Softer bushings?

If I have only one complaint about the first gen it's the inherently rough ride. I have done things like get soft 881s with 5100s (so far the softest setup). Then new OEM rubber LCA bushings that nailed some bad NVH from totally blown and rotted out originals.

But even with all of that, that was still a harshness, I'm growing the opinion that the short/stumpy control arms are to blame, that this is inherent in our geometry.

That said I want to continue giving project old man ride a go. I have since gone to Icons with CDC and will be doing the slow speed stack upon rebuild. I'm curious if there are bushings options that are actually softer than OEM.

I almost want to give Chinese bushings a shot anticipating they are softer than stock as a fault. The IS300 guys would get Chinese rubber bushings to replace blown ones and be pissed at how much deflection they had during cornering (ended up being softer than stock). I'd actually hedge on this to nip that last bit of nvh I think the OEM bushings transmit.

Any legit brands out there that actually advertise a softer durameter?

And yes I know it's a truck, I'm not comparing to a town car, but to other trucks like 2nd gens, Nissan frontier etc.

 

I have no personal experience with them, but the consensus seems to be that 5100s are a pretty harsh ride generally. I had the same issue with nitrochargers.
Icons are digressive valving, they will be stiffer at slow speeds. I would go for something with a progressive piston design, like King’s or Fox, with slow speed shim stacks. Those should provide a softer ride at low shaft speeds.

The idea of a softer durometer LCA bushing is interesting, I would think that you could get increased bump steer and general lack of handling though. Maybe @Plastics Guy has some knowledge he can drop about that.

 

So, 5100's aren't what I (or most anyone) would call "soft"... I wouldn't say the ride is "harsh" but certainly "truck like". I felt the ride improved when I installed 5100s on mine, but I also had a sweet set of craptastic worn out OEM shocks and springs. So in my case, throwing rocks at it would have improved the ride.

Bushings aren't the cause of your issue. Even if it were, your only other choice would be polyurethane bushings (i.e. energy suspension), which are actually stiffer than the stock rubber bushings. Just stick with OEM or Whitelines. You do NOT want a softer rubber anyway, all that would do is decrease steering response, and it would feel like you're driving in oatmeal.

From what I understand, Monroes offer a "better" ride in this respect, but the compromise is off-road performance. Since the 5100s are marketed more towards the dirtbags who take their trucks off road, that's where the compromise is; on-road ride feel.

If you want a superior on-road ride without compromising off road performance, you're going to have to look to Fox or King. The problem with ICONs (as well as the 5100s) is that the are a digressive shock, which means they don't do well with small and large hits, but handle G-outs really well. This is great for some types of offroad, but not that great for on-road feel.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/digressive-vs-linear-vs-progressive-pistons-shock-valving/

These pretty blue shocks are amazballs, and I also run the "harsher" poly bushings, too:

 

Yeah I kick myself in the ass every day not going Kings.

That said the research and calls I made the Icons should become very comprible to the Kings once the slow speed stack is done. People constantly point out icon is degressive but the shock graph is a weird stiff spike at slow speed, a quick drop off at higher speed (I guess hence diagressive) but then aggressively gets stiffer at higher speed like the first half of a bell curve. It's like a weird hybrid digressive + linear that causes a bell curve post initial slow speed stiffness. I'd love to see an overlay with Kings Dyno and bet at hard hit/speed the dampening is very similar. I applaud Icon for what they are trying to accomplish and I smile every now and then when the slow speed stiffness is an advantage (probably saved my ass on the freeway once when someone merged into me). That said I'm pretty sure on getting rid of it.

The 5100s were soft IMO, maybe it's because my truck is a TRD and had the super stiff Billy blue and yellows? Those blue and yellows were really harsh.