Feeling the Road

[Barney556180]

The OP compares the feel of his truck to that of a couple Hondas.

Just taking a wild guess here. Modern cars tend to isolate the driver from road feedback. Manufacturers have tuned out most feeling from the steering wheel and pedals. As tire aspect ratios went down they worked hard to eliminate the harshness to provide a smooth ride.

In comparison trucks have more road feedback through their heavier suspensions and wheels. While they have become much more refined, they are still trucks.

I had a Tundra with rather over boosted numb steering. Turning at speed gave very little feedback as to what the tires were actually doing. I always felt it had a wooden feeling.

I much prefer my RAM which has a bit heavier steering and communicates back much better. I like that it has a truck feel.

 

[cbecra1]

The OP compares the feel of his truck to that of a couple Hondas.

Just taking a wild guess here. Modern cars tend to isolate the driver from road feedback. Manufacturers have tuned out most feeling from the steering wheel and pedals. As tire aspect ratios went down they worked hard to eliminate the harshness to provide a smooth ride.

In comparison trucks have more road feedback through their heavier suspensions and wheels. While they have become much more refined, they are still trucks.

I had a Tundra with rather over boosted numb steering. Turning at speed gave very little feedback as to what the tires were actually doing. I always felt it had a wooden feeling.

I much prefer my RAM which has a bit heavier steering and communicates back much better. I like that it has a truck feel.

I agree. I dont expect this truck to ride like a car and like the solid/direct feeling of the steering response. My concern is with my steering feeling like a odd combination of slightly clunky (like a component is just a bit loose), a slight shimmy in the 55-65 mph range, and vibration resonance at other points. Its the stack of the issues that i hope to be able to improve. At a minimum, i will determine that the way my truck feels is normal and look at either a mopar or other aftermarket solution to mitigate the behavior i am not a fan of (aftermarket steering dampener?). ...this is where my knowledge of suspension dynamics isnt very good.

 

[ddharris]

Clunky is a good word for it. I could go for a more boosted numb feeling myself.

 

[Da MNTN]

Any updates on this issue? I experiencing the same exact thing as the OP, and we have a thread going in one of the FB groups with a bunch of others saying the same. Figured if there were others on there, someone here must of posted something about it...

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