King's and Your Ride Quality

Have I drank too much of the blue Koolaid? As I read more and more on this site I see my fair share of people talk about how their King's "ride like butter" or "Like driving on a cloud". I want to come out and say mine ride like neither. I will say it feels like stock and at times almost a tad bit harsher. So what am I missing? Is everyone lying when they say this? Did I spend money on social media cred? Am I expecting too much? I should probably give a brief history of my time with these King's before I go any further.

I have approximately ten months on my shocks between two trucks and 5k miles. I guess I should also mention which model they are: Extended Travel with 650# Coils. First truck had IFS skid, Mid skid, and sliders for weight(I had purchased a bumper as well as tranny skid for weight hence the 650#). I installed them as is out of the box with no adjustment, I felt the height provided was adequate. My tires on this truck were Cooper ST MAXX filled between 30-40 psi the entire time I owned it. Ride at this point felt firmer than stock. I remember trying it out on some speed bumps only to be disappointed. It felt to me as if the shocks were hardly even cycling. But I simply chalked this up to not enough weight. This truck meets its premature demise to a ditch after work one day.

Fast-forward to my current truck and things are slightly different but not much. Unfortunately one of my shocks had a bent shaft from the wreck. I took this opportunity to send them off to Accutune to be repaired and re-valved. They also added some preload for me. The preload was not anything extreme but just enough for the lean. I had heard many good things about them and re-valving shocks in general. My truck has the same Coopers on it as well as the skids and sliders. I have since added a bumper, winch, and a T-case skid. So I figured adding close to 200 pounds to the front I could finally use the 650# coils correctly. This proved to be another disappointment. I honestly feel no different in my ride. Accutune even called and asked me how I wanted my valving to be. I told them softer than factory, which he agreed is very stiff. When I hit a pothole I figured based on all my readings it would soak it right up, instead I feel every single inch of the pothole. A 15mph parking lot test of speed bumps prove the same answer. It has become a big let down to me.

I should probably bring my expectations to earth so everyone understands what I want. I don't drive through the desert at high speeds in Baja nor do I abuse my truck in general. I'm not expecting the ride to feel like a "cloud" or "butter" but this has to be better than stock. So with all of that in mind there has to be a list of things I can check or do to remedy all of this. I have a couple things in mind but does anyone have any better ideas? I have:

• Tweaking tire pressure a bit
• Installation error
• Swapping to 600# coils
• Bad re-valve(Doubt it)
• Tire Load Range (E)
• Expecting too much
• Adjust preload

TL;DR
Truck with King's rides worse than expected, have I been tricked by the internet on ride quality or is there something on my end to fix?

 

I'd say you prob need more weight. I rock the same spring rate you do with a slimline bumper, winch, group 31 battery, mobtown sliders and similar skids to yours. The Maxx aren't helping any, and I def noticed my shocks feel a little stiffer after I put mine on coming from SL tires.

Edit: I see your truck 2.0 is a little more equipped. I def notice potholes and stuff are harsher. seems to really shine in more of "roller" terrain.

 

My dad recently commented without prompting, "I thought this thing would ride better". So I do have at least one other person feeling that way. I haven't asked my girlfriend yet on her opinion. As to the lift height I wrote it down on some scrap paper but I can't find it at the moment but it is every bit of 2.5". My upper control arms are JBA High Caster.

Forgot to mention I have a group 31 as well. But I'm not blind to the fact that I have some rather heavy E range tires. The tires won't make the plushest of rides. I don't expect to simply roll over everything without feeling it but it has to be better than this. It is right along the line of harsh going over some bumps.

I attached some pictures to show my preload. First is driver and second is passenger.

 

Weird.

Can't speak for Kings but my 2011 is on 2.5 Icons with 700lb springs. Preload on them is less then your passenger side is.
DCSB with a shell, high clearance rear with tire carrier, front winch bumper, winch, sliders, larger then stock battery, racks and a front skid. She is a heavy bitch

It is the first vehicle I have owned on coilovers and it manages to ride really nice and handle quite well for a truck with no front swaybar.

Uneducated guess: Too much preload, not enough spring? Maybe too much tire pressure?

 

ITT: OP wants truck to ride like a car from the 60's but with suspension made to take big hits.....

You are going to need to get fancy with valving, or rifle the bores of the shocks to get a smooth plush better than factory boat ride to achieve what you want. Unfortunately, as many have learned, its hard to have your cake and eat it too!

 

I have the adjustable kings and on low setting they are much smoother/softer riding than stock. I'm just below 2.5 inch lift on E rated tires. No real extra weight yet.

 

I'm interested in the ride quality as well. Hell most of us commute with our trucks, I'd want some on road comfort to go with performance in a set of coilovers that cost close to $3k.

 

Mine rides great, load C range tires, 700 lb springs with full skids, winch, bumpers, very little preload, sits 2 + over stock hight. Good luck.

 

When it comes to suspension, confirmation bias is often directly proportional to the amount of money spent.

 

Also curious here

 

I had 700# coils and thought it was rough. So I switched to 650, and i love it. I can get speedbumps faster, and its still like butter. I have similar preload too. Maybe try lowering the preload? Or changing the pressure in the resi?

i have a hybrid bumper, winch, full skids and sliders, and an arb dual compressor up front. And same tires

 

I too have noticed increased preload seems to stiffen the overall ride feel. Especially over the smaller, quicker hits.

 

my 700 seem to "unload violently" but the compression side of things is great....I'm FULL steel front & rear winch, run my 285's at around 25psi and no sway bar. Rides awesome except for the unload of the spring. Was thinking of doing limit straps to help soften that fully extended "bang" feeling.

 

This is all night shifts ramblings so I haven’t had time to mess with it. I might drop a little on preload and go from there.

Between adding more weight and having Accutune valve it softer than factory, I figured there would be a slight improvement. Am I wrong in thinking that?

I think your C range tires help a lot.

 

Maybe yours need revalved for dampened rebound . Suspension is rarely perfect on the first go round and sometimes needs tweaked as setups change and driving styles differ.

 

and if you have LT

 

Took me 3 times until I got mine right. Once you get them setup, you will know why they are called Kings.

 

Basically my thoughts too.

I kind of thought the "off road racing shocks" slapped on it in plan view would be an indicator that it isn't going to ride like a Cadillac on the road.

 

Maybe @AccuTune Offroad could comment on this.

 

I’m following what you are saying. Just spent the last 10 days trail riding through CO and UT. So I will say I “wheel” the truck but it’s also my daily. I will take this as a lesson learned though on expectations for ride quality. I will play around a little with preload.

Yeah I guess I am expecting too much. I should ground myself a little more to reality on the ride.