Rough Rider

[homeboy]

I purchased a Dodge Ram 50 recently. I am driving it on Michigan roads which are very bumpy with potholes all over. I find that this truck rides harder than my 1974 Volkswagen Beetle. Do all of these little trucks have stiff suspension? Thanks

[tortron]

The ones I have driven do, they handle better with some weight on.
Mine is particularly stiff, if it needs rebuilding one day I might make it a bit more comfort minded

[geezer101]

Bear in mind these trucks are shop mules. They were made for hauling crap so the suspension has to be compliant enough to handle a payload. Be grateful - the equivalent Hilux truck is gawdawful to drive. They handle more like a car in this respect (well, the 2WD's do...)

[pennyman1]

If you want to soften up the ride, remove the stiff bottom leaf out of the rear spring packs - it will get rid of the spring board effect you are getting. Only do this if you don't intend to haul lots of weight on a regular basis.

[xboxrox]

I think my truck rides a little stiffer than 2000 era S-10 trucks... I have decided to buy new shock absorbers, KYB is selling ones that are most like OEM in regard to min & max shock length... The OEM replacement are twin tube type but I am considering monotube type shocks, KYB has both... I hope they (monotube type) don't cause the truck to ride too stiff..? Hope this helps...

[Giovanni89]

You get used to it. When I first got mine I was amazed at how rough the ride was, and it has bilstien shocks. They are rated for a decent amount of cargo but don't have a ton of suspension travel. Put a thousand pounds in the bed and it rides like a caddillac :thumbup:

[haruman]

I once had 1400 lbs of laminate flooring in my truck and it was an amazingly smooth ride home :D

[xboxrox]

Oh my..? You guys got me thinking now that I should just get the stock twin tube type shocks... So far the heaviest thing we loaded was a body board, swim fins, ice chest and beach ball...

Much of the local Hawaiian roads near our place are full of pot holes or peppered with patch bumps... Crappy roads...

But I still wanna try monotube shocks & eventually figure out limit straps for the rear...

Will be ordering them real soon; so far, Amazon has the best prices for KYB... Will do install pictures too...

Ah-Low-hA <--- huh? possible vanity plate?

[dash]

well there's your answer.... weight will smoothen the ride, not shocks. Not made to dampen stiff springs
Softer sprung with good shock will getcha a nice car-like ride, at the expense of load carrying capacity

A cousin contacted that company with the huuugggeee add in Truckin magazine back in the day
Goal was a smooth daily ride 94 chevy 1500 with a 4/6 drop. Accepted the compromise
New leafs, low front springs, drop spindles, short shocks later... a sharp looking, decent handling pickup with a shockingly smooth ride
I told him it rode better than his LS400 Lexus. He said he was tryin to convince himself that, "it ain't so".


typical chevy trucks stock; springy cushioned seats, tall tire, softer springs r smoother than the mitsu

[geezer101]

...typical chevy trucks stock; springy cushioned seats, tall tire, softer springs r smoother than the mitsu

May be so, but they won't carry what the 'light pick up Mitsu' can handle. But then go and drive the alternatives. Nissan - horrid handling and ride. Toyota - underpowered and bland. Been saying it forever - every vehicles' got it's quirks and the Mitsu truck wasn't meant to be a sports car, it's a work horse.

[dash]

yeah, we accept the workhorse MITSU intended it to be, but......
many of us silly folk wanna transform the little turd into what WE want it to be.... so we 'tinker' n prioritize accordingly
Spawned quite a few fast low good riding/handling mitsu pickups. Variety is good

[xboxrox]

STOCK does it for me; this truck don't ride too bad and it tracks really straight, surprised me... Modified vehicles are cool except for one mod that I really don't appreciate... Knobby tires that extended way beyond the body sheet metal; them suckers are prone to throw rocks...

Well, I got educated about my truck's shocks yesterday; I was not completely sure if they needed to be replaced... I have kept putting off jumping on the bumpers to check them mostly because I am lazy... Am too old & rather frail for that cramp..! Anyway, thanks to the US Air Force at Bellows main gate, I got a free shock absorber test... They have Jersey barriers and wicked plastic speed bumps at the main gate entrance and when the truck's front end got over the speed bump it bounced up n' down about 3 or 4 times before it settled down... Wife says to order the shocks; I keep putting it off, I am so lazy, retirement has made me even lazier..?

Reading these posts is an education too, thanks guys...

[geezer101]

Retirement = no rush. If you had to do long trips to work everyday, having a reliable and safe vehicle becomes a priority (then it becomes the 'when do I find the time and money thing'). I bought a pair of foam filled double wall shocks - they were cheap enough and the reviews on them were mediocre. But seeming I'm not going off road they will at least be better than the badly beaten 30 year old originals I yanked off it... won't know until it's on the road. These trucks are pretty compliant and predictable to drive, I still can't get over how crap Yotas of the same vintage compare on the road.

[xboxrox]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq_iP5lQsAU

Toyota Hilux trucks both old n' new are the preferred machine gun/cannon carriers in the miggle east; the old Hilux looks much like a Gen II D50 twin...
Finally got KYB monotube front shocks installed; no more bouncing & much better turning, etc.., rears next Tuesday... These trucks are scarce to find anymore... The turning radius is nice, U turns so easy...

Loving Mitsubishi

[pennyman1]

Now you know why when we get these trucks, we don't want to part with them. I have owned Geronimo 38 years August 2nd - bought him new. My Dad said he would rust away in 5 years - it took 10, but my friend and I rebuilt him better than new and I still have him to drive when I want to.