Off road ride quality (2019 limited 4x4)

[Rogers23]

Hey all - I have a 2019 limited 4x4, no ORG on the 22s with continental terrain contact tires. I have taken my truck off road down some dirt/rock/sand trails recently in death valley and at Anza-Borrego Park in CA. All I can say is I am baffled by how awful the ride quality is. Especially on washboard, it feels like the truck is going to fall apart. I know I'm not specifically setup for much over landing but there are plenty of vehicles less built for this than mine cruising by at speed when I can't seem to go more than about 10 without tossing my wife and kids around.

I've read a bit about airing down, I'm at about 36 psi right now all around. I don't have a way to air back up for road driving but I could figure that out likely.

Should I be running smaller wheels with bigger tires? Would that make a significant impact?

Is the air suspension just not setup for that kind of driving?

Appreciate the help!

 

[ekaz]

Not as much sidewall on a 22" and the sidewall that is there is stiffer. I would go to an 18 or 20 if you're going to be doing that more often. The larger sidewall should help with the ride.

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

This is one of the reasons why I sold my 22s and opted for 18" Rebel wheels with A/T tires. I loved the look of the 22s, but hated the lack of sidewall and grimacing every time I hit a larger pothole or accidently did a curb check.

Were you in off road 1 or 2 mode when you went over the washboard? Being in one of the upper height levels will negatively impact the ride quality over obstacles, as you're inflating the bags more.

 

[deeve]

Also, airing down makes a big difference in ride quality and traction. Like others have said, the 22’s probably gotta go if you plan on doing that a lot. Not a lot of sidewall.

 

[Rogers23]

This is one of the reasons why I sold my 22s and opted for 18" Rebel wheels with A/T tires. I loved the look of the 22s, but hated the lack of sidewall and grimacing every time I hit a larger pothole or accidently did a curb check.

Were you in off road 1 or 2 mode when you went over the washboard? Being in one of the upper height levels will negatively impact the ride quality over obstacles, as you're inflating the bags more.

Yeah I tried off road 1 and 2 and realized it was probably a negative impact so I rode in normal and even tried aero.

The responses here make me think it's time to downsize to 18s since one of the reasons we bought the truck was for this kind of stuff. Did you realize a significant change with the 18s? Are the rebel rims a direct fit?

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

Did you realize a significant change with the 18s? Are the rebel rims a direct fit?

I only had the 22s for less than 1000 miles before selling them. I never even tried to take them off road or even on gravel, so I cannot compare them to that. I can say the ride is a bit better over streets with the 18s.

The Rebel 18" rims are tight, with only a little clearance over the brakes, but yes, they do fit. Many 18" aftermarket rims do not fit, but the OEM Rebel rims do.

 

[go-ram]

Yeah I tried off road 1 and 2 and realized it was probably a negative impact so I rode in normal and even tried aero.

The responses here make me think it's time to downsize to 18s since one of the reasons we bought the truck was for this kind of stuff. Did you realize a significant change with the 18s? Are the rebel rims a direct fit?

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Unfortunately, Ram's air suspension is not the best for offroad use. It's superb on paved roads and for towing, and for increased body clearance when offroad, but two deficits: (1) As you already discovered, when you raise it to max height for ground clearance, the suspension becomes so stiff it transmits every shock from the tires right into the chassis. (2) The way Ram designed their air suspension, it's terrible on the downstroke, very jarring & unforgiving when the wheels drop back down into holes/ruts. You can compensate for that rough downstroke problem by easing it from the high spots down into the low spots, but it really slows you down.
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This is why Ram quickly made the traditional steel coil springs available on the Rebel, in addition to the air-suspension-only when the Rebel was first introduced. As I said, Ram's air suspension is great on-highway and for towing, and it does have some good offroad characteristics, but on balance it's effectively a liability offroad. Next time consider conventional steel coil-spring suspension if you'll spend much time offroad.
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[ferraiolo1]

No the air suspension isn’t meant for higher speed off-road use.

If you want good offroad performance you need a truck with hood coil overs and high travel suspension.


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[Waveslayer]

Hey all - I have a 2019 limited 4x4, no ORG on the 22s with continental terrain contact tires. I have taken my truck off road down some dirt/rock/sand trails recently in death valley and at Anza-Borrego Park in CA. All I can say is I am baffled by how awful the ride quality is. Especially on washboard, it feels like the truck is going to fall apart. I know I'm not specifically setup for much over landing but there are plenty of vehicles less built for this than mine cruising by at speed when I can't seem to go more than about 10 without tossing my wife and kids around.

I've read a bit about airing down, I'm at about 36 psi right now all around. I don't have a way to air back up for road driving but I could figure that out likely.

Should I be running smaller wheels with bigger tires? Would that make a significant impact?

Is the air suspension just not setup for that kind of driving?

Appreciate the help!

We'll have to meet up at Anza and show you the difference in truck builds. TRX, Raptors, etc.. we go there a bit. Your truck is set up all wrong. You will want bigger tires 37", 17" wheels, air down 25psi for Anza , rip all the front suspension and get some upper and lower control arms, flared fenders to handle the additional travel, the list goes on and on.

Pm me if you want my Raptor for that, I'm just about to list it , need a diesel to toy all the toys now.

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[CaptainCJ35]

We'll have to meet up at Anza and show you the difference in truck builds. TRX, Raptors, etc.. we go there a bit. Your truck is set up all wrong. You will want bigger tires 37", 17" wheels, air down 25psi for Anza , rip all the front suspension and get some upper and lower control arms, flared fenders to handle the additional travel, the list goes on and on.

Pm me if you want my Raptor for that, I'm just about to list it , need a diesel to toy all the toys now.

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Don't think you can fit 17's on a DT 1500... the brakes and calipers are too big.

 

[Camelot]

I air my Jeep down to 15Psi, but I also have 37" on it. At street pressure the ride is not pleasant.

 

[LaxDfns15]

You have a Limited with air suspension, no lift, and big rims with small tires. Honestly, your choice of truck is not suited to or built for this purpose. Yeah it's a truck, but it's the highest trim and mostly meant for luxury over off road performance.

If you're stuck with the truck then like mentioned you should move to 18" wheels (17's won't fit and even some 18's won't fit) and bigger tires with more sidewall. Hellwig rear sway bar could help too, as well as a portable compressor to air up/down.

 

[Rogers23]

Thanks for the feedback! Picked up a set of rebel wheels I need rubber for and likely will grab a compressor for the next dirt trip.

We realized after the truck purchase it wasn't setup quite for what we actually wanted to do. Didn't know how much we'd enjoy getting out on the trails a bit!

Bought it for towing which it does great, but of course now I want something that'll do it all.

May wind up in a different truck or modding the suspension if I can't find a tolerable balance with more rubber and aired down.

 

[go-ram]

Thanks for the feedback! Picked up a set of rebel wheels I need rubber for and likely will grab a compressor for the next dirt trip.

We realized after the truck purchase it wasn't setup quite for what we actually wanted to do. Didn't know how much we'd enjoy getting out on the trails a bit!

Bought it for towing which it does great, but of course now I want something that'll do it all.

May wind up in a different truck or modding the suspension if I can't find a tolerable balance with more rubber and aired down.

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You might also consider emailing Sean Holman at Truck Show Podcast ([email protected]) . If there is anyone who would know what you can do to the Ram 1500 air suspension to make it more to your liking offroad, it's Sean Holman. In addition to asking about potential mods, ask him if he has any tips/techniques to offroading on Ram's four-wheel air suspension, he's a very experienced offroader. They won't reply to your email, but if you're lucky, in a few weeks they will read your letter on-air and answer it on-air.
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It's a great podcast for truck owners & off-roaders, they have amazing guests - from the top dogs at Ram, Ford, GM, Nissan, to small shop entrepreneurs to heads of engineering from Bilstein, etc. - you name it, they have had a guest that you'll learn a lot from. Sean Holman is a wealth of good, solid knowledge, and he has an absolutely amazing Rolodex (hence the broad range of high-quality guests). He and his co-host get a bit silly some times, but they are very capable, knowledgeable, stand-up guys and I always learn something new every podcast.
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