Do all HD pickups ride rough?

[JRH02]

The Wife has a 4WD 2016 F250 Crew Cab with a short box. When we're going somewhere in her rig she is driving. The two miles from our house to the highway is literally an unimproved steep logging trail. Oops, there are some improvements: a half dozen surface drainage laterals. So combine the drainage with imbedded large stones up to boulders and other ruts, etc., I'm holding tight to the pillar hand hold and no, I'm not wearing the darn seat belt which makes it much worse. It's a really rough ride.

My rig is a 4WD 2020 F350 Super Cab 8' box. It rides MUCH smoother the whole way.

Both rigs have 10 ply tires. I run ~65psi F&R and I think she runs the std 80psi F&R. Yes, we are driving slowly as it takes 20 minutes to go those two miles. So here are my observations having driven the road for 17 years: the driver has it the best as being the one with the steering wheel, they are much more able to stay in their seat. Here is another observation. The course a driver takes has everything to do with the ride's comfort. Like knowing where your wheels are for what you are going to drive over. In either rig once we get to the highway both ride like Cadillacs except for parking lot speed bumps.

The bottom line is they are pickup trucks that are empty 60% of the time.

 

[5030]

My 350 Ford long bed crew cab diesel 4 wd, rides like a lumberwagon empty even with air suspension on the back but rides like a Caddy loaded. Needless to say it's mostly loaded.

 

[jk96]

I have a 2012 ram 3500 dually megacab diesel and 2023 ram 3500 dually long bed diesel. My 2012 rides pretty nice for a 1 ton. My 23 is amazingly smooth even empty. I test drove all 3 when I bought my 2012. In test drives the Ram was hands down the best ride. GMC came in 2nd, and Ford by far the worst for ride quality without a load. The Ford was really rough. I have not test driven the other brands since 2012. I've had such good luck with my 2012 that I didn't really consider another brand on the new purchase.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I have a 2022 Ram 2500 crew cab with a long bed. It has the 6.4L gas engine.

I find it rides very well. It's the Laramie package, so it has better seats.

Years ago, my brother had a 2008 Chevy 2500 crew cab, short bed diesel. I rode with him on a road that is known to be very rough. At the same time, I had a Ram 2500 diesel. I was shocked at how rough the Chevy was compared to my Ram on the same road. I have only had Ram trucks since then.

 

[mike69440]

Interesting...Photo?

Amazon.com

(Link to racks)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HQ3K5M6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (for QA Pins)

 

[ericm979]

I've seen tests where they say the Rams have the best ride. They have coil springs which may have something to do with it. But they also have a significantly lower payload capacity, at least for the 3/4 tons I was paying attention to. So it may be more that the springs are softer than the type of spring.

We live on a really steep and twisty road. Every vehicle I've driven here gets downshifted to go down the road so I'm not riding the brakes. The Chevy, even with a 10sp auto, downshifted automatically for me. It also made a whistling noise on the steeper parts which I think was the exhaust brake. With no load it maintained speed on the steep parts. It will be interesting to see how it does with a load and in tow/haul mode.

 

[4570Man]

My 350 Ford long bed crew cab diesel 4 wd, rides like a lumberwagon empty even with air suspension on the back but rides like a Caddy loaded. Needless to say it's mostly loaded.

I’m ok with the ride quality of my Fords but the turning radius is horrible. I could turn my Volvo truck around twice in the superduty’s radius.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

The bottom line is they are pickup trucks that are empty 60% of the time.

Not all of them, our bed is full and a trailer is connected 90% of the time.

 

[5030]

I’m ok with the ride quality of my Fords but the turning radius is horrible. I could turn my Volvo truck around twice in the superduty’s radius.

Stretching it a bit, I'd say. My Western Star don't have a fantastic turn radius either but it is a big truck, not a pickup truck.

 

[jk96]

I’m ok with the ride quality of my Fords but the turning radius is horrible. I could turn my Volvo truck around twice in the superduty’s radius.

The turn radius on my 23 Ram is significantly worse than my 12 Ram. My 23 is the crew cab long bed and not the megacab like my 12 making it longer by a foot but it it feels much bigger trying to manuver in tight spaces.

 

[ericm979]

Did Ram lengthen the wheelbase in the newer model? I know GM did. That will make it not turn as tight even if the overall length is the same.

 

[Gator6x4]

What was the configuration? A reg cab rides like a ox cart. A crew cab is noticeably better.
I have a 2020 Ram 5500 crew cab 4WD and it actually rides pretty nice. My wife and I drove it on a 1,000 mile trip and about 1/2 way through the trip she said “I’d travel anywhere in this truck”.
I keep my tires slightly deflated. 95PSI is recommended, but I run 85-90 in the rear tires and 80 in the front tires when not towing.
When towing really heavy, I’ll run 95 in the rear tires.

Don't take her down I-95 in the 5500. I foolishly agreed to ride with a individual down into northern Florida to deliver something he had sold on the internet. That 5500 series Dodge not only loved diesel it also rode like it had double springs under it. Pulling the empty trailer back north seemed to make the vehicle ride rougher.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Traded my old Sierra 2500HD for a Sierra 1500 AT4 2 years ago. My butt is just now starting to recover.

 

[4570Man]

The turn radius on my 23 Ram is significantly worse than my 12 Ram. My 23 is the crew cab long bed and not the megacab like my 12 making it longer by a foot but it it feels much bigger trying to manuver in tight spaces.

My dad’s F-550 with a 12ft bed and coil springs will out turn my old model ones with leaf springs. My Volvo truck will significantly out turn all 3 of them. I had a tandem axle international before the Volvo and it would still turn sharper than the leaf spring fords.

 

[5030]

Real easy to alter the turn radius on a big truck, not so easy (but still doable) on a smaller truck. In fact my Western Star tandem axle turns pretty tight.

What I did (and was SOP for the outfit I worked for) was we ran in the stop bolts on each axle end until when the wheel cut was at full lock, the tires just cleared the wheel wells and no more. Of course that also means that mounting a wider front tire will require adjusting bolts (stops) so the tire clears the wheel well.

Your steering gear don't know any difference, the steering gear will provide wheel cut until it comes up against the stop bolts and big trucks all use stop bolts as the limit for wheel cut.

On a smaller truck, it's a bit more involved because you have to physically grind the wheel stops as there are no stop bolts.

The Western Star road tractor I own has had the stop bolts run in as far as the tires will allow (without hitting / rubbing the fender wells). It turns plenty tight for a 255 inch wheelbase tractor.

 

[TMGT]

My dad’s F-550 with a 12ft bed and coil springs will out turn my old model ones with leaf springs. My Volvo truck will significantly out turn all 3 of them. I had a tandem axle international before the Volvo and it would still turn sharper than the leaf spring fords. View attachment 2410351View attachment 2410352View attachment 2410353

You got that right, my old 2000 F550 had the worst turning radius of anything I've ever driven. Used to haul cars with someone else that was driving a 11car low fifth wheel. Was trying to follow him into a dealers lot, I couldn't make the turn, he didn't belive it until he saw it. If you know how bad the turning radius of a low fifth wheel is, you know how bad the F550 turning was.

That truck was awful on many levels!

 

[4570Man]

You got that right, my old 2000 F550 had the worst turning radius of anything I've ever driven. Used to haul cars with someone else that was driving a 11car low fifth wheel. Was trying to follow him into a dealers lot, I couldn't make the turn, he didn't belive it until he saw it. If you know how bad the turning radius of a low fifth wheel is, you know how bad the F550 turning was.

That truck was awful on many levels!

The 555 has the Volvo beat on having 4x4. I’d rather drive the Volvo besides that. The Volvo has more power, better brakes, better riding comfort, a lot better visibility out of the truck, higher GVW, higher GCVW and not much worse mpg. You can drive the 550 with no trailer without a CDL but pretty much any trailer will require a CDL behind the 550. The Volvo has air ride suspension, suspension dampeners on the cab and an air ride seat. The F-550 has spring ride that’s hard as a rock, a rigid mounted cab and a seat that’s ridged mounted and not very comfortable to start with. That lowboy trailer on the Volvo is pretty short and the Volvo will turn sharper than it will follow. You could hit the cab on the trailer if you don’t straighten out.

 

[jk96]

Did Ram lengthen the wheelbase in the newer model? I know GM did. That will make it not turn as tight even if the overall length is the same.

No. Model to model hasn't changed. Difference was going from the megacab on my 2012 to the crewcab longbed on my 23. Wheelbase on the megacab is 160.5" and 169.5 on the crew cab longbed.

 

[dstig1]

The Superduty's were leaf spring in the front up until like 2004 or 5. Mine was an '05 and had coils. Supposedly much better turning radius but I never drove an older one to compare.

 

[4570Man]

The Superduty's were leaf spring in the front up until like 2004 or 5. Mine was an '05 and had coils. Supposedly much better turning radius but I never drove an older one to compare.

The turn around at the end of my road is 72 feet wide and my 4 door long bed with leafs barely makes it without backing up.