My 03 Silverado 1500HD 4WD crew cab is a awesome truck. The only problem that drives me nuts is the rear of the truck bouncing around when I drive around on our local freeways. I dont tow around anything super heavy so I even removed the heavy duty load leaf spring on each side of the rear end thinking that without that leaf the bouncing would be reduced. But, it still bounces. I was thinking about installing some type of air suspension on the rear end. Any recomendations would be great.

 

Throw some wood in there

 

An empty bed is your problem. A truck is supposed to have something in the back. If there ain't anything in it, it will bounce around. You just gotta get used to it if you never want to put anything in it. What kind of freeway do you go down anyway? Oh...wait...is it full of construction? That's how it is around here. But yea, get some bags of sand or something. There's also a company that makes bladders that you fill with water that you could buy. I think you could get them from jcwhitney or jegs or something.

 

I guess 98White5.0 is a little bit more spendy that I am, at least with someone else's money that is. As far as I'm concerned, if your going to spend money for weight in the back, you might as well just pay $200 and get a lightly used Geo Metro for the nice ride and handling

 

This may sound sarcastic but how much air pressure are you running in the back? If you aren't hauling anything I'd set them to about 32 or even a tad less if need be. Most of the decals in the door jams recommend anywhere from 35-40 but that isn't necessary if you aren't hauling/towing anything. Also some brands of tires absorb less shock than others. I have heard that Michelins for example make for a pretty crappy ride, despite their overall quality.

 

WOW. First time for me to be called spendy (lol). I was just allowing options for the ride conscious poster. Of course I wouldn't ever spend money to put weight in my truck, but some people have the money for those traction bladders or whatever they are called....and if you have the money, spend it. You can't take it with you when you die. And also, who wants a metro? prizms are so cool And Fast fast fast woo hoo woo hoo

 

I've been dealing with this since 03, when I bought the truck. Driving through the Harbor area of Los Angeles, as you can imagine, is full of truck driver's towing containers from the ports to where ever across the country. The weight of the trucks with their loads can easly reach over 30 tons. So imagine what that can do to asphalt and concrete over the years. I realize that not having weight back there is the issue, but putting weight in it is something that was invented 50+ years ago and thats not going to happen. I think the truck industy has evolved since then.

I thought there was some type of air management system for heavy loads and smoother rides. The smoother ride being what im looking for.

Thanks for the imput though.

 

Well we gotta go back to what a truck is made for. Weight to be put in the bed. The truck industry has expected everyone to understand that if you want load capacity, the ride comfort will be sacrificed. If you want a smooth ride, load capacity will be sacrificed. It will never ride like a car. Don't expect it to. The easiest way is the simplest way to fix your problem. Add weight. Don't overcomplicate it.

I've always known of air suspension offering a smoother ride. If you want to go that way, it would help your ride comfort.

 

"03 Silverado 1500HD 4WD crew cab" says a lot there. HD is a stiff riding truck to begin with. As far as Michelins go I think they are 1 of the best out there. Of course I have 20's so there is less rubber between my rims and the road, but I do run 30 lbs in the rear and 32 lbs in the front. They are a much smoother ride compared to the Goodyears I had on it originally. I have the Michelin LTXs on mine. I do not know if the other Michelins ride as smooth.

 

Well I think what it's all gonna boil down to is if you want a smoother ride get a car or atleast an SUV. The Tahoes ride a lot smoother than the pickups. A truck is a truck. It's gonna ride and drive just like a truck unless serious modifications are made. Why waste the money?