Trailhunter Riding Rough

Yeah. It’s a fair bit confusing for me as it is also subjective. I’d love to ride in your truck and vice versa over bad roads.


I did not know that sidewalls are only relevant for the smaller hits.

 

Softer sidewalls definitely smooth over the bumps in the road and improve ride quality for smaller things. But the sidewalls and carcass of the tire can flex relatively little compared to the suspension travel. As speed increases and the size of the hits increase, the suspension and chassis are going to take the brunt of it. Meanwhile the sidewalls + air pressure must be sufficient to support the tire on the rim and prevent the rim from hitting the ground.

But yeah, hard to say without being in your (or my) truck on your dirt roads. I've driven my old F350 on washboards and ooooh boy, does it remind me of how you describe things. But that thing had a stupid long wheelbase, much heavier, E tires, crappy suspension, etc... basically, I wasn't surprised at all. I still remember blowing both front shocks going way too fast on a trail when it took a BIG hit. Shocks weren't even a month old, so I took it back and played dumb and they installed new ones for free

Hope you figure it out. Let us know.

 

I will. And I’m going to send a video. Thanks for the help to you and everyone else!

 

Do you still have the OEM wheels & tires? I'd have tried that long before now, just to eliminate the new tires from the equation...

 

that’s a fair point. Tires are with my buddy about 50 miles away and I’d need to remount and balance them and grab some new TPMS - but I will

 

I would have the off-road shop (Duggies) look at it first. Let them check the suspension, alignment and balancing. Especially if they are doing it free.

 

Put the identical stock 2025 TH tires on yours and enjoy the good ride again.

 

Try putting it in 4 wheel drive while driving straight at the speeds you notice the vibration.

Does the vibration go away when you put the truck into 4x4?

That is the telltale sign that the drivers side front diff bearing is causing your problem.

 

Hello my dudes. I’m about to drive home from my ranch in west central Texas where I put the truck through a battery of tests conditions. The truck is running perfectly.

I never gave the new wheel and tire combination a chance (17 pounds lighter per corner). It’s been only 2 weeks. Out here on the ranch the drop in unsprung mass down to near-OEM weight has resulted in profound improvement in handling and ride comfort. I’m able to corner on mountain roads at high speeds with no issue.

On rough roads, the improvement is dramatic. When I tested the new wheels and tires off-road last week it was on a road I’d never taken this truck and the PSI, I believe, was slightly high from the warm weather and highway driving (maybe 34 psi). Out here at the ranch, roads that would have rattled the truck to death were smooth sailing at very high speeds. Another factor is that the temps here are cold right now and dropped my psi to 27-29, making the truck very nice over awful roads. If I had had the PSI that low 2 weeks ago, I’m betting it would have been just as good. At that PSI range it’s so nice that I don’t feel a need to further air down.

I am a bit shocked at the difference.

I also did some tests weighed down and that makes the ride even better but it’s not necessary. If I had heavier tires that may be something to explore to readjust the sprung to unsprung mass ratio. But with these super light wheels, I’m all good even unloaded.

For now I’m super happy and surprised as to how different it is now. I took multiple videos going 40-60 mph on awful dirt / rock roads and 85 on a crappy asphalt road.

Thanks for everyone’s patience. I should have really tested things properly before spamming all of you. I’m keeping these Falkens. And I’m a big proponent of light aftermarket wheels. It makes such a big difference.

Earlier today we were on river rocks on the banks of the Nueces and my nephew said “this is really smooth”.

Summary: low unsprung weight + a few PSI drop for bad roads = great ride / nothing wrong with my suspension

 

I don't think you ever mentioned the wheel you selected in this thread. What is the exact wheel/tire combo and total weight of that assembly?

I run 15 psi on all dirt with SL rated Michelins at speeds to 70 on graded dirt/gravel in WY and some parts of CO.

Tire/wheel combo is 57.5 lbs new with 265/75-16s. Suspension performs much better with less weight to control for both compression and rebound of the suspension I use, especially off road at speed. Also acceleration and braking is significantly improved with the low output 3rd gen 6 cyl vs adding another 20 lbs to the rotating mass to each assembly. Last time heading across I90 west towards Buffalo, WY where speed limits are 80 mph and traffic flows 85 mph I came across another 3rd gen Tacoma that was traveling the same direction. We had some impromptu races from 60 mph to mid 90s up lengthy grade passes. I know he was running E rated tires. There was absolutely no comparison in acceleration up 1 mile long grades. I'd have him by at least 400 to 500 yards with ease. I could start behind him and pass him with ease as he watched me pull away with a completely stock 3rd gen.

Have done 1000s of miles of this stuff with SL load rating Michelin Defender LTX street tires and have yet to have any punctures nor a bead pop off the rim at 15 psi. Have been only stuck temporarily once when rocked up under the passenger frame rail. Piled rocks behind the front and back passengers side tires to reverse of the high center point.

 

Awesome.

Could you post the specs on your current config? Wheel make, model, size, offset, etc. along with the info on the tires? A picture would also be nice.

I can’t see anything on the other forum. I think the mods blocked me from seeing your info.

 

OEM setup was: 33lb Trailhunter wheels + 40 pound wrangler tire (73 pounds total).

Then I went to 33lb Trailhunter wheels + 60 pound 275/70/18 E load falkens. 93 pounds total. Great looking and nice diameter but didn’t ride so great for me. A hard ride on rough stuff and less nimble. Not everyone had my experience with similar setups, so I may be sensitive to those kinds of changes and I’m just speaking for myself.

Now I’ve got SCS Blaze 10 wheels (22.2 pounds) plus 285/70/17 Falkens that weigh 53.4 pounds - total 75.6 pounds each. (EXCELLENT wheels in every way) Very close to OEM and night and day better than the 93 pound setup from every dimension including ride comfort, handling, braking, gas mileage, and just an overall sporty nimble feel. Not everyone will like the wheels but they look great to me. They are also super light and have the ideal “poke”… and the tires are nice and fat. I’d love half an inch more diameter but these are close enough to perfect. And the Falkens are tough for S loads and extremely thick — they seemed as robust or more robust than a C load tire. I may experiment with another set of tires on my OEM wheels but I’m taking a break from the tire madness for a bit. Bottom line is I’m super happy with this setup. I get a big tire that is capable and looks great without any performance hit.

 

Thank you. I appreciate the info. Glad this resolved.

 

Looks great, should have come from the factory dressed with those wheels/tires.

 

That looks so good! The ones with +20?

 

Yes indeed +20; keeping the TH wheels for future projects

 

thanks dude

 

My brother’s Raptor comes with the same size tires - they are such a reasonable size and come in so many load options so I totally agree

 

On my third gen I also ran 265/75/16 which was a great size for that truck. I think I was just 6 pounds over OEM weight on my old truck and it was fine. Interesting you go down to 15psi. I should experiment a little more with tire pressures. The cold weather showed me how much of a difference it makes.

 

My wheel/tire assembly is ~ 3 lbs less than the 3rd gen factory assembly. Tire slightly heavier but light weight wheel offsets total weight more.

Use this tire psi calculator to determine what pressure is recommended for street use on your new tires vs stock along with the door jam placard. Here are the PSI results for my 3rd gen with a larger diameter tire that has a slightly higher load capacity.






If I had your set up I'd definitely experiment with lower pressures.

I use speed bleeders on each valve stem that bring down each tire to ~ 15 psi quickly. At times when temps have dropped I've been down to 12 psi in early morning at high elevation in the mountains.

Ride is much softer and the grip is substantial improved.

With the larger size 265/75-16 on a 16x8 wheel and additional load capacity over the factory 265/70-16 I run 27 psi cold for pavement. Door jamb placard suggests 29 psi cold for my Taco on stock OEM SL size tires.

If I didn't daily my truck I'd run a 285/70-17 SL rated Firestone Destination AT2 at 41 lbs on a FN six shooter at 21.8 lbs totaling 62.8 lbs. ~3 lbs over stock gen 3 assembly.


I'm running about 55-60 mph here on dirt road between Moki Dugway and Valley of the Gods in southern UT with Michelin LTX Defender street tires, SL load rating at 15 psi.

Wish I had that on-board compressor you have to air up quickly for pavement sections where I'll be at speed.