Want a smoother riding suspension! Give me some tips!

I have a 2018 Tundra 1794, I bought it with after-market airbags in the rear. I'm approaching 100,000 miles on it and about to have my first child. I have constantly gotten complaints from passengers about how rough of a ride it is (especially in the back seats) and want to make it a smoother ride. I don't tow things very often, but do haul materials in the bed so still need something that won't get too saggy on me. I mainly drive on pavement or gravel/maintained haul roads on job sites. I don't want it lifted and don't think it currently has a lift on it. I am a short female so it's already going to be tall to get a car seat into for me! Thanks for all your advice!

 

Welcome from TX!

So, are your airbags fully inflated at all times? If you're running around without a load/pulling a trailer w/airbags inflated, your ride is gonna be stiffer.

 

Take your airbags down to about 4 PSI, see if that helps. You'll probably never haul enough to actually make it sag.

Also, you can lower the air pressure in your rear tires to help some too.

 

I honestly don't know how well the bags even hold air anymore. When I have inflated them I've put them at 10PSI or less. I've tried playing around with it and never seems to make much of a difference.

Tires are already a moderate air pressure, definitely not an over-inflation issue.

 

Do you have aftermarket shocks?

 

I am not sure.

 

Take a pic and post it

 

Sub'd.
Looking to upgrade my '18 pretty soon as well.. I'm most likely gonna get the Eibach 2R kit from @memario1214. I've sort of gathered that they are a good overall on-road and light off-road kit and won't put a huge hole in the wallet.

And congrats on the bun in the oven OP!

 

Stock shocks. Those air bags look full.

 

Just checked and couldn’t even get a PSI reading from them. My shop had them around 10 this fall when they swapped out my brakes and rotors. So I don’t know how well they actually hold air.

 

What kind of tires, and how many ply are they?
We keep 8 Ply hankooks at around 40psi unless hauling something, otherwise get beat to peices.
Michelline will have the best ride, and what's going on ours next.

 

truthfully, anyone would be hard pressed to get better ride and performance for what your looking for than a set of Bilstein 5100 front struts and corresponding Bilstein rear shocks. Another add that helps with the ride would be to add the road active suspension as well. You can leave the Bilstein at factory height and they ride very nice and the road active suspension will really help with bounce in the back seat.
many people like to try and lead folks to expensive options but for what your looking for you will be hard pressed to get a better value. if you leave the fronts on the first clip they ride very nice and reduce brake dive and the side to side movement in corners and while driving. The RAS gives the back a more solid and planted feeling and it will keep you from sagging when you have some load in the bed. Just a few thoughts

 

Not a tire problem, ride has been rough with both sets of tires I have had on it.

 

Those black stock shocks made my 2014 feel like I was in a boat when it was new.
My 2005 Tundra ride was much smoother than the 2014 and I had the stock shocks when I sold it at 120K miles.
The Gen 2.5 (2014 to 2021) is not that smooth anyway compared to a car/SUV if that is what you had before.

What is wrong with the ride?
Suspension too stiff, too soft, bouncy, what is it that makes it rough?

Whatever you do, don't replace the shocks with 6112/5160 Blisteins.
Mine are very stiff, even after 8 years on the truck.

Welcome to the forum.
Good luck..

 

I had sedans before, overall I feel every bump big or small, and bigger bumps will send passengers out of their seats. I feel like the truck doesn't absorb any of the road imperfections, so I'm thinking it's too stiff?

 

So it's not the tires, everything is OEM but the bags, but those stay empty or close to it... Seems like it would ride like any other stock Tundra. Is this your first truck? Or maybe your passengers' first ride in a truck?

 

it's my first truck, but not any of my passengers. Some of my passengers have ridden in other tundras and complain mine is the roughest tundra they have ever ridden in. I'm used to it, so it doesn't bother me much, but I also don't want to be launching a new baby out of it's car seat in the back every trip to daycare...

 

Can you please take a pic of the top of the front shock?
Just so we can see if there is a spacer or shim to lift it?

A pic something like this?


I have lifting shocks, but a 1/4 spacer in mine.
1/4 spacer lifts the front end 1/2 inch.

Spacer lifts will look something like this with varying thicknesses....
A spacer lift can make the ride rougher than stock.


I know nothing about rear air bags.
I don't know if they lift anything or not..

But maybe a pic of the rear shackles too.
Shackles are on the rear end of the rear suspension spring.
I have Toytec shackles on my truck to lift the rear.

 

Hate to say it, but you may need to get ya some new leaf springs... Either OEM or some aftermarket springs that specifically give you a softer ride although most don't go that route if they haul anything

 

I know nothing about airbags but, there is no telling what and how often that truck could have been towing with previous owners.
Could that be part of the problem?
Do the springs wear out?

 

It’s likely a combo of two things.
1. Worn out shocks. Yours are beyond end of life if they are original. Most report the best factory ride is the TRD OR setup, which utilizes a version of the Bilstein 4600 shock.
2. those rear airbags do not help with the ride, inflated or not, they are likely the source of the complaints that are worst in the back seat. If you don’t need them, take them off and put the original bump stops or some aftermarket progressive ones on. Air ride and aftermarket airbags are not the same setups. Air ride replaces the springs and uses the air pressure to create the “spring rate”. You have springs, and heavy duty airbags adding more spring rate than factory. Depending on the bags they also be limiting your rear axle movement.

 

They definitely wear out.

 

It’s most likely the airbags. I put a set of Airlift bags on my buddy’s 2015 that he pulls an enclosed trailered with daily for work. His kit looks similar to yours, and after reading the installation instructions those bags have an internal bump stop. Standard bags you can typically compress nearly flat but not those. I believe those bags limit suspension travel in a stock truck even empty, they feel like hitting the bump stop.

 

Check leaf springs to see if they’re flat. Remove bags. Don’t over inflate tires. If those don’t work, replace shocks.

 

yep, it’s the airbags. Looks like you’re almost on the internal bump stops all the time. Remove the airbags and replace with the RAS system. The topper is a hundred pounds always on the back. With a few people in the truck plus some stuff in the back, it all adds up pretty quick