Hard ride dodge 2006 2500 cummins 5.9 2wd

[jbpack1]

The above truck has overlload springs and air bags, new BF Goodrich tires.
The 5.9 does great, but the ride is a JOLT on any bump.
New to 5th wheeling.
I tow a 29' 5th wheel; dry wt. 7500, gw 10,900, hitch wt. 1025.
I have tried various air bag pressures, not much help.
Tire pressure: 67 rear, 53 front.
Shocks: original Mopar.
5th whl plate will bounce clear of truck plate on occasion.
Just bought both truck and 5th whl; really appreciate successful corrections that may have been done on comparable rigs.

Thanx, Jack

[adehaan86]

I would let all air out of the bags, you dont need them for 10K. I tow 13 with my 2500 with no bags.

Now fifth wheels have a thing called chucking. The only way to help lessen this is to spend 1500 on the hitch that is on the camper side and get the one that slides back and forth and has shocks on it.

I noticed the chucking is more of a road related than anything.

[JIMNLIN]

Good point on the air bags not needed for a trailer that light with overload springs.

Overload springs ?? Aftermarket ? And which type/brand ?

One of my trucks is a 2wd 2500 Dodge/Cummins. I use it most of the time pulling my 5er with 2200 lbs of pin weight. The Dodge 2wd models don't come OEM with the factory aux overload spring pack. Makes for a nice soft ride.

[Scarab0088]

Try: https://www.sulastic.com/Default.aspx
Had them on my ol' F350 (originally made by Firestone) and they made the unloaded ride SO MUCH BETTER.


When loaded, the truck rides pretty good, but when unloaded, my 2006 Dodge 3500 DRW 4X4 rides like a buck board, so I feel your pain and I am gonna order the Sulastics for this truck too.


I think those air bags are intended to be used when the truck is totally loaded and you want to get a level ride, otherwise they are overkill.

Best of luck

[jbpack1]

I ordered and had installed the Sulastics. www.sulastics.com
They improved the ride signifigantly.
The rear of the truck was still too high, and to further improve the ride, I had my shop to remove the second from top spring leaf ( it had the overload spring and three leaves 1/2" thick and 3" wide), at the wheel, the bed went down 1 1/4".
They also installed Bilstein shocks front and rear.
No fear of the springs being weakened too much; should I have a gross load, the air bags will support.
I attribute the new ride to 75% Sulastics, 25% to springs and Bilsteins.

$950 spent---got a super ride!!
Thanx to all members that replied.
I strongly recommend the Sulastics.

jbpack1 2006 Dodge 2500, 5.9 Cummins & 2012 246 RLBS Wildwood Heritage Glen

[waroland]

Your OEM shocks are shot. Replace with some Bilstein and your ride will improve drastically.

[wingnut60]

That was going to be my suggestion--OEMs on pickups are almost always shot after about 20k miles.
Joe

[ncason]

We added the Trail Air pin box and that reduced the chucking. As a door prise winner at the Bethpage irv2 rally we added the airbags. The airbags were not needed for our rig so we let the air out. The F250 tows fine but the ride is still poor. This is a combination of pot holes and bad road maintenance and leaf springs front and back. Bilstein shocks made no difference as we had already replaced the OEM shock with good gas shocks. OEM shocks are junk. The first year you need new shocks.

We are going to test drive other trucks soon and a good ride and improved turning radius is the primary reason. We like the fuel mileage on the F250 but the ride is horrible.

Nancy