I recently took delivery of my '05 crew cab and am wondering about the ride. I know it's stiffer and rides different being an HD, but something just doesn't feel right with the ride especially on the freeway with the segmented concrete. The ride is very, very jolting and feels like the shocks are not working at keeping the tires on the road. Also i was trying out the 4x4 on a gravel hill and before I put it in 4 wheel drive the rear end was bouncing a lot and loosing traction fast. Bad shocks? The nature of the beast? What's your experience? Thanks, Spool 'er Up

With no weight in the bed the rear end is gonna bounce around quite a bit. Especially on a gravel road.

Ditto to what Ozzy said. With my canopy, wood box liner, 300lbs sand and 100lbs of tools it is a little smoother than empty. My work truck has about 1500lbs in back and rides real nice on gravel. Better shocks may help with the jolting ride on pavement. Many have upgraded and are happy.

The HD's do have a stiffer ride. I think this is to be expected. Could add a shell that would help some.

You might also think about different tires. The factory ones are like wood, very stiff for towing and hauling. If you choose to keep factory tires check the air pressure on the tires. When they deliver truck they are aired way up. I let a little air out, say down to 50psi when just driving around and air them back up when towing.Also the factory shocks suck, do some searches on bilstiens or rancho they also help the ride. I tossed my factory shocks the day I drove it home. Just my thoughts

I recently took delivery of my '05 crew cab and am wondering about the ride. I know it's stiffer and rides different being an HD, but something just doesn't feel right with the ride especially on the freeway with the segmented concrete. The ride is very, very jolting and feels like the shocks are not working at keeping the tires on the road. Also i was trying out the 4x4 on a gravel hill and before I put it in 4 wheel drive the rear end was bouncing a lot and loosing traction fast. Bad shocks? The nature of the beast? What's your experience? Thanks, Spool 'er Up
Thanks for the quick feedback on this issue. And sure enough, when I checked air pressure there was 75 psi in the back tires. Holy cow! No wonder it felt like I was driving on marbles. So I'm thinking that somewhere between 50-60 psi should be about right when empty or with light load. Thanks again, Spool 'er Up

Keeping the front tires at 55-60 seems to work well with the heavy Dmax up front and about 50-54 in the rear when empty works well (I run 70 when towing the trailer).

The factory shocks are terrible. Replaced mine at 700 miles with a set of Bilsteins from Kennedy and worth every penny in the ride dept.

I would agree with the tires too. I had a set of them cheap factory donuts on mine (size 245's) and replaced them with a set of 285 mud tires. Before the ride was very jolting, the diff now is like night and day.

Ditto here...new Bilsteins at 300 miles..400 lbs of sand on board...rides nice. I do have about 65 lbs in the tires because I plow but when the season is over I am gonna switch to 265 or my 285s if they fit. BTW a 700 lb plow up front does wonders to the ride...

My truck seems to ride fine but then again my last vehicle was a lifted Jeep ZJ with 32" muds and OME nitrocharger shocks (the stiffer of the two models) so my opinions might be a little skewed :D

i have a 3500 LT crew cab 04.5 D/a long bed 4x4 dually rides better than my 2500 hd. we drive the 3500 on long trips ,no body part fatigue, its a fun truck to drive ,my wife loves riding in it . hyptech ,air raid intake, magna flow stainless 4in exhaust,prodigeII break controller,bw goose hitch,rhino spray on liner,rubbermaid over the rail tool box

I like the ride of my 3500SRW compared to the 2500's also. My 2500 is pretty close to the 3500 with the extra leaf that I added...

My 3500 dually utility body rides better than my suburban!

kennedy:how did you get a 05 3500 srw so sonn, is this a misprint.? I had to wait till may of 2004 to get that It wasent delivered till july! do they wait to build these or am I mistakin???

Iam guessing your build date is late 04.....not to critasize,Iam just wondering? I was told there were only 300 3500 srws built in 04? MORE INFO PLEASE-TKS MICHAEL

Its a truck!! Load it up!!! Put 1000 lbs of concrete blocks or lumber in it. If you drive around empty you will be better off with a F 150. They cater to yuppies that need to have a nice cushy ride.

Spool 'er Up

Just put Bilsteins on my 03 3500. Got about a 60% improvement on the ride. Still get the bumps, but they're less of a shock. I live and breath in Southern California.

Bear

Iam guessing your build date is late 04.....not to critasize,Iam just wondering? I was told there were only 300 3500 srws built in 04? MORE INFO PLEASE-TKS MICHAEL


WOOHOO!!! I've got a "Limited Edition" truck! :D

Guys with 2004.5 SRW's had to order late. First builds were in Feb IIRC. When I ordered, the dealer had to call to verify they could build me one.

McRat...we started building them in Mid January 2004. And in the Pontiac plant where I work, we are only building about 10-20 of them a day. But we only build standard and extended cab...no crew cabs at this location. Not sure how many Flint or Ft. Wayne are building.

But to stay on the subject...the stock shocks are garbage! Get some Bilsteins or Ranchos and you'll notice a considerable difference!