides that to try?

It's bad, any little bump or divit in the road has the whole interior rattling and the truck violently shaking for a second. My previous truck was a 2nd gen Ram 2500, straight front axle and it ride very similar to the F150 just for comparison.

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My 15 XLT SCREW rides like a Cadillac. When I get in my wife’s Camry it rides like a wagon. I have a size larger than OEM Michelin tires on my truck and run 40 psi in my tires.

 

Just got back from a 1200mi round trip...I have to fix this thing. It's annoying...the ride is so bad. Any suggestions for decent shocks/struts for under $1500?

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The issue is that F-150's have entered into the payload/ towing capacity wars with GM and Dodge, and Ford always comes out ahead. As a result, the rear leaf springs are absurdly stiff and extremely uncomfortable without a load on them. If you want to feel like what your truck should ride like, go take a test drive in a Raptor or hook up a 5000lb trailer to your Ecoboost and see how it feels. It's not the shocks or tires, it's the leaf spring rate. Shocks and tires account for small 5% differences.

 

Or throw a camper shell on it [emoji6]


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Talk about a harsh ride....lol

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@meaz93 FTW OOOHRAHHH !!!

 

I’ve also got a rough riding f150. I purchased a used 2017 f150 XLT sport SCREW and its got an awful ride. The previous owner, from what I was told, used to for a lot of towing all over the country. He installed an air lift system to help while at max tow capacity. It doesn’t matter if I have the air bags at 0 or 100 psi, the ride is very rough and it doesn’t change with speed changes. Even small bumps in the road will buck me out of my seat. Any insight on what I can do? And as far as the mpg discussion, if I get over 17 I’m pretty thrilled.

 

17 mpg is outstanding for a halfton pickup.
Does it have E rated tires with alot of pressure in them ?

 

I’ve got load range D tires. And some more explanation, over winter I had a weight in the bed for better traction. It was about 300 pounds and the rear suspension didn’t budge at all, and it feels like it’s bottoming out over every bump.

 

Perhaps it would be informative to know which of us have fx4, max tow, etc... do the springs change between packages?

My ‘11 fx4 was pretty comfy stock, with air bags... currently running 5100 bullies and it’s downright dreamy! I do have a leer cap that adds a little weight and typically have a couple hundred pounds of gear give or take but empty I just let a little out of the bags and it’s good... 30-40lbs empty... 60 loaded... up to 80 or 90 when towing as required to restore ride height


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I’ve got the sport appearance package, with the max trailering also added. That also gives me the 3.55 rear axle. I love everything about the Ford, minus the timing chain/phaser repair I did over the winter. Since the previous owner used it for a lot of towing I believe that either the springs or shocks are heavier then OEM.

 

My only complaint since owning my truck for 3yrs is the ride. It's rough.
I am currently running 275/70/18 BFGoodrich AT K02' s but honestly it doesn't affect it much as I have a set of stock wheels and tires that I swap over frequently.
I have driven many other F150s and mine has the most harsh ride.
I added Bilstein rear shocks last fall with little to no improvement. I have been thinking about doing the fronts just to try to mellow it out a little bit.
Is there anything besides that to try?

It's bad, any little bump or divit in the road has the whole interior rattling and the truck violently shaking for a second. My previous truck was a 2nd gen Ram 2500, straight front axle and it ride very similar to the F150 just for comparison.

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This is very interesting. I just got a brand new F150 Lariat, special ordered, 2022, and i feel every crack and every bump in the road on it. I am surprised. My 2015 Silverado is a much smoother ride.