Need help with rough ride

I have an access cab second gen and I'm trying to get to figure out why she rides so rough up front. I have Icon 2.5 shocks set to 2.5" of lift, 17x8 inch wheels wrapped in BFG mud terrain tires 255 x 75 R17. I also have total chaos UCA's. The truck feels like I'm riding on flint stone wheels some times. It's not that I don't expect a firmer ride. I know that this set up will ride more firm than stock but firm isn't how I would describe it. I can actually here the components shutter or resonate a bit when I go over minor road bumps. And offroading is a nightmare unless I air out significantly. My buddy is running nearly the same setup except he has toyo a/t 265/75 R16. His feels a lot smoother and less harsh on the truck.

Any ideas? Is it the mud terrain tires? Could it have something to do with the caster? I know my caster is around 4 and people on here seem to recommend 2. Any ideas at all would be great. I generally run 35psi on the street and 20psi offroad.

 

I would try running more around 30 psi on street.. Your tires being mud terrain shouldnt make that much of a difference.

 

your shocks are set on the firmest setting to give it a lift you also have one more inch of rim then your friend, i rode in my buddies 98 and i have a 96 taco same engine he had larger tires 33's me 31's on 15 inch rims and driving his felt very rough almost jaring, he has the 2.5 adjustable coils and i have the spacer lift. i run 32 on all my vehicles no matter what and seem to have good soft ride. compared to 35

 

that is why i sold my icons, they are too firm for street use. and even offroad they seemed too stiff unless you were hitting long rollers.

 

Do you think getting lift spindles and then lowering the coils down to stock or maybe an inch of lift at the most would cure the problem? I really want this setup to work well but money is tight. On the other hand I don't want to destroy my struck. Also what about getting some 33" tires. I was under the impression more tire rubber will releave some of that jaring ride. Is that the case?

 

Lowering the coils down will help a little. If you take all the preload off them they will still give you about 1 inch of lift, but they will ride kinda firm still, but yes better. As for the tires helping most likely not because most of the offroad tires you would be interested in have stiffer sidewalls than your stock tires. Not saying they will be worse they just won't make it better.
If you get spindles then youll need a new leaf pack as well and you will have about 5 inches of lift so you would want to run 295 or maybe even 315 tires.

 

I'm running the icon 3 leaf progressive add a leaf to give 1.5" lift in the rear. I don't mind having a nose high stance with the spindles as long as it gets rid of that jaring ride. There's this little trail behind my house because I live in the mountains and it's rutted out a little because of the rain. When I drive over these small little ruts the tire makes this bang sound when it drops in. That's why I said they sound like flintstone tires because their is no forgiveness to them at all. I have to drive at five mph just otherwise it sounds like the truck might rattle apart. If I lower to 20psi its quite a bit better but not amazing. My logic with the 285 or 315 tire is that I can run a lower pressure all the time and even more so offroading. The extra rubber should help out right?

 

How long ago did you buy your icons in the front? I just got mine and they had the shims messed up and had to rebuild the shock.

 

With bigger tires running a little less pressure and loosening up those coils you should be good. The bigger tire will put more pressure on the suspension as well so it will feel softer as well because the suspension is supporting more weight.

 

How much thread is showing on top of the coilovers? If it is any more than 1.5, you can crank them down a bit.

Either way you probably want to call icon and get them revalved. I had the same problem as you and now my truck runs MUCH smoother with 3" lift.

 

I actually bought them off one of the guys at Icon and he's been really good to me. I had new seals put in them and shortly there after I had them revalved to be a little faster on the compression and slower on the re bound. They're at blast at ocotillo with the tires aired out. The only other thing I can think of is that the 255 tire on a 17x8 wheel leaves the sidewall very straight and linear compared to concaved or bowed out some. In other words the wheel is wider than the tire.

Oh and I had this same issue with my billy's when I had those. So that leaves wheels, tires, and suspension geometry to be considered. That's as far as I've narrowed it down.

 

are your tires lt or pmetric?

 

your tires are a part of your suspension!

 

They are LT tires

 

No I believe they are load range C. If that makes them passenger tires I guess that's what they are. But they do say load range C

 

im thinking its the tires because my buddy has icons all around and it drives like a dream. much better than my SAWs i think

 

I think I'm going to ditch the mud terrains than. Just not my thing for my set up. Maybe I can get some money back for them.

 

Im thinking bigger tires. My ride got better when I went up to 285s. its rolls over things rather than falling into them

 

with the noise youre hearing when it drops into holes does it sound like your ball joints hitting your spring? WHen i put spacer lift on my 96 i would be going over rutts or humps in road just enough to lift front end off ground and the balljoint jams into my front coils. only thing i can think off would be a limiting strap or new Total chaos upper a arms with the fancy balljoint. Any ideas other than what ive explained might prevent this from occuring?

 

The upper control arm is a total chaos and I checked to see if it hits at full droop which it does not. I'm thoroughly convinced at this point that it is the tires because I hear the sound on any rough washboard terrain no matter how little the suspension is actually compressing. It's just plain rough and non absorbing of any road bumps. I have brand new 33" all terrains on their way. I think mud terrains are either not for me or they just aren't right for this wheel.