TV: 2015 Silverado 2500HD -rough ride

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Padua2

Lowering the air pressure to 45-50 won't work for me as the warning light comes up and that is a pain.

I think new shocks might be in order. My 2500HD has an RCS 9593 - 2" lift kit on it, and when talking to the folks at RCS, the are saying that installing new RCS Premium N3 shocks should help smooth the ride around town, when not towing. This is the link to them:
https://www.roughcountry.com/premium...-hd-4wd-374956

I'll continue research and see what else I find.

Well that's a bit of important info 2" rough country lift changes a lot of things and the rough country shocks will be stiff .

[Padua2]

Originally Posted by hmfic@bellsouth.net

I have a 2008 Silverado 2500HD 4 X 4. The sticker on the door reads 50# front and 80# rear. When I first got the truck I swore that it made you feel every grain of sand in the road. I now keep the front at 50# and the rear at 50# also. When towing the camper I boost the rear up to 80#. The other addition that I made was to swap the shocks out for Bilsten 4500 shocks. The ride is firmer and more stable now towing or not towing. I wish that I was not so cheap and trashed the stock shocks within the first 5,000 miles. I was amazed that the shocks made that much of a difference. Felt like I was driving a different beast,

Interesting that the shocks made a difference for you. Good to know as I continue my search for a smoother ride solution. I am leaning towards shocks myself.

For those of you that feel the 2500HD is smooth as silk, hey, I am happy for you.

[bareftn]

now lets look at the real side of things
you can change shocks
you can change tires
you can lower the air pressure
but what do you have you have a 2500 Silverado
2500 means a 3/4 ton truck
HD means heavy duty
what does this all mean ITs a truck its going to ride rough

'

[BriaBeck]

Originally Posted by Padua2

For those of you that feel the 2500HD is smooth as silk, hey, I am happy for you.

LOL, for those who feel that a 2500HD should ride smooth as silk, hey, I've got some solutions for your problem that I'll sell you.



I'll even suggest that you fill the tires with Nitrogen, for a 37% smoother ride.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Padua2

Interesting that the shocks made a difference for you. Good to know as I continue my search for a smoother ride solution. I am leaning towards shocks myself.

For those of you that feel the 2500HD is smooth as silk, hey, I am happy for you.

/Take your truck back to stock and see how it does . With the rough country kit well may as well get used to it . don't expect much from shocks unless you go back to a stock grade shock

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by BriaBeck

LOL, for those who feel that a 2500HD should ride smooth as silk, hey, I've got some solutions for your problem that I'll sell you.



I'll even suggest that you fill the tires with Nitrogen, for a 37% smoother ride.

Why would anyone need solutions for a truck that rides great . Helium would be better then the truck would float over the bumps.

[DouglasReid]

I am curious, you never mentioned tire pressure. Without a load in the bed, such as your 5er pin weight you need to decrease the r=tire pressure to around 55-60.

This will do two things,

1.soften the ride
2 extend your tire life.

Read about the "Chalk Test" to determine what pressure is best for yoru truck/tire combo.

[Tundra 2014]

I would go shocks first if you have not already changed them. You can lower your tire pressure about 10% off the door sticker, helps a little at the expense of wear and mileage. I have had good improvement in ride w/ KYB Just-A-Matic The KYBs have a shock made for towing trucks that give a good ride w/ light load and stiffens under load. I changed to these on my previous truck. They used to be a larger price difference ($30 each) between the KYB VS Bilseins. I changed current truck to Bilstein 5100s, slightly firmer but better controlled ride on bumps. Both were a big improvement over the stock Ranchos. If off roading, Bilseins 5100 as they are a larger piston, heavier shock. The 5100 series is the same as the 6000 series w/o reservoir, @ $50 a shock less.

[Wileykid]

You can take the truck to the dealer, and they can lower the tire pressure warning to something like 52-55 psi. Then run the tires lower when you have no load. After that is the shocks.

[jjackkrash]

I was very happy with the unloaded ride in both my '13 and '16 2500 with Duramax. They were both bone stock. My '19 DRW was a little bumpier but still not bad. They were smoother than my '05 M3 (now that was bumpy on a rough road) but maybe not as smooth as the Lexus or Audi sedans I've had over the years. There is no way I would describe either truck as "harsh."

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by ard58

Originally Posted by goduc
What PSI are you running in the rears. Should be down around 45 psi vs 80 psi when towing



If you run at 45psi your low tire light will come on. Must be close to what the door sticker has on it.

An your point is!!

I run my tow vehicle, a 2008 Ram, 2500HD, 6.7L Cummins with the idiot light on for low tire pressure all year. I get two dings in the winter since the rear winter tires are set at 45PSI with the front at 60PSI. In the summer with my optional tires. I get 4-dings since these tires do not have any TPMS sensors mounted on the rim. My rear are tires are set at 70 PSI to support a load of 3415 LBS each and the front is set at 55 PSI which will support a load of 2890LBS each.

I check my air pressure ever month on all of my vehicles and set according to the ambient air temps with the required pressure for each vehicle.

[BriaBeck]

The simple solution, the one that I employ, is that I leave my tires ready to tow/haul, at all times, because it is a truck, and that's what it is for. The "somewhat less than Rolls Royce Silver Ghost" ride quality always reassures me that I have a machine that is capable and willing and ready to do what I need it to do at all times, whenever I need it at the drop of a hat. Which does happen frequently.


No fuddling around with tire pressures, worrying about temperature. Prepared. Ready to go. A Man's Truck.

[Rockinh]

I am amazed at how many suggestions were to change your shocks. Shocks hold the vehicle down, springs hold the vehicle up. Thats the way suspensions work. Soften your spring rate, put in some airlifts which will enable you to soften your ride when you dont need the stiffer springs for hauling. Lowering your tire pressure as stated will help the ride as will air springs. If your shocks are worn, the truck will bounce a lot but if the spring rate is to high when your not loaded, it will be a harsh ride. Putting a couple hundred pounds in the box will also soften the springs up a little and is the cheaper way to go. You will be amazed at how un-impressed you will be with just new shocks.

[Walholler]

I have a 2015 Chevrolet 2500HD, crew cab, diesel, 4x4 with the 8 ft. bed, truck length is right at 28 ft. I run 60 psi front, 75 psi rear, truck has 41K on the clock. It is mostly used for around town driving on really rough roads that Louisiana is known for. It can ride rough, but if I reduce the psi in the tires, it smooths out somewhat. I doubt seriously that you have worn shocks, I know mine are not worn and we have close to same mileage on the trucks. Lower the tire pressure first, that is the most simple and cheapest thing to do. If that does not improve the ride, you can always go another route.

[Tundra 2014]

At 45K, it is not as much about worn shocks as it is changing to better shocks. Ex- bigger piston, nitrogen, high pressure shocks and better material. Someone talked about Rancho 9000 shocks that are adjustable to conditions. I have found the Bistein 5100 to be close in performance w/o adjustment. To improve ride alone, the KYBs are very good.

[aceinspp]

BTW in my orginal post I for got to mention I had the Z71 package which gave you heavy duty shocks and sway bars. I had 1 ton dullys for years and the new 2015 3//4 is such a difference in ride. I think they ride kike they should Its a truck and not a Cadillac. Later RJD

[67L48]

Originally Posted by Rockinh

I am amazed at how many suggestions were to change your shocks. [...] You will be amazed at how un-impressed you will be with just new shocks.

My experience, as mentioned above, is exactly the opposite. You will be amazed at how impressed you will be with just new shocks.

“Harsh” is an adjective that has many different meanings to different people. My smooth is another person’s harsh. And, vice versa. So, indeed, you may need to look at tire pressures, tire types, tire ply, spring rates, wheel size, and other suspension components. These are all good suggestions. But, for a 4-5 year old truck still riding on factory shocks ... that’s a no brainer in my experience: new shocks will reinvent your driving experience.

The shocks work to maintain a significant contact between your rig and the road. This planted, more controlled experience is significant when compared to what are almost assuredly worn out shocks. You may still think it’s too stiff and you may need to pursue the other variables. But, I wouldn’t do any of those other things until you got some suitable shocks under that truck.

I would totally agree with Rockinh’s assessment if you were going from good shocks to other good shocks. In that case, shocks aren’t going to do much — they’re already doing their job and your truck still feels like a dump truck. Yes, you’ll need to look elsewhere. But, that’s not what is going on here. The factory shocks that are still performing well after 4-5 years are an absolute unicorn of an outlier. So, that’s why I’d start there.

Others’ experiences may be different, of course.

[Rockinh]

Originally Posted by 67L48

My experience, as mentioned above, is exactly the opposite. You will be amazed at how impressed you will be with just new shocks.

“Harsh” is an adjective that has many different meanings to different people. My smooth is another person’s harsh. And, vice versa. So, indeed, you may need to look at tire pressures, tire types, tire ply, spring rates, wheel size, and other suspension components. These are all good suggestions. But, for a 4-5 year old truck still riding on factory shocks ... that’s a no brainer in my experience: new shocks will reinvent your driving experience.

The shocks work to maintain a significant contact between your rig and the road. This planted, more controlled experience is significant when compared to what are almost assuredly worn out shocks. You may still think it’s too stiff and you may need to pursue the other variables. But, I wouldn’t do any of those other things until you got some suitable shocks under that truck.

I would totally agree with Rockinh’s assessment if you were going from good shocks to other good shocks. In that case, shocks aren’t going to do much — they’re already doing their job and your truck still feels like a dump truck. Yes, you’ll need to look elsewhere. But, that’s not what is going on here. The factory shocks that are still performing well after 4-5 years are an absolute unicorn of an outlier. So, that’s why I’d start there.

Others’ experiences may be different, of course.

Good Point. The suspension system is indeed a System. All the parts have to be working together. If the ride is better with a load on and it handles and rides well with a load on, then the problem is, its a truck doing its job. If it bounces around with a load on, start looking at shocks, they are supposed to damp the bounce. If its harsh without a load and has no give to the suspension, thats the springs.

[Poper]

Reading all with great interest. Im original owner sole driver 2015 2500 HD gasser with 55 K.
OEM was Michelin LTX AT tires so preparing for a trip with 55 k on original tires, and could go 60k easily I replaced with original Michelin AT why change when happy so far great mileage and rode smooth as glass.
Well th AT were terrible, bounced all the way home from tire dealer.
He says bring em back we'll re balance. No different. I then take the truck to my Chevy Dealer and he does a “road force balance”. Those not familiar do a search very interesting concept and works to some degree.
$140 road force balance later better but still bouncing. I Go back to tire dealer he says take the Michelin “crap” AT tires off and put on Michelin Defender LTX M&S.
Ride is better but still bounces. No load. With load bounce felt more.
So now I’m gonna try Blistein shocks, I’ve used em on a previous Ram.
I never figured shocks at 55 k miles, plus tires rolled smooth as silk until I put new ones on. BTW all were E rated 8 ply
I still don’t understand the radical ride difference for just new tires.
Any clues? Also any suggestions Blistein 4600 or 5100 my daily driver.
TT a non issue 8000 lb max 4-5 x a year is all.
Thanks,

[Grpeterso]

I've had several Chevy & GMC 1500's and always had a great ride. But after. Purchasing our 28RL Crusader 5th wheel I needed to go to a 3/4 ton. Bought a 2019 2500HD and have no complaints about the ride! Sales people even told me I would not like the ride! They were wrong. Factory. Shocks & Michelin LTX. When not hauling the 5th wheel I'll drop it to@60psi.