F150 Suspension

[N80]

I have a 2003 Ford F150 SuperCrew (4 door) 4wd with towing package and Triton V8. All my life I've driven manual Japanese 4wd trucks but in 2003 I needed a full size truck and this truck has served me well even though I still prefer small trucks.

It is also going to have to continue to serve me for some time as I don't see a new vehicle anywhere in the near future. It has low miles, about 45,000. It has the "FX4" offroad package which primarily consists of Rancho (or Rancho look-alike shocks).

My probelm is the off-road ride quality. On road, around town, on the interstate it rides like a car. Very comfortable. However, off road it is awful. It is like driving a boat. It bounces, plunges, rocks side to side and with any speed becomes almost uncontrollable. You are either on the ceiling or trying to stay out of the passenger seat. I'm used to the stiff little Japanese suspensions where you hit hard once and that's it, no residual bouncing or rocking.

What mods can I make to get the off-road ride a little firmer and more controlled. I am willing to sacrifice some of the on-road plushness to get a better off-road ride. I do not want to significantly alter towing characteristics.

I will be putting slightly larger tire on, but nothing requiring a lift kit. I DO NOT want to lift the truck.

If anyone can make specific recommendations as to shocks (gas charged, dual, whatever), different or better anti-sway bars, anti-sway bar bushings or tuning, torsion bar adjustment, it would be greatly appreciated. Especially if based on personal experience. Thanks!

 

[caddelma]

There are bunch of different ways to stiffen up the ride offroad, namely shocks. I would venture to say the Rancho shocks on your truck are a Ford-speced tune, i.e. good highway manners like you have, but too soft for the rough stuff. If you are looking for a firm highway ride and a good offroad shock, I would reccomend Bilstein. They are pricer than others, but have a good reputation. Shop around for the best price, used to be special ordering through autozone was the cheapest or through the internet.

If you are looking for something cheaper, there is a Monroe Reflex shock with is cousin to the Rancho RSX. Both are nearly identical and will be stiffer than what you have stock now. I would advise to get a monotube style shock. That is what the bilsteins are and some of the newer Monroe Reflex shocks. May have been what was on the other trucks you had. They tend to react a lot faster than other shock designs, i.e. twin tube or plain old hydraulic shocks.

If you need more info let me know...I could go one forever!!!

 

[Jarrett]

I have a 2003 Ford F150 SuperCrew (4 door) 4wd with towing package and Triton V8. All my life I've driven manual Japanese 4wd trucks but in 2003 I needed a full size truck and this truck has served me well even though I still prefer small trucks.

It is also going to have to continue to serve me for some time as I don't see a new vehicle anywhere in the near future. It has low miles, about 45,000. It has the "FX4" offroad package which primarily consists of Rancho (or Rancho look-alike shocks).

My probelm is the off-road ride quality. On road, around town, on the interstate it rides like a car. Very comfortable. However, off road it is awful. It is like driving a boat. It bounces, plunges, rocks side to side and with any speed becomes almost uncontrollable. You are either on the ceiling or trying to stay out of the passenger seat. I'm used to the stiff little Japanese suspensions where you hit hard once and that's it, no residual bouncing or rocking.

What mods can I make to get the off-road ride a little firmer and more controlled. I am willing to sacrifice some of the on-road plushness to get a better off-road ride. I do not want to significantly alter towing characteristics.

I will be putting slightly larger tire on, but nothing requiring a lift kit. I DO NOT want to lift the truck.

If anyone can make specific recommendations as to shocks (gas charged, dual, whatever), different or better anti-sway bars, anti-sway bar bushings or tuning, torsion bar adjustment, it would be greatly appreciated. Especially if based on personal experience. Thanks!

I second the Bilstein's. I put a set on my '97 F-150 4x4 and it rode much better. I don't remember where I ordered them, but it was online though.

 

[N80]

I've been interested in the Bilsteins. They are expensive but worth it I'm sure. I have used various Rancho shocks in the past and have been pleased. The best was a gas charged set I put on a Nissan pickup in the late 80's. They made a huge difference. Does anyone even make gas charged shocks anymore? (In other words, these were pressurized. When you cut the band that held them in the compressed position the rod end pops out to full extension. It takes considerable muscle to compress it again for installation).

I'm sure a more heavily damped shock will help, but one of the biggest problems is roll. If you drop a tire into a low spot or hit a bump, the truck pitches to one side then rolls back. Sometimes this seems to go on for several cycles (and has been this way since I got the truck new). I'm assuming it has anti-sway bars but I've never checked. Are there different types of antisway bars? Would increasing the front ride height with a torsion bar adjsutment help any. I know nothing about these torsion bars either. I suspect they are single stage rather than progressive. I wonder if anyone makes a progressive torsion bar for this truck?

 

[RobertN]

Rancho RS9000's . They are an adjustable shock. On my F250 I had the manual adjust; a little knob on the side of the shock. 9 settings soft to firm. When I was running empty, I ran the fronts at 6, backs at 4. When I hauled the camper, I ran the fronts at 7, backs at 8. worked really well. You can tune them to your needs.

They also make a set with remote control from the dash. It was more $$$ than I wanted to spend.

 

[IH3444]

Have had good luck with KYB gas shocks. OEM for some japanese cars, and trucks.

 

[rozett]

I have an Excursion 4x4, which is essentially an F250 with back seats, but I can tell you that the stock shocks are junk. Most 4x4's never see off-road, so the shocks are optimized for the street. Both Rancho and Bilsteins are great shocks. Most of the guys on the several Ex forums that I frequent have upgraded to those brands. I went with the Rancho RSX's, but you might want to consider the Rancho 9000's because they are adjustable and you can dial in more stiffness when you need it.

If a lot of your movement is side to side, you should seriously look into both front and rear sway bars. My Ex came with one on the front (because they put soccer-mom shocks up front).... I bought a Hellwig rear swaybar from JC Whitney. It was well worth the $$. If you are going to do a lot of off-roading, you might want to invest in better springs. The plow package usually puts stiffer springs up front to handle the extra weight. I'm sure stiffer springs are also available for the rear. Check with a local spring shop.

 

[N80]

I just checked. Anti-sway bar up front. None on the rear. I guess I'll do this incrementally. Upgrade the shocks first then consider an anti-sway bar for the rear.

I doubt I'll go as far as replacing springs and an internet search doesn't turn up replacement torsion bars for the front. Plus, this truck tows far better than I expected. With a 4000 lb tractor on a 2000 lb trailer it hardly squats in the rear at all. I don't want to mess with that.

Any wisdom regarding turning the torsion bars a bit to increase ride height up front? I've done it on my import trucks in the past with no problems. I'm just talking about minor changes, nothing drastic, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

 

[monkeymonk]

What you NEED are air bags. not Rancho ####, or Bilstein wallets,ETC.......look for The kind you fill with a compressor or in vechile system. I own a 2000 F-150 #7700 and have blown through shocks literally! we liveed up a 16 mile dirt, wash board,pot holed ,rutted forest service road for years still do as a matter of fact...just not all the time right now live at the beginning of that road, but thats another thread. after going through shock after shock and even snapping the rear leaf spring shackles we got air bags/air ride bags and new shocks. They rock and are fully adjustable hardly even feel the horrible roads we ride. When i haul heavy loads i just add more air. Ill post pics and better info tommorow

 

[N80]

I'll give it a look. However, even though my truck spends a lot more time off-road than most, I'm not likely to expose it to the type of abuse you are referring to.

And yet, in my younger days I used to do a lot of recreational four wheeling (also known as tearing up expensive trucks) with my Nissan pick up. I'm talking about mudding, hill climbing and a bit of 'airborne' stuff too....we were all kids once right? I broke some stuff here and there. Bent the drive shaft once. But, even with all that, the Rancho shocks held up just fine for over 120,000 miles and even when the truck was totalled those Ranchos looked fine.

So I'm not too worried about breaking shocks at this point.