need smoother ride on e350 w/ triton v10

Have you checked yout tire pressure? If it's too high you will have that effect.

Jerry P

Toss about 300 pounds of sand in the back and the shocks should start to do their job. Get the waterproof tubes of sand that have the heavy covers. You need to get the springs compressed a little bit or it will ride really rough.

I have an E-250. If I put the recommended 55 lbs of air in the rears, it's brutal! I also seem to wear out the center of my tires early too with that much air. I've dropped them 10 lbs both front and rear. It's made a huge difference in the ride quality. If I plan on hauling anything really heavy, I just pump my rears back up to spec. Hope that helps

|| ||I have an E-250. If I put the recommended 55 lbs of air in the rears, it's ||brutal! I also seem to wear out the center of my tires early too with that ||much air. I've dropped them 10 lbs both front and rear. It's made a huge ||difference in the ride quality. If I plan on hauling anything really heavy, ||I just pump my rears back up to spec. Hope that helps

I noticed today my '96 F350 recommends 50 psi front, 80 psi rear! I rarely drive it with any load, so I'll probably leave them at 50 all around. Texas Parts Guy

Yeah, my F-250 calls for 45 front/55 rear. I dropped the rears to 45 and may go lower since there is (usually) less weight back there. Pumping them up to specs to haul a load is easy enough when needed.

Matt

TY for all the help guys. Seems the consensus is reduce air in the tires. But the tires can't hide everything. As soon as I go over a mini-pothole, I'm going to feel the kick in the *ss again right.

The reason seems to be that these vehicles' shocks are set for heavy loads. They just don't help you at all if you're not loaded down. So if the tire can mask a small bumb thats fine, anything larger and you'll spill your coffee, I'm guessing :)

Maybe the combo of reducing air and a few sandbags in the back is the way to go hehe Jason Shohet

IMO the spring rates are what's bruisin' your buttocks. They're probably quite high so the van can carry heavy loads. When I lifted my truck, I specificially asked for lower rate springs and had the shock builder adjust compression and rebound rates for the lower rate spring.

The result is a much better ride than stock (even with 50lbs of air in the tires) and I can still carry heavy loads in the thing. If I ever need to max it out, I'll bolt on a set of airbags for the rear and adjust as needed. I certainly doesn't ride like a Cadillac, but it's nowhere near as stiff as it was stock.

Find a decent suspension shop and ask about different springs and shocks. Low rate springs and high compression rate shocks are what the off-road folks use and they work just peachy.

when it came time for new tires on my F-250, I went from E load rated tires to C load rated tires it rides much better , I can't carry as much weight but the ride is worth it.

just my 2 cents Jeff

Bottom Line You are driving a vehicle that is designed to carry a lot of weight, Regardless how much money and effort you throw at it you are still going to have a very rough ride if it is not loaded. Unless you totally redo the suspension, in which case you might as well sell that van get its value back, and buy a half ton van, that has a ride quality much closer to that of a car...

Hmm, good suggestion. Does anyone make a half-ton 15-passenger van? The 12-passenger ones are a squeeze for us TY

How much money do you want to spend? Air shocks with the controls in the cab might help. You might still end up having to replace springs.

If you go with the weight option, please secure the load. I used to see a Ranger at my office lot with loose cinder blocks in the bed. Having something like that go flying in an accident can't be a good thing.

I'll spend $1000 to get a good ride out of this thing. Have any idea who makes air shocks w/ controls in the cab... I have an old Lincoln Town car and that has some sort of (air?) shocks, but no controls necessary. (Are they with a van?) It adjusts itself automatically depending on the load.

TY

Throw a couple of tons in the box.

RRon snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

I'm going to try loading it down first. Anyone know where to get sandbags (waterproof -- so the sand doesn't leak out) ? Home Depot? I also wonder, since the center of grav will be lower after the weight, perhaps the reduced wind resistance on the highway will offset the higher fuel mileage costs of the extra few hundred pounds in the back :)

AIR SHOCKS WILL NOT SOFTEN YOUR RIDE!

Air shocks will do NOTHING to lessen the rigidity of your stiff springs. Shocks only effect the movement between the frame and axels, and "air shocks/bags can only stiffen an already stiff (or any) suspension, not soften it. By design air shocks/bags when empty do nothing to soften the stiffness of the spring, and add more rigidity as more air is added.

If you keep the stock springs the ONLY way to soften your ride is to add weight to the vehicle.

That is the expensive place. I suspect that if you call a supplier of flagstones, they can set you up with a cheaper source. A lot is used for bedding stones, so they buy in bulk... but so will you. As for not leaking...It may happen, as the bags WILL leak after a bit. I suspect you can extend their life by putting them in burlap bags, setting them on a pallet in the back of the truck, and, covering them with a tarp to keep them dry. Also...of course.. be sure to tie them down with the heaviest straps you can. And... I am talking about the 10K, 2" wide straps...not the 1.5K, 1" wide cheapies from the discount stores.

No. Close to the ground does not matter. It is a complicated mixture of speed, frontal area, and profile. for a 350, I suspect that two or three hundred pounds in the back will not make a spit's worth of difference in your mileage. Regards Dave Mundt

Thanks, to you & everyone else here. It makes sense, if the springs are rigid & I've got only light loads, the shocks aren't going to do much. I've got to add weight (or replace springs). TY !!!!

I saw something, I think at JC Whitney, a bladder you place in the bed of a pickup, or I guess in your van, that you fill with water for weight. It has baffles so as not to slosh, and is supposedly easy to drain as well. You might check it out. Water is about 7lbs per gallon, so I guess you could get a lot of weight and even adjust it easily.

Spdloader

"A pint's a pound, the world around."