Making A Pickup Ride Softer

[ThaiLife]

Myself and a friend both have Mitsubishi Triton pickups ,and we are trying to see if its possible to make the ride experience a bit more comfortable as at the moment the ride is some what a bit hard , we know that a pickup is designed to be a possible work horse and may be has to cope with heavy loads Etc , and we know some one will say we should have bought a SUV . The Two areas where we would like to make some changes are

1. The front vehicle height

2. The rear suspension

When there's no load in the back of the pickup the front of the vehicle is higher than the rear , and as 90 % of the time we don't carry any heavy loads , we have been told that to improved the over

all look and ride , a set of front strut spacers can be fitted as show here ....

Quot ...

Our strut spacers are manufactured from billet alloy and anodised to protect against the elements. Bolted to the top of the strut tower they will provide you approximately 40mm of lift without limiting the wheel travel. The ideal solution for fixing the low nose on your new ML Triton 4x4.

Suitable for all current model 4x4 ML Triton vehicles manufactured from 8/2005 - current models

We have only found the strut spacers shown above , on sale in Australia and to get them sent over to Thailand would cost

around 6,000 - 7,000 Baht.

With the rear suspension we have been told that it may be possible to alter the Leaf Springs or shock absorbers to give a softer ride .At this stage we have only been looking at what may be possible

so if any one here can please offer any comments ,ideas or suggestions on the above - that will be much appreciated

Thanks :jap:

[apetley]

May be a dumb question but have you checked your tyre pressures?

When I first got my Triton the pressures were 60!!! psi all round, just about double that recommended.

The ride improved considerably when they were set at the correct pressure.

[neverdie]

The strut spacers arnt going to make a difference to the roughness of the ride, only challenge the height issues.

Ive had a few four wheel drives over the years. I have always ended up having work done with the suspension for one reason or another.

Alot of people drive around on standard suspension for alot of years and alot of miles and dont realise how substandard things can get with a few miles on them. Of course poor suspension affects the handling and comfort of the vehicle but can also affect things like stopping distance, which comes into play in emergency braking situations.

Depending on how your vehicle gets used the standard suspension may be well worn with only 40 to 60,000km on it & if you are serious about improving it you will need to look at a new set of shocks and springs & if leaf spring in the back don't forget to attend to the little parts such as shackles ect.

When you order vehicle springs there is often a choice between constant load ones and softer versions. If you pick a spring designed for a constant load it will be horrible when there is no load in the vehicle, where if you only carry loads for a small percentage of the time the softer versions will do.

There are some great shock options out there for these vehicles, google some sites like old man emu, RAW and so forth, Im not sure who stocks such equipment in Thailand but Im sure once youve made up your mind you will be able to find that out. Ive seen such brands on 4x4's in Bangkok of all places.

[hansnl]

If you use a truck as it should be used, as a goods carrier, the ride would be better.

The cheapest solution, and the safest, put some load between the two axles.

120-150 kilo would do.

Spacers, anywhere in a car, change the ride characteristics.

Strut spacers are meant to rise the height of a car, but on all four wheels, if possible.

You could change the shocks, but really, some load is the best and cheapest solution....and the safest.

[katabeachbum]

Front springs from Pajero Sport SUV fits and are softer

Rear springs, take off leaves to fit your load.

But now your pickup can not carry 1000 kg any more, but 700 kg evenly spread is doable

there are more expensive solutions like Eibach.

Edit, Oh forgot check your tyre pressure(should be 29-32 check sticker in drivers door sill) and type of tyres (load index) before you spend any money:)

Edited August 24, 2010 by katabeachbum

[SamritT]

Just change to a softer seat cushion.

[neverdie]

OP, how many km's has ur vehicle done?

[MoonRiverOasis]

No doubt it'll be the rear leaf springs that are affecting the ride quality the most (just drive over a speedbump fast and you'll see that the front will handle it much better than the rear), so that's where your biggest gains can be had.

As someone else mentioned, you can try removing a leaf from the rear to make it softer, or the other option is to replace the leaf springs with a trailing arm/spring conversion kit. Most good 4WD shops around Thailand will be able to do this for you (e.g. www.bymanshop.com , www.westland4wd.com etc).

If that's too expensive, your first logical step is to upgrade the shocks. Brands here in include the usual off-road specialists (OME, Westcoast, Dobinson etc) but there's a couple of new'ish Thai brands that are getting good reviews on the various Thai owner's forums,and are nicely priced as well - the one that seems to "spring up" the most often (pun intended ) is: www.robustthailand.com

Edited August 24, 2010 by MoonRiverOasis

[WarpSpeed]

Yes remove a rear spring and for future load strength adjustment install air suspension in the rear to compensate for the lost spring when needed.

Also as was mentioned spacers raise the height stiffen the ride not lower it or soften it as you mentioned the front was already higher then the rear so wrong direction.

Front springs too long and too stiff already so going the other way is required but then there is the possibility of bottoming out the current shocks under normal conditions so take head of how much softer or lower you go in relation to their travel.. The springs do support the chassis weight not the shocks which only control compression and rebound and keep the tires firmly planted..

Edited August 25, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[bkksw]

You mean the front of the vehicle is lower than you'd like? That would be most trucks these days.. and the cab is actually designed with that stock rake in mind. Lift the front with the spacers and you won't feel right inside the cab. They will also change your suspension geometry and not for the better.

The most simple thing to do is add weight in the bed. A camper shell, bed camp, something substantial. Also maybe a plastic tote with your jumper cables and other 'car stuff' in there.. a bed mat and/or bed liner can add another 20-25kg..

Recently when I picked up my new Vigo it seemed stiff and rough.. a few days later with powered bed cap, liner, mat, and my stuff safely stowed.. it felt smoother overall than the Fortuner it replaced.

Removing a leaf spring is a common and frankly older way of accomplishing the same thing. If I did this, I'd only do it if I didn't plan on carrying anything in the bed.. and I'd do it not by simply removing a leaf, but by removing the entire set of springs and taking them to a leaf spring shop and having them check the arc height, remove the right one (leaf) ensuring the plastic spacers (used to reduce noise and friction) remain intact and properly positioned.. and that nothing in the suspension geometry is changed. Rebuilding and re-arcing leaf springs is an old hot-rodders trick.. largely replaced by 4 and 5 link rear suspension kits with adjustment built in..