Why is my ride so damn rough?

I think he wants to completely rule out anything else and make sure it's the shocks by removing them from the equation. it may be a little bouncy depending on the road but try to get a normal traveled road for comparitive

 

Not sure if it's been asked because reading / attention span, what's your tire pressure set at? That's where your ride starts out. If enough stupid things have been done to the truck then there's a chance someone over filled them.

 

Id

have to check when I get home, I don't think that's the fix, but it sure wouldn't help the ride feel smoother

 

Alright so checked the pressure, it was running about 60 psi I took it down to 35 psi, rides a lot better, but the back is still a little jumpy and stiff, but the front feels a lot better

 

Nothing like driving around with bricks for tires lol. 30-32 should be good depending on the weight in front and in back. You can always test it with some chalk across the tires and see where it's wearing to tell if they're over or under filled. I usually use 30 as a baseline (can adjust up or down as needed) and feel it out from there and never have had a bad time with wear or ride quality. Ymmv as always.

 

Hmm...actually that's still too high I think. My '98 Taco only calls for 26 psi in front and 29 psi in the rear. My '01 T4R calls for 29/29 psi. Check the sticker on the driver's door frame and see what it calls for.

 

I don't run my LTs above 38. jumpy and stiff can still be the empty bed. throw some bricks or sand bags and test it out along with the other suggestions

 

that's with stock crappy tires for "softer" ride feel. go by the manufacturers recommendation

 

If you mean Toyota's recommendation, yes. Not by the tire manufacturer's. Their specs listed on the tire are a general maximum not vehicle specific since the tire is meant to be fitted on a large number of vehicles of different wheel bases and weights. Always go by the sticker on the door. It IS vehicle specific and meant for a large array of tires. Of course, you can always run them a little high to improve fuel economy, but it'll be at the expense of ride and handling.

I run my 33x13.50-15 bias ply LTBs on my '98 at the pressure listed on the sticker and it's been working fine for 4 years. If it works for bias plys, it'll work for any radial you put on it.

 

Once you start modding and adding weight or oversized tires, every vehicle and tire setup will be different. 30psi is the baseline I use, but it's a process of driving and seeing what the most comfortable setting is for you. Too hard or soft and you'll run into issues, but fine tuning it isn't going to take it out of a reasonable range if you're moving in small increments. I might try the chalk method in the future, but I've never had any issues with my method of gradual adjustments based on what I feel ride wise.

 

Unless you're adding weight that exceeds what the vehicle was designed to operate under or have radically changed the way the suspension operates (I.E.: SAS, linking the rear with coilovers, etc...) the door sticker will still be mostly accurate. But yeah, your fine tuning for what's comfortable for you would likely be okay. The chalk method, I would say, could only be reliably used on new tires that haven't been worn on the edges from turning or being worn from being run at low pressure off-road (almost half the mileage on my tires has been off-road at 12-15 PSI).

 

at the angle those shocks are at youl have a nice bit more wheel travel vs shock travel. im no so sure hes bottoming those shocks. atleast not all the time.

op should flex truck out and check how much wheel can be stuffed

 

Man you're right - I thought adding fuzzy dice was modding. My bad. And if your tires are worn that unevenly you were doing something wrong.

 

Under articulation, yes, but not under just straight up and down cycling of the suspension that happens on the road or trail when traveling at speed.

 

Negative. When running wide tires, it's normal for them to feather on the outer edges of the steering tires from turning corners...at least with mud terrains it is and I would imagine the same happens with A/Ts even if it's subtler.

And by what I meant by adding weight that exceeds what the vehicle was designed to operate under, I didn't mean just adding extra weight over stock. I meant exceeding the vehicle's GVWR, which should be considerably more than adding larger tires and a set of off-road bumpers and armor, although admittedly, it'd be pretty close depending on how carried away you got. And by radically altering the suspension, I meant things like Jlee's truck. it's pretty much a completely different vehicle with a Tacoma cab sitting on it.

 

Add Bump stops, and change the mounting point of the shock so while at ride height you are in the middle of the shocks travel.

 

when the first set of tires ran out I never went by the sticker. I also don't max out the pressure as you stated.

maybe it's just me but mid 30's was way better than 20's for ride and fuel. I even went to 40 on my Firestone A/Ts and loved it. I still have at least 5k left on them and I put over 50k on them (I'm actually wanting another set but not buying any right now). And now I keep 38 on the S/T Maxx for DD (although my hilly terrain kills mpg more )

 

Also depends on the load rating of the tires. Wider tires with more plys will usually need less pressure. Best way to be sure is to do the chalk test. Door sticker is always a good place to start tho.

 

Never really did the chalk test, but I have taken note of various things that produce a similar effect. The tracks the tires make on the dry carport when they are wet, for instance, or the dust that sticks to the contact treads. When I first put the tires on, they left a solid track of each tread block and each tread block had an even coat of dust all the way across with the door sticker recommended PSI. A few months ago, I rotated the tires for the first time. I noticed that the rears now are only imprinting on the center two tread blocks. I'm pretty sure that because they spent 5k as steering tires and the outer blocks have feathered off (this is the reason for rotating the tires), but it could also be that they were run at a lower street pressure and about half that 5k was run off-road at 12-15 psi as well.

 

I'm definitely gonna chalk test my 37s and keep track of the pressure, and rotate them at regular intervals. I ruined my old duratracs by being lazy...