How to make F150 ride better?

[Je1279]

Yes, the truck comes with a front Antisway bar from the factory. Pretty much required or the truck would fall over on its side when you turn into a parking lot at greater than 5mph.

If you compare the front Antisway of the Gen14 to the previous F150's, you'd think something is wrong. It's scrawny compared. But that's a bit misleading because Ford redesigned the front knuckle and the attachment position of the front Antisway and it increased the leverage considerably. Ford claims the new scrawny bar is equivalent in its influence. I personally feel it's about the same, but I'd have preferred a little bit more.

As I am still waiting for my truck to arrive, I am not yet familiar with it's handling characteristics. However, I have learned from previous vehicles that a slightly larger front sway bar will reduce body roll without creating additional harshness when driving over bumps and dips. Slightly larger is key though, as bigger is not better here. If you install something with the rigidity of an I-beam, you will quickly realize that you made things go from bad to worse.

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[Buyer2021]

Slightly larger is key though, as bigger is not better here. If you install something with the rigidity of an I-beam, you will quickly realize that you made things go from bad to worse.

Perhaps useful for folks to understand

• Increasing front anti-roll stiffness tends to increase understeer
• Increasing rear anti-roll stiffness tends to increase oversteer

All is of course relative and yes, big changes can yield big (sometimes undesirable) consequences

 

[Calson]

My 2022 F-150 has the softest ride of any SUV or truck I have driven in the past 50 years. If a super soft ride is what someone wants they should buy a Ram 1500 with the air suspension or a Lexus.

I have terrible roads where I live but where there are pot holes I drive around them - better for the truck and better for my passengers. If I liked driving over holes in the road I would have bought the military Hummer.

 

[Eskram]

Howdy,
I wish I'd had Snakebitten's experience with install of a Steeda 555-1027 specified as compatible with my 2022 Supercrew Platinum Powerboost 5.5' bed.
I ran into two issues with the installation:
1. Contact with a metal shield on exhaust pipe.
2. Bushing bracket holes are misaligned sufficiently to prevent attachment to u-bolts.

Steeda is not sure why there's a problem and are reluctant to just ship new bushing brackets and not address the metal shield clearance.
They expect to have similar F-150 in their shop for another project and have indicated they'll be able to advise a solution within a couple of weeks.

Has anyone else had similar experience?

Did you ever get this sorted? I didn't have the same issues when I installed mine today.

 

[stonefly]

I'm waiting for Steeda to confirm the bushing brackets are OOS and replace.
Also waiting to see if Steeda has any advice regarding clearance of exhaust cowl. ETA = Next week.

After reading prior comments in the thread, I've played with the flag nut placement. There appears to be longitudinal play, but not much laterally. When I get the replacement brackets I'll adjust flag nuts maximally toward the rear end and hope that provides sufficient clearance.
I may also get creative with my "fine tune calibrator" (mallet or similar) to avoid contact.

I'm glad you guys are having success. Steeda folks are easy to talk to on the phone. Don't expect much in the way of substantive communication by email though.

 

[Eskram]

I was able to get a bit more wiggle room after I initially installed it (incorrectly..). I loosened everything up, re-squared it and ended up with maybe 1/8" more clearance between the endlink and exhaust shield. I did bend the shield back a little bit with some pliers to make sure nothing contacts, which so far has been the case.

GL getting everything worked out!

Edit: My U-bolt brackets didn't exactly slide right in, but once I got one side in, I was able to squeeze a bit to get the other leg in the bracket.

 

[cool rod]

My 2022 F-150 has the softest ride of any SUV or truck I have driven in the past 50 years. If a super soft ride is what someone wants they should buy a Ram 1500 with the air suspension or a Lexus.

I have terrible roads where I live but where there are pot holes I drive around them - better for the truck and better for my passengers. If I liked driving over holes in the road I would have bought the military Hummer.

I don't know what to say about this. I wish I had your truck. Mine rides like a dump truck.

 

[Snakebitten]

I don't know what to say about this. I wish I had your truck. Mine rides like a dump truck.

I suspect it's just a matter of choice of words to describe what's already a subjective description of a technical subject?

A dump truck is a perfect example though! Like any vehicle, on a smooth road it's going to ride smooth whether it's empty or loaded with 14 tons of gravel. But scientifically speaking, it's going to be designed to have a suspension "tuned" for a really heavy load.
On a bumpy road it is going to ride very differently empty VS loaded. I haven't ever driven one but I am guessing when empty it's not very compliant over a bump! It'd be over-damped. (Although it might have adjustable damping to compensate? Air suspension? Still, that spring rate has to be really "stiff" for an empty truck)

In my opinion, an oem F150 suspension is "tuned" with a strong bias for a low Payload (passengers only) smooth road experience.
So BOTH a bumpy road or a heavy load will expose that bias.

Fortunately it is rather inexpensive to move that Buick bias (sorry, can't resist) in the direction that suits the subjective desire of the owner. Very low hanging fruit available.

It does get a little bit more expensive if you are chasing a well composed truck with a heavy Payload. But the aftermarket has plenty of offerings for that too.

Fantastic platform to work with. I would have never dreamed that today's 1/2 ton trucks would exist when I was a younger man. This truck would have been pure science fiction, in many ways.

 

[Chili]

How does a rear way bar effect ride quality? Specifically that shudder / shake you get when hitting bumps and pot holes?

Currently I have oem 18" tires and only upgraded the rear shocks to 4600's. The shudder seems to apply to front and rear. Was thinking 4600's up front and adding a sway in the rear.

 

[rockfish]

I have a 2022 Supercrew 6.5 bed Powerboost with CCD and as soon as I bought it I put on the Roadmaster Active Suspension kit since I tow a 9000 lb boat trailer as well as a camper. I have always thought the ride was excellent. I have the 20" wheels. It tows the boat great, with hardly any squat.

 

[Chili]

I had RAS on my last truck. I pulled the rear lift block and put that on to reduce the rear height by around .25" vs a lift.

I just like to tinker. F150 doesn't have the best handling either, compared to my prevoous GM truck it rides nicer but prefers the straights where the GM didn't mind fast cloverleaf's as much.

 

[Snakebitten]

Yea, I've found that the F150 is hurting for a rear Antisway Bar if you want decent turn-in with composure.

And those 3 different settings really are progressive regarding.

 

[23STX]

How does a rear way bar effect ride quality? Specifically that shudder / shake you get when hitting bumps and pot holes?

Currently I have oem 18" tires and only upgraded the rear shocks to 4600's. The shudder seems to apply to front and rear. Was thinking 4600's up front and adding a sway in the rear.

This shudder you are talking about may be what I noticed on my ‘23. I feel like everything on the road transfers through the steering wheel and makes it feel like an old worn out suspension.

My 2017 was an XLT/FX4 and although the suspension wasn’t the best imho, it felt much firmer.

I’ve crawled under and checked the suspension because it makes me wonder if something is loose on the front end.

 

[JJSnell]

What @Buyer2021 said...
What is your truck? Model? Trim? Wheelbase? Etc?
My 2022 Plat, with 157" WB, on 22" Hankooks, rides like a Caddy. (I've never been in a Caddy), but it rides hella smooth.

 

[Yason84]

The five link design is not specific to the TRX - but that article helps describe some of the interesting aspects of how it works. And I never said the RAM was an IRS. That was the Lightning. Simply saying that RAM figured out how to deliver a good compromise between "truck" utility and decent handling.

Yes you did. You even put it in parentheses. An IRS means the rear axle is split into two *independently* articulating half-shafts, which, the Ram does not have. Doesn’t matter what kind of springs/shocks are used. There has yet to be an ICE powered full-size pickup truck with an IRS setup. The only full-size truck based vehicles with an IRS is the Expedition and the 2021+ GM SUVs.

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