The "loaded down" ride...

[Tlowe]

Moving out of college for the summer this weekend and after doing a mix of city and highwya driving I absolutely love the ride of my truck when there is actually some weight over the rear axle!
When its completely empty with just driver and passenger in front, it is so bouncy and it is very jolting. it's like the spring rate is too stiff. When I had maybe 150-200+ lbs of weight in the trunk it feels so planted and the truck just glided right over small bumps. one of my biggest complaints with the suspension on our trucks is that when there is no weight in it I feel every single little bump and pebble on the road even with stock tires and no lift. So adding weight completely solved this.
So my question is:
How do i get this loaded down feel without any weight in the truck?
Do they make springs that can handle the normal amount of cargo weight in a stock truck (150-250 lbs) but will offer that loaded down and planted feel without any weight? I know the basics about springs and such and I have seen things about progressive spring rates but who makes them for our trucks? I don't need a huge lift spring either, 1-2 inches is fine. If you have any personal input please contribute.

Thanks!

 

[sn_85]

Moving out of college for the summer this weekend and after doing a mix of city and highwya driving I absolutely love the ride of my truck when there is actually some weight over the rear axle!
When its completely empty with just driver and passenger in front, it is so bouncy and it is very jolting. it's like the spring rate is too stiff. When I had maybe 150-200+ lbs of weight in the trunk it feels so planted and the truck just glided right over small bumps. one of my biggest complaints with the suspension on our trucks is that when there is no weight in it I feel every single little bump and pebble on the road even with stock tires and no lift. So adding weight completely solved this.
So my question is:
How do i get this loaded down feel without any weight in the truck?
Do they make springs that can handle the normal amount of cargo weight in a stock truck (150-250 lbs) but will offer that loaded down and planted feel without any weight? I know the basics about springs and such and I have seen things about progressive spring rates but who makes them for our trucks? I don't need a huge lift spring either, 1-2 inches is fine. If you have any personal input please contribute.

Thanks!

How was your ride before the spacer lift? Chances are the spacers are overextended the limits of the stock shocks. Thus the poor ride quality. If you do anything else with your suspension I'd say get the Bilstein 5100's. Then you can decide if you want to continue to run the stock front coils on a higher perch for a lift along with rear spacers or run both aftermarket front and rear coils. Getting aftermarket coils with stock shocks would be a bad idea imo and probably even make the ride worse.

 

[Tlowe]

How was your ride before the spacer lift? Chances are the spacers are overextended the limits of the stock shocks. Thus the poor ride quality. If you do anything else with your suspension I'd say get the Bilstein 5100's. Then you can decide if you want to continue to run the stock front coils on a higher perch for a lift along with rear spacers or run both aftermarket front and rear coils. Getting aftermarket coils with stock shocks would be a bad idea imo and probably even make the ride worse.

While the spacers might have just BARELY accentuated this, it was still largely the same before the lift. I could feel absolutely every little bump in the road and while feeling every bump is one thing, the part i don't like is the after effects of the bump seem to make it 10 times worse. What I mean by this is that it seems like the the initial vibration happens and then it keeps reverberating like the shocks aren't working, simply because the spring is too stiff. I wish i could explain this better but its the weirdest thing. My first move that will be happening very soon is some 5100 rears and maybe fronts by the end of this year.

One thing that i can't help but bring up here as an unbelievable plus for onroad driving is the KDSS. Absolutely plants this truck at higher speeds like i never would have expected. On the flip side, could the KDSS be what it causing the issue?

 

[1engineer]

Get rid of the spacers. Put some decent tires like Michelin LTX or something good. You are opening Pandoras Box going with progressive springs on a 4Runner.
Lots of business and engineering people ride in my 4Runner and many have commented on how great the ride is compared to other vehicles.

 

[philsey]

Get rid of the spacers. Put some decent tires like Michelin LTX or something good. You are opening Pandoras Box going with progressive springs on a 4Runner.
Lots of business and engineering people ride in my 4Runner and many have commented on how great the ride is compared to other vehicles.

This. I've got LTXs in P265 @ 33#, Bilsteins w/ front @ .85, and I love the ride.

TBH, I don't understand how you can alter your as-designed suspension dynamics by 3" and expect good ride quality. Just my .02.

 

[Concon40]

After I added an SSO bumper to the stock suspension my ride became horrible,very rough in the rear end. Upgraded to the super flex 2.0 HD in the rear and space lift in the front the ride was better than stock. I now float over most road imperfections.

Since you don't have the weight in the back I'd suggest the 2.0 regular. But I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Tlowe]

After I added an SSO bumper to the stock suspension my ride became horrible,very rough in the rear end. Upgraded to the super flex 2.0 HD in the rear and space lift in the front the ride was better than stock. I now float over most road imperfections.



Since you don't have the weight in the back I'd suggest the 2.0 regular. But I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ok cool that was my next step with the super flex
Coils and bilsteins.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tlowe]

This. I've got LTXs in P265 @ 33#, Bilsteins w/ front @ .85, and I love the ride.



TBH, I don't understand how you can alter your as-designed suspension dynamics by 3" and expect good ride quality. Just my .02.

Well as I was trying to explain, this ride quality was largely unchanged by the spacer lift. Let me rephrase that, the bumpy and almost sensitive ride was still very apparent BEFORE the lift.

 

[Lukesaysrelax]

I have Old Man Emu's springs and shocks, my ride is horrible lol. I got rid of the brake lurch and turn sway, but now I feel every little crack. When I'm loaded for camping its great, but daily its pretty harsh.

 

[desert pirate]

Ok cool that was my next step with the super flex
Coils and bilsteins.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the super flex coils and 5100s and jostle over bumps worse than stock with no weight in the back, so i dont think that is going to fix things for you. Adding weight in the back does make a huge difference though, just did a 2k mi trip with a fully loaded rear and it was much better than daily driving solo, I do like however that I keep just a hair of rake even with a load.

Fyi I also have kdss, maybe look for some springs that are longer but as soft as stock.

 

[Throwback]

I will tell you that I've owned a 2014 with KDSS and now a 2014 without KDSS. Both were stock, and the KDSS truck rode exactly how you are describing, while the non-KDSS truck rides extremely plush, such that if you are the type of person who drives it hard you would not like it. Very, very soft.

Since both trucks utilize the exact same shock/spring setup, yet ride so differently, I believe the harsh ride is a characteristic of the KDSS system somehow, and I'm not sure that you'd be able to overcome it with different shocks/springs.

 

[e60ral]

I will tell you that I've owned a 2014 with KDSS and now a 2014 without KDSS. Both were stock, and the KDSS truck rode exactly how you are describing, while the non-KDSS truck rides extremely plush, such that if you are the type of person who drives it hard you would not like it. Very, very soft.

Since both trucks utilize the exact same shock/spring setup, yet ride so differently, I believe the harsh ride is a characteristic of the KDSS system somehow, and I'm not sure that you'd be able to overcome it with different shocks/springs.

the somehow is a very thick sway bar, the sway bar is why the KDSS keeps the vehicle so planted on turns. the downside of thick sway bars is that they transfer impacts and input. i don't know the exact sway bar measurement differences, but if you get under the front and look at your sway bar its pretty damn beefy with KDSS.

i would check air pressure and consider better tires before messing with suspension, a few PSI makes a big difference

 

[jwkilgore]

Honestly you are describing the ride of every "truck" designed for heavy cargo. Rides great when loaded, rides stiff when unloaded. If your "truck" is purely a people hauler you can get softer springs, but it'll squat if you load it down unless you also install airbags.

Icon makes a +3" lift progressive spring. It's the only one I'm aware of. https://www.metaltech4x4.com/icon-fj-cruiser-4runner-overland-3-lift-springs/

 

[Crikeymike]

Tire pressures was my first thought too. Ever notice when airing down offroad how the truck feels incredibly different? 5-10 PSI can make a world of difference.

We also have progressive/variable rate coils, but they're in the 3" range. A few forum members are running them, most of them have some weight in the back.

I don't think you can really achieve that "loaded down" ride without loading it down. The load you put in the back also has an effect on the front suspension, depending how far forward you have the stuff inside it. Ideally, running a lighter spring rate in the rear "might" make it feel softer, but then you have to check out your shocks too. Our shocks vs OME are definitely softer in valving. So many different things to play around with.


See if you can go to a local meetup with other 4Runner owners and go for a ride in their trucks.

 

[TonedeafBard]

I have Old Man Emu's springs and shocks, my ride is horrible lol. I got rid of the brake lurch and turn sway, but now I feel every little crack. When I'm loaded for camping its great, but daily its pretty harsh.

Aw man, I was just about to pull the trigger on the OME spring/shock combo before I read this. As my daily driver, my 4R will see much more asphalt than dirt, and Memphis roads are god-awful. The search for that elusive happy medium is on.

 

[Lukesaysrelax]

Aw man, I was just about to pull the trigger on the OME spring/shock combo before I read this. As my daily driver, my 4R will see much more asphalt than dirt, and Memphis roads are god-awful. The search for that elusive happy medium is on.

I'm happy with the quality and the ride off road is great, and I've grown used to the ride. I do become hyper aware of the bumps when other people are in the car though. I've heard bilsteins are a nice ride, have you ruled those out?

 

[MSRP.]

I would echo the above comments about tinkering with the lowest-hanging-fruit, that is, tire pressures.

Takes a bit of trial and error depending on your tire model, size, height of sidewalls and chaulking the tread to see how much of it is being utilized while taking a turn.
Don't see many people doing this, but you can also vary the psi in the front tire to the rear. Higher up front so the sidewall remains taut with less rollover onto the sidewalls, and if you're not carrying cargo in the rear, perhaps giving it a 2 psi drop will soften up the road undulations. (in theory, raising the psi in the rear relative to the front shouldn't give a better ride, but hey, it's a $1 gamble and 10 minutes of your time to quickly rule that out should dropping the rear pressures not get you the result)

 

[e60ral]

[MENTION=148167]Tlowe[/MENTION] with cool tires, check the pressure you are currently running and post the results

(and use a decent gauge, those gas station pencil gauges can be off my 5+ psi especially if they are old and have been tossed around a lot)