Upgrade tires/suspension or downgrade mods?

I'm at a crossroads with my truck. It's not a comfortable ride but all due to mods I decided to install. I've got plate bumpers, sliders, full skids, and installed the OME 886 springs with firm nitrochargers. Also Dakar HD pack and superbumps. Riding on Pro Comp 7032 with General Grabber ATX in 285/75/16, load range E. I'm pretty unhappy with my ride quality and feel like my daily commute is beating me to death on the terrible roads in SC.

I've gotten close to pulling off my front bumper and skids so I can swap back to a softer suspension but I hate losing the protection and winch. Fwiw, I rarely offroad and built the truck with future plans to take it on expedition style trips since camping and fishing are my favorite pastimes, of course that hasn't happened yet since I work more than I care to so most of my offroad now is on forest service roads and undeveloped job sites. I dont have the funds to do so right now but I'm thinking about replacing the suspension with kings or going up a wheel size to get some Load C tires in 285/70/17. My other option is ditching all the steel up front and going to a milder suspension, potentially even going down in tire size. Love how the truck looks and its capable, but at this stage I can't afford a daily driver or dropping more money on it. Thoughts? I doubt I'm the first to mod and later wish I'd left it alone.

 

I hear the Dakar HD will make the rear very stiff and as far as the nitro chargers I would almost contemplate getting a different shock set and maybe replacing your Dakar HD's with just the standard Dakar's. Your truck looks good and I think unless you have your bed loaded down with stuff and pulling a trailer or camper the need for the HD may not be there as its my understanding that those are for people running a camper, carrying a bunch of weight or pulling often.

 

First try selling your tires and going with something different. You can even start with dropping your tire pressure down quite a bit. I run my load range E at 30 on the street.

 

I like @ovrlndkull idea of dropping the tire pressure. That helped my ride quite a bit.

Also, I’m running almost the same set-up on my regular cab, and regular cabs are notoriously rough riding/bouncy. What I did differently was go with the 887s instead of the 886s. I know the usual thought is that with weight up front over a certain amount one has to have 886s, and it’s true that you don’t quite get as much lift with the 887s, but I am sooo glad I went with the 887s. My suspension hasn’t drooped at all after it all settled in, and the ride is way more plush than even stock.

Even with your larger, heavier truck, it’s possible a lighter spring rate would benefit you, and maybe it’s worth a shot before dropping more coin on another suspension. I’m certainly no expert, though.

 

The Dakars are definitely beefy but I have a cap, rear hc bumper with swingout (33" spare), and carry my hilift in the bed. Not sure how the truck would sit without the extra leaf but I could always try it.

I just recently aired down to 30 psi cold in the tires and it did help some with bumps and potholes, only drawback is added sluggish-ness to acceleration. Been debating a regear but that's also something that'll cost a couple grand.

Appreciate the responses so far, I love my truck and wouldn't fathom selling it so I just want to get it back to a semi-plush ride without dropping a lot of coin. Maybe I can reason with my boss that I need a raise to accommodate my second wife.

 

In addition to airing down, you might consider swapping to Load Range C (lighter weight) tires. They'd likely improve ride, acceleration, and mileage.

 

That's what I'm looking at trying first. They don't make them in a 285/75/16 unfortunately so I'll have to buy some 17s and go with a 285/70/17, probably KO2s.

 

I have the old Dakar with the 3rd leaf removed. The ride is nice...borderline soft. I'm going to add the 3rd leaf back to see what it rides like. This pic is loaded up with 2 spares (265/75/16 c rated), a hi-lift and 50lbs of recovery gear, and another 150ish lbs of camping gear. Running Fox 2.0 with remote reservoirs in the rear which helps too.

 

Good looking rig, let me know your thoughts once you add the leaf back in. Suspension upgrade definitely something on my list.

 

You got weight in the back, so I would definitely keep the Dakars. I don't get why people say Dakars make the truck ride rough - I only have a couple hundred lbs in the rear for daily driving and think it's fine.

I would definitely start with the tires. Maybe even get a spare set of wheels with P tires for your commuting, if you think it's worth it for you.

But in the end, shit roads are shit roads. Even with all the mods I feel like my truck still rides better than our Kia Sportage, with its crappy shocks and low-profile tires. That thing hammers through the potholes, hard.

 

Front end is definitely what I feel most of the jarring feeling from. Rear end is really only uncomfortable if I hit some uneven or grooved road which makes it feel like a washboard road. I am still running a sway bar and could try pulling that off, but I don't know that it would help what feels like the suspension slamming onto the bump stops. My ride wasn't bad back when I had a spacer lift, same size and load tire, and no steel, but that was also in FL on much nicer roads.

 

You're likely over spring and under valved. I'ts not uncommon to see this with these trucks when you look at aftermarket options.

People will complain about the Dakars, but they are a cheap option that will preform the job well if done correctly. You have a hard shell so you've got a consistent 2-300lbs on the back. I would focus on the front.

As stated, start with a light load tire and maybe play with PSI. I'm not too familiar with the OME shocks, however the ones I have experienced were poor to say the least. Invest in a good performance shock King/Fox and play with valving and spring rates.

 

I feel you. I don't have all the armor or weight that you have but since swapping to nitrocharger shocks (887 coils, and Deaver AAL) and St Maxx tires my ride is pretty jarring. Especially on these Baltimore roads. If I hit a deep pothole or raised expansion joint i feel like im going to fly into the roof. And I can hear stuff in my bed flying up and then falling back down. I don't daily my truck though so its not quite as much of an issue for me.

I'm pretty sure my stiff ride is due to the tires though, cuz I don't remember it being this stiff during the couple days between installing my lift and installing my tires. Which is weird because I had KO2's before, also load range E and they werent this stiff. I'm currently running 29psi in the rear and like 32 in the front. With the Ko2s i ran like 34/35

 

I have had this same problem since mods were making my interstate commute fairly sucky. I went from 285/75/16 KO2’s to 275/70/17 Falkens that are load range C and did air bags in the rear on stock leaf pack with 3 leaf aal. I can air up for loads and keep them at 5 psi for unloaded commuting. The 275’s are a lot more street friendly than the last tires I had.

 

Good to know, I'm going to keep an eye out for deals the next month or two and see if I can swap my tire setup. Should recoup some money selling my setup now. Have you regeared or feel its needed with the load C tires since they usually weigh less?

 

I'd go in this order of operation:

1. Adjust tire air pressure
2. Put the taco on a diet. Remove what weight you can when you're DD'ing
3. Since you say the front's stiff try the 886s and see if they work for you. If not then put the 886s back on.
4a. If you can get by with smaller tires go for it. You'll probably save about 15lbs/tire if you go to 265s.
4b. A lighter wheel would also help. 16" and 17" SCS F5s are about 6lbs and 3lbs lighter than what you're running. A 20lb difference per corner would make a BIG difference!

I'm thinking Kings are out of the question as you can buy a commuter car for the price of those!

 

Why this order of operation? If the complaint is the truck is too stiff how can removing weight mitigate that?

 

I'm on 886s now so if I pull weight I'll definitely have to swap those out. I still have my Trd coils with a spacer in the garage

 

I went with cheapest (free) to most expensive options (new wheels + tires).

A lighter vehicle has less mass to bounce around on rough roads....hopefully that would help the ride. Of course it depends on the spring rates among other things.