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Tightening Up Body Roll/Steering?

ramhouston

ramhouston

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I know our coil spring pickup trucks are going to be a lot more flimsy to throw around compared to the traditional leaf spring pickup trucks.
Anyways, what are some solid solutions to tightening up our trucks suspension?
Obviously i don’t want it to be brick hard but just more firmer than it is from the factory.
 
ramhouston said:
I know our coil spring pickup trucks are going to be a lot more flimsy to throw around compared to the traditional leaf spring pickup trucks.
Anyways, what are some solid solutions to tightening up our trucks suspension?
Obviously i don’t want it to be brick hard but just more firmer than it is from the factory.
Click to expand...
I put on the Hellwig as did many others and it is nice. And coil spring trucks do not "throw around" at all like traditional leaf springs. Having several leaf spring trucks from the big 3, they all hopped around in the rear when not loaded. This truck is so much more planted.
 
ramhouston said:
I know our coil spring pickup trucks are going to be a lot more flimsy to throw around compared to the traditional leaf spring pickup trucks.
Anyways, what are some solid solutions to tightening up our trucks suspension?
Obviously i don’t want it to be brick hard but just more firmer than it is from the factory.
Click to expand...

I think it's the other way around. Leaf spring suspensions haven't changed much since they were designed a few centuries ago for horse drawn vehicles that go maybe 30 MPH and don't need much lateral support.

Coil springs reduce unsprung weight, improving compliance, and the panhard bar gives more solid lateral support.

Full independent would be the ultimate, but that gets expensive with the load and drive requirements of a towing/hauling truck, so the straight axle with coils and multiple links is a good compromise for us.

My impression of the Ram's handling is superior compared to several leaf spring trucks I have owned in the past. But if you want to firm it up more, Helwig makes good sway bar upgrades for front and rear, and Bilstein and others make good shocks.
 
Hellwig for sure. As others have said, end links and maybe some rear lower control arms. That should keep things tight.
 
I appreciate the responses so far.
Let me try and explain better of what i am experiencing and hopefully some of you fellas can understand my wording lol.
If i shake my steering wheel back and forth then my Ram will feel like a boat swaying side to side.
However on my previous leaf spring trucks if i do the same then i don’t experience the boat swaying side to side.
I will agree though that on the highway my Ram is freaking planted to the ground with no floaty feeling which is great.
Looking forward to hearing more responses.. TIA!
 
ramhouston said:
I appreciate the responses so far.
Let me try and explain better of what i am experiencing and hopefully some of you fellas can understand my wording lol.
If i shake my steering wheel back and forth then my Ram will feel like a boat swaying side to side.
However on my previous leaf spring trucks if i do the same then i don’t experience the boat swaying side to side.
I will agree though that on the highway my Ram is freaking planted to the ground with no floaty feeling which is great.
Looking forward to hearing more responses.. TIA!
Click to expand...
Now I see. What you describing is called sway. And a sway bar helps with that.
 
Definitely the Hellwig sway bars will help in this regard (I have mine on the stiffest setting and love it) but also one of the easiest “fixes” might just be to increase your tire pressure or get tires with D or E load sidewalls. In my opinion soft/under-inflated tires amplify the sway feeling wayyy more than even running the truck with no swaybars at all!
 
Seems like a good thread to throw this in:
Does anyone make a urethane busing kit for the 5th gen?
My searches are only finding older Rams.
Or is OEM so good they aren't needed?
 
ramhouston said:
lmao.. all jokes aside though why do Rams tend to sway significantly more than the other half ton pickup trucks?
Click to expand...
Leaf springs are stiffer than coils. But it also comes down to mouting. On leaf spring trucks, the axle is mounted by four points, 2 front, and 2 rear. This keeps the axle from moving side to side as much. With coils, arms, and panhard bar, the axle will move side to side a little more. Basically, leaf springs are just a stiffer suspension all around. Coils offer better ride and better handling in cornering. Yeah, it might not when you jerk the steering wheel side to side, but that's not normal driving. And it is the exact same for any vehicle with coils in the rear and a solid axle.
 
ramhouston said:
lmao.. all jokes aside though why do Rams tend to sway significantly more than the other half ton pickup trucks?
Click to expand...

I've noticed that too with the 1500 DT even before I lifted it. The Hellwig helped a lot with the body roll, but the sway is still pretty awful to me. It's the only thing I don't like about this truck.

Most probably won't notice or be bothered by it. To be fair, it doesn't bother me enough to fix it.

I suspect urethane bushings for the panhard bar would help.
 
Av1 said:
I've noticed that too with the 1500 DT even before I lifted it. The Hellwig helped a lot with the body roll, but the sway is still pretty awful to me. It's the only thing I don't like about this truck.

Most probably won't notice or be bothered by it. To be fair, it doesn't bother me enough to fix it.

I suspect urethane bushings for the panhard bar would help.
Click to expand...
Hopefully the sway bar will leave me happy with the results.
It's almost $300.00 as is so therefore i would freaking hate it if i had to buy more components just to tighten up my truck's suspension.
 
vincentw56 said:
Leaf springs are stiffer than coils. But it also comes down to mouting. On leaf spring trucks, the axle is mounted by four points, 2 front, and 2 rear. This keeps the axle from moving side to side as much. With coils, arms, and panhard bar, the axle will move side to side a little more. Basically, leaf springs are just a stiffer suspension all around. Coils offer better ride and better handling in cornering. Yeah, it might not when you jerk the steering wheel side to side, but that's not normal driving. And it is the exact same for any vehicle with coils in the rear and a solid axle.
Click to expand...
Interesting.. i will look more into the Hellwig rear sway bar as many have suggested.
Like i said i absolutely love how the truck feels planted while driving on the pavement.
However i become disappointed/bothered the moment i start making turns, changing lanes and etc..
 
My solution has always been better shocks, (Bilstein). Stiffens up the ride and makes the truck much more positive in the turns.
I've never upgraded my sway bar but I can only imagine a Hellwig and a set of Bilsteins to be a great combination.
 
ramhouston said:
Hopefully the sway bar will leave me happy with the results.
It's almost $300.00 as is so therefore i would freaking hate it if i had to buy more components just to tighten up my truck's suspension.
Click to expand...
Amazon has it for 250. Hellwig #7709
 
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