Front air ride suspension??

[jimeneztrans84]

I have a 2011 kw t660 with leaf springs on front steer and 4 air bags rear and I'm trying to improve the roughness of the truck on the steering. I live in California and damn I feel every pot hole. It's getting annoying. I'm replacing shocks every 35k with monroe gas shocks. What do you guys think of the kit 4states sells to add air bags on steering? I doubt buying those $400-600 shocks will make a diff here in California roads.

[Chamberpains]

How many miles on the current springs? Have you verified the cab and suspension air ride are set correctly? Is your 5th wheel placed correctly?

[jimeneztrans84]

739k on original springs, never messed with cab adjustment, and suspension I cant mess with either it's just a rod. No way to mess with it either.

[Ricky]

(12-31-2019 )jimeneztrans84 Wrote:  739k on original springs, never messed with cab adjustment, and suspension I cant mess with either it's just a rod. No way to mess with it either.

I had a place in Pa do me a set of springs for my prostar. Heavier Duty, way better ride and poly bushings. My truck is stretched so that helps the ride. But after I put those springs on, wow. I have thought about getting a spider money to slap me to keep me awake. It rides that great.

[Chamberpains]

Sounds like you have a couple of things that need attention. If your springs haven't been replaced and lived a hard life, I'd be looking to replace them along with the bushings.

Cab suspension parts wear out just the same as anything else. It maybe time to freshen up that area.

Leveling valve's almost always have adjustment of some sort. But even if it doesn't they wear out. Become sloppy and not as reactionary as they should. Have you ever replaced the air bags? They may not leak. But they do become stretched and worn from every day use. They won't rebound as good as they should and hold the weight like they should. Along with torsion bars and trailing arm bushings. These all wear out. Just because they aren't completely shot and broken doesn't mean that it's not past it service life.

At 739,000 miles, your truck has seen a lot of wear and tear. Most parts on the truck aren't rated to last that long and perform at peak levels. You might be surprised how sloppy things get in that amount of time. A lot of little worn out parts, compound in to bigger problems like uncomfortable rides.

[arch_stanton]

I think lots of trucks ride bad because they have 12k springs and are at that weight all the time empty and loaded and because of this there is little to no travel left so you feel all of the the road.
The question is what is the optimum travel for the front springs to have a good ride and I have 2 ways to check what you have, one is to put play dough between the bump stop and spring and drive a short distance at slow speed and check the amount of squish and then repeat at increasing speed and see what you have for travel and what hit takes to bottom.

or just tape go pro to your frame and watch what happens, may want to tape a ruler in the shot to be able judge movement correctly