Soften up my ride...

[derelict]

I am currently running 295/60R20 Nitto Recon Grapplers on 20x9 Fuel Rebel wheels (+20 offset). My wife has been complaining that the ride is too rough, I figure it is because of the E rated tires. So I am considering 2 options to soften my ride:

1) 305/55R20 SL Rated tire - Going to SL vs E should soften up the ride, but this tire is slightly smaller (33.2" vs 33.9"). I could also use the same rims

2) 305/65R18 E Rated tire - Still an E rated tire, but more sidewall. This tire is 33.6" vs 33.9". I would have to go to 18" rims, but I am ok with doing that, I kind of like the look of more sidewall.

I am considering Falken Wildpeaks for both, I like the look of the Nittos but I think the Falkens may be better for the rain and snow.

I am wondering if the two options would ride similar, or if 2) would still be too bumpy? I just wanted to get some opinions...

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[hturnerfamily]

those must be some ROUGH tires... my LIGHTNING rides on a cloud, on it's stock Michelin Primacy XC tires, and is the softest, smoothest ride of any vehicle I've ever owned, in over 40 years.

My wife's new Kia EV9 doesn't even ride this smoothly, and it has 'EV' tires.

 

[chl]

LOL, I think my Lightning rides very smoothly, but my wife thinks it is too rough/bouncy a ride.

But I am comparing it to my 2001 Ford Ranger (passed on to a grand kid) that I drove for over 20 years, so compared to that the Lightning is very smooth.

She drives a Prius which to me is a really uncomfortable rough ride.

When you are the driver of the vehicle you have a different experience than the passenger of the ride because you are holding the steering wheel (hopefully) and concentrating on the road, speed, other vehicles, etc. and not so much the bumps in the ride, that's my theory anyway.

Putting some sand bags in my bed smoothed out the Ranger and made it handle better in snow etc. The lightning has a hefty battery weight under the bed already, but maybe adding weight to the bed would smooth it out? A few bags of sand or gravel would be less expensive than other options (tires, suspension, etc.).

BTW, I remember the first time I drove a semi cab without the trailer attached back before I went to college and had a desk job! The first bump I hit I bounced off the ceiling of the cab - heavy duty springs have quite a kick. Now that was a rough ride!

 

[chrislightningnc]

I haven't deterred from stock size on lightning, but, every other truck I have had (4), I went up in aspect ratio to increase the sidewall, and it did give a better ride...

 

[Firn]

If you wife likes the ride of the prius and thinks the ride in the lightning is "rough", then I would spend some time making sure you understand exactly what she means as most cannot articulate what they like or dislike about a ride.

Ride is better described in four terms, soft or firm, compliant or harsh harsh.

Soft is floaty, feels like a barge. Any big rollers or heaves make the vehicle body start moving and it takes a while to slow down. Turning tends to have the body roll to the side.

Firm is tight, there is no unwanted motion, the car follows the shape of the roadway. Turns are tight, it does not feel like the body is rolling a lot.

Compliant means you don't feel small impacts like potholes, or front heaves. Things you would describe as impacts are smoothed out.

Harsh is the opposite, you feel the cracks in the pavement, potholes are jarring.

Folks tend to confuse soft and compliant, in that to not feel the little imperfections you need to have the floaty feeling, or if you have that floaty feeling to have the smooth ride. Or conversly if you want tight handling you have to put up with a harsh ride.

These are not true. It's because shocks are a "you get what you pay for" situation and manufactures are CHEAP. It is entirely possible to have a firm ride that is NOT harsh. It is also entirely possible to have a floaty ride that still feels every Crack and hole in the road.

Heavy tires do not help harshness, that's physics, but if she is saying it is harsh, but also soft and bouncy then some new shocks might help.

A good digressive shock (I'm a fan of the bilstein 6112s) can have digressive valving that provides a firm (tight) ride but also reduces the harshness. This gets into things like high and low speed valving.

Personally, try new shocks. The front is easy, the rear, not so much.

 

[derelict]

It wasn't my wife with the prius it was someone else, but I leveled my truck by replacing the front shocks with eibachs. It greatly improved the ride, got rid of the floaty front end thing. But I can definitely feel all the little bumps in the road. You get conditioned to not think about it but then you pull up to a stop sign and suddenly everything feels peaceful and your butt tingles a bit then you realize you have been sitting on a vibration plate.

 

[Firn]

It wasn't my wife with the prius it was someone else, but I leveled my truck by replacing the front shocks with eibachs. It greatly improved the ride, got rid of the floaty front end thing. But I can definitely feel all the little bumps in the road. You get conditioned to not think about it but then you pull up to a stop sign and suddenly everything feels peaceful and your butt tingles a bit then you realize you have been sitting on a vibration plate.

I loved my 6112s on my Tacoma. Exactly what I wanted and no harshness.

Wheel every weekend has been testing a bunch of shocks, I'm hoping this test they compare the 5100s to the 6112s to see if they are similar

 

[F150ROD]

I’ve had Nittos and they are definitely rougher that the Toyos.

 

[derelict]

OK so I pulled the trigger and put 305/55R20 SL rated Falken Wildpeaks on. I spent days going down the rabbit hole looking at wheel sizes, tire sizes, etc. I wish there were more SL rated tires in the bigger sizes but oh well. The ride is noticeably smoother. Even though the tire height difference is only 0.7" for some reason the truck feels like it sits lower. While I was at it, I opted to get new wheels too, went with Venomrex VR601s. These have a +12 offset, so the combination of the slightly wider tire and the slightly less positive offset (my Fuel Rebels were +20) give about 0.5" more poke. My first reaction is that the 34's look better. But I am giving it time and the 33's are growing on me. I like that the 33s are a little wider. I'll drive a bit more with these and then decide if I keep this setup.

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