Alright here is one for you guys.. I put 33x13.5 Mickey Thompson ATZ's on my 02 f150 ext cab and they are E Rated. Now I expected a rougher ride, thats a given. But on some blacktop roads if you look closely they have minor dips in the road from not being paved perfectly flat. This truck now picks those minor dips out at 40mph to the point where its driving me nuts. Below 35mph or over 45 mph you don't seem get the "bouncing" feeling. 40mph being the worse. Its like the truck is hopping down the road. I can go on some blacktop roads and most concrete ones and it's smooth as glass at 40mph. Does anyone else have this? Maybe my shocks are junk? Not sure. If you have a thought, throw it out there. Thanks!!

 

I'm also from Wisconsin so I know where your coming from, are roads suck. How many miles are on your shocks? Some people say after 30 thousand it is time to replace them. If they are your factory shocks then replace them asap. I just replaced the factory shocks on mine they had 169000 on em and now i don't feel the road near as much as I did. What psi are you running, what are the tires rated for, adjusting them up or down could solve your problem as well.

 

I still believe they are stock shocks at 83000 miles. They aren't leaking so its not like they are completely blown out but its hard to justify the cost to throw new ones on there for a "Maybe fix" too, you know how that is. The tires are E Rated with a 65 psi max. I'm running like 37psi I believe, the truck doesn't pull anything so I figured no need to jack the psi sky high but maybe thats my issue?

 

At best 37 is okay for an empty truck, no load. Better would be around 45. As far as shocks, they do not need to leak to be worn out. The internal parts do wear, which diminishes the dampening effects for bumps.
Your description of bouncing is a perfect description of bad shocks. Unfortunately, the suspension of the F150 is heavy enough that you cannot do the old bumper test for worn shocks. They are just too stiff.

 

I had to check my Nitto's to make sure they weren't P rated they ride so smooth. Just a tad bit rougher then the stock Pirelli's. I run 42 psi in them.

 

i second running a higher psi, plus it might help squeeze out a few miles.
and NJ has to have the worse roads, trust me

 

Yeah I already tried the bumper test, it really didn't tell me anything so I'm glad to hear that. Maybe some new shocks would do the trick. What would everyone suggest running as far as shocks? Am I better off staying stock or going aftermarket? I'll for sure try the tire pressure first. The only reason I had it lower is with a 13.5" wide tire on a 9" rim I didn't want to wear the center of the tread out quicker than the sides.

 

I just replaced my factory shocks on my 2006 with 70k miles and they were crap. The factory ones were so bad I could compress them by hand and the Bilstein HDs I had to put all my weight on to get any compression. The ride is vastly improved and not harsh but firm. If your able pull one of your shocks off and try and compress it and see how fast it extends back out.

If you decide to replace bilsteins are worth the price imo, but I have read good things on rancho 9000s also.

 

Top of the line would be Bilsteins or Ranchos. Next would be like the Monroe Gas Magnums or Gabriels. In my opinion, the Bilsteins are worth it. Make sure you replace all the way around. Otherwise you will have the front and rear rebounding at different rates, causing drive-ability problems.

 

I went up to 45psi, no change. Still has the hop at 40mph. It's weird, say your on a road doing 55 and slow down to turn on another road, as your slowing down it just progressivly gets a "hop" and 40mph being its peak point. It almost feels like a tire is out of balance but that would cause it to be really violent at highway speeds correct?

 

An out of balance tire can cause vibrations at different speeds. Find yourself a smooth road to test out of balance. However, even when a tire is out of balance, bad shocks can exaggerate the condition.

 

ive been running 35psi in my 305 70 17 terra grapplers..maybe i should go up, because they do ride a tad rough

 

Sounds like one of your tires probably is out of balance. I do 40 mph a lot on my E-rated Nitto Terra's and I've noticed an increase in the bouncing feeling on smoother roads, but I feel that no matter what I'm driving. I run my Nitto's around 50 psi, they're rated for like up to 80 psi when towing.

Overall though, the E-rated do ride rougher, but not by anything severe. I'd still take my truck on a 9+ hour road trip with them. I've had passengers tell me they were expecting it to be more bumpy after looking at the tires then riding with me.

 

Personally, I think 35 psi is way under inflated. I have E rated summer tires and I think it's usually around 55 psi. I also have P rated winter tires on another set of rims. Those I think are around 45-50 psi. I can't say I really notice a difference in ride between them. More noise out of the winter tires but even that's not bad.

 

If you have p rated tires at 45-50, there is a good possibility they are overinflated. Beyond their max pressure. Only a XL series tire have a max over 44, and they would not need to be at max. Probably closer to 40. A max 80 psi LR E tire should never need to be above about 50 on an F150, Not even when loaded. Anything above that, especially empty would cause excessive wear. There are even a few LR E tires with such a high load range (over 4000) that really only need to be at around 40, although I would not go lower.
That being said, it is far better to have too high a pressure than too low, unless you are over the rated max of the tire.