Rough ride towing on interstate. Will Bilsteins help?

[skskarda]

I have '05 Tacoma DC, long bed pulling a 25' travel trailer. Wow, those expansion joints can make you sick after a short while on a rough interstate. Will upgrading my stock shocks to Bilsteins help?

I am loaded right to the payload limit of the truck. My family plus a 600 lbs tongue weight do that with limited 1040 lbs GVWR of this truck. I have a properly setup Equal-i-zer wd hitch. Initially, the problem was bottoming out as many people have experienced with the soft suspension on the Tacoma. I fixed that with Supersprings. I am very satisfied with the loaded and unloaded ride now, EXCEPT on those dreaded concrete freeways. I am a towing newbie so I don't know how bad it is respective to those folks with monster dually trucks but I would love to know how to improve the ride if it is possible, aside from not driving on concrete freeways. I got to get where I am going.

I am not a suspension expert, so I am wondering what some HD Bilsteins might do for me. I have read great things about them but I am specifically wondering how they will affect the thump, thump, thump making the family ill while driving down old concrete freeways. If Bilsteins will make some improvement, would it be on just the back or back and front of the truck? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

[anestech*]

Originally Posted by skskarda

I have '05 Tacoma DC, long bed pulling a 25' travel trailer. Wow, those expansion joints can make you sick after a short while on a rough interstate. Will upgrading my stock shocks to Bilsteins help?

I am loaded right to the payload limit of the truck. My family plus a 600 lbs tongue weight do that with limited 1040 lbs GVWR of this truck. I have a properly setup Equal-i-zer wd hitch. Initially, the problem was bottoming out as many people have experienced with the soft suspension on the Tacoma. I fixed that with Supersprings. I am very satisfied with the loaded and unloaded ride now, EXCEPT on those dreaded concrete freeways. I am a towing newbie so I don't know how bad it is respective to those folks with monster dually trucks but I would love to know how to improve the ride if it is possible, aside from not driving on concrete freeways. I got to get where I am going.

I am not a suspension expert, so I am wondering what some HD Bilsteins might do for me. I have read great things about them but I am specifically wondering how they will affect the thump, thump, thump making the family ill while driving down old concrete freeways. If Bilsteins will make some improvement, would it be on just the back or back and front of the truck? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Supersprings, and you still have stock shocks? Oh yeah, bilsteins or OMEs will help you TREMENDOUSLY.

[skskarda]

It sounds like installing them on the back should be pretty easy but what about the front? Will putting them on the front and back help or should I just put them on the back? How bad does the stock ride change when not loaded. I am very happy with Supersprings so far.

[brucec039]

It's a truck, not a sedan or luxo suv. There may be a limit to how soft you can make it ride. My '07 Prerunner w/ offroad pkg is much quieter on the highway than any other truck I've owned (Tundra, Silverado, F150, 2 Rams, C1500, S10), and is usually smoother when towing.

Better shocks usually help with rebound problems. I'm not sure a thump from expansion joints falls into that category. I put Bilsteins on the '00 Tundra and it felt crisper but actually had a little more jitter to the ride.

As trucks go, the Tacoma is pretty smooth. From my understanding of how shocks work I don't think it would help, but others may differ.

Tires make a huge difference in highway noise. Are yours offroad or all terrain biased? The BF goodrich on my truck are the same I put on the Tundra, and they're not very good street tires. A set of sport truck type tires made a huge difference on my '03 Ram, but you'll likely want new wheels too if you go that route.

[tacomaman06]

shocks will probably help you out a good deal, but like brucec039 said, tires make a huge difference too. try adjusting your air pressures to something certain and see if that helps you out.