My new 2013 F150 Fx4 new guy has some suspension questions!?
08-14-2018, 09:44 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
My new 2013 F150 Fx4 new guy has some suspension questions!?
hello guys, new to the site. Love it so far. So ill dive in here. I bought a 2013 Fx4 with right at 100k miles, it has the 5.0 liter. One owner truck and super clean! Im stoked.
Anyways i came from a 2007 silverado. And this ford is awesome but it rides rough! Its hard to explain. On a smooth road its fine obviously. Its just hitting bumps or cracks it hits so hard. The truck does clunk or make wierd noise, its very solid and steering feels very tight it just rides so rough. Sometime it feels like im jumping across the interstate. Its like the truck doesn’t absorb anything it hits. And the back will bounce almost. Whats some cost effective options to make it feel better?
The truck has a lift (not sure how much or how to tell) looks like spacers above the front strut cant tell if the spindle or upper a arm is factory. Going to add some pics for you guys. It has what appears to be blocks in the rear. Wish i could figure out how tall the lift was. The tires are terra grapplers 275/65-20 LT tires.
Any help or similar issues im having? I gotta do something maybe coil overs or blistines all around i dont know!
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Anyways i came from a 2007 silverado. And this ford is awesome but it rides rough! Its hard to explain. On a smooth road its fine obviously. Its just hitting bumps or cracks it hits so hard. The truck does clunk or make wierd noise, its very solid and steering feels very tight it just rides so rough. Sometime it feels like im jumping across the interstate. Its like the truck doesn’t absorb anything it hits. And the back will bounce almost. Whats some cost effective options to make it feel better?
The truck has a lift (not sure how much or how to tell) looks like spacers above the front strut cant tell if the spindle or upper a arm is factory. Going to add some pics for you guys. It has what appears to be blocks in the rear. Wish i could figure out how tall the lift was. The tires are terra grapplers 275/65-20 LT tires.
Any help or similar issues im having? I gotta do something maybe coil overs or blistines all around i dont know!
facebook photos upload
screenshot studio
08-14-2018, 09:48 PM
#3
Pull the spacers out from the top front struts, and the extra blocks on the rear axle. That should cure your harsh ride. You might need a front end alignment after.
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08-14-2018, 09:53 PM
#4
The spacer lift, and LT tires are definitely contributing to your rough ride. If you want to keep the look, I would recommend switching to bilstein 5100 front and back, which would eliminate the level spacer on the front. Another step forward would be to replace with Fox / Icon Coilovers, but it all depends on how much you want to spend.
You could also go back to stock height & tires and gain back the smoother factory ride
Nice truck!!
You could also go back to stock height & tires and gain back the smoother factory ride
Nice truck!!
08-14-2018, 10:15 PM
#5
Member
Thread Starter
The spacer lift, and LT tires are definitely contributing to your rough ride. If you want to keep the look, I would recommend switching to bilstein 5100 front and back, which would eliminate the level spacer on the front. Another step forward would be to replace with Fox / Icon Coilovers, but it all depends on how much you want to spend.
You could also go back to stock height & tires and gain back the smoother factory ride
Nice truck!!
You could also go back to stock height & tires and gain back the smoother factory ride
Nice truck!!
08-14-2018, 10:16 PM
#6
Member
Thread Starter
08-14-2018, 10:25 PM
#7
The following 2 users liked this post by RLXXI:
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08-14-2018, 10:39 PM
#8
Removing a spacer style leveling kit and replacing it with a spring preload style probably won't change the ride quality in a positive way, but may not necessarily impact it in a noticeable way depending upon how much preload is added. When you preload load the spring it takes extra force for the suspension to compress the same distance from it's resting height. When a spacer is installed on top of the strut no extra force is needed to compress the suspension because the preload in the spring isn't changed.
I have coilovers on my truck and with the truck sitting at a 1" lowered height or stock height the ride is very soft and smooth, when preloading the front springs to raise the front end 2" the ride firms up and bumps are more noticeable, when preloading the springs to raise the truck 3" the ride is awful and not worth the added lift. The ride quality of a vehicle gets exponentially worse as the springs are preloaded, a little preload might not have a noticeable impact, but a significant preload can have a massive negative impact.
I'd be very interested to hear from people who ran Bilstein 5100s without any added preload and 2.25" spacers on top that later switched to just running them at the 2.25" lift preload setting. I remember reading a few complaints about ride quality from people who ran their Bilstiens at the full 2.25" preload setting.
I have coilovers on my truck and with the truck sitting at a 1" lowered height or stock height the ride is very soft and smooth, when preloading the front springs to raise the front end 2" the ride firms up and bumps are more noticeable, when preloading the springs to raise the truck 3" the ride is awful and not worth the added lift. The ride quality of a vehicle gets exponentially worse as the springs are preloaded, a little preload might not have a noticeable impact, but a significant preload can have a massive negative impact.
I'd be very interested to hear from people who ran Bilstein 5100s without any added preload and 2.25" spacers on top that later switched to just running them at the 2.25" lift preload setting. I remember reading a few complaints about ride quality from people who ran their Bilstiens at the full 2.25" preload setting.
08-15-2018, 09:57 AM
#9
Member
Thread Starter
Removing a spacer style leveling kit and replacing it with a spring preload style probably won't change the ride quality in a positive way, but may not necessarily impact it in a noticeable way depending upon how much preload is added. When you preload load the spring it takes extra force for the suspension to compress the same distance from it's resting height. When a spacer is installed on top of the strut no extra force is needed to compress the suspension because the preload in the spring isn't changed.
I have coilovers on my truck and with the truck sitting at a 1" lowered height or stock height the ride is very soft and smooth, when preloading the front springs to raise the front end 2" the ride firms up and bumps are more noticeable, when preloading the springs to raise the truck 3" the ride is awful and not worth the added lift. The ride quality of a vehicle gets exponentially worse as the springs are preloaded, a little preload might not have a noticeable impact, but a significant preload can have a massive negative impact.
I'd be very interested to hear from people who ran Bilstein 5100s without any added preload and 2.25" spacers on top that later switched to just running them at the 2.25" lift preload setting. I remember reading a few complaints about ride quality from people who ran their Bilstiens at the full 2.25" preload setting.
I have coilovers on my truck and with the truck sitting at a 1" lowered height or stock height the ride is very soft and smooth, when preloading the front springs to raise the front end 2" the ride firms up and bumps are more noticeable, when preloading the springs to raise the truck 3" the ride is awful and not worth the added lift. The ride quality of a vehicle gets exponentially worse as the springs are preloaded, a little preload might not have a noticeable impact, but a significant preload can have a massive negative impact.
I'd be very interested to hear from people who ran Bilstein 5100s without any added preload and 2.25" spacers on top that later switched to just running them at the 2.25" lift preload setting. I remember reading a few complaints about ride quality from people who ran their Bilstiens at the full 2.25" preload setting.
Also can anyone tell by the pics if everything is stock minus the spacers on the front end? Like are the upper a arms and spindles look stock? How can i figure out what size lift i have.
Is lifting the truck the proper way the only way to get a smooth ride ?
