Help With Tundra Rough Ride

I am hoping some of you could help me with the rough ride of my 2019 Tundra 1794. I clearly did not do a good enough job test driving it on all road surfaces. It rides fine when the road surface is asphalt. The problem is driving on something like the interstate where the road surface is concrete. The gaps between the concrete pours cause a very uncomfortable vibration in the truck. It bounces 2-3 times a second at 70-80 mph. It is enough to make me sick to my stomach if I go very far. I admittedly have a sensitive stomach, but it is a significant problem. So I am asking for advice on how to smooth out the ride.


I’ve tried a number of things. The guys at the dealership think it is caused by the Tundra being a fairly heavy duty half-ton with a stiff suspension. Thus, it bounces when going over these gaps in the concrete. (Mine came with the Toyota towing package, not sure if that’s a factor.) I tried putting some weight in the bed; 300 then 500 pounds of bags of play sand. This improved things a bit, but not that much. I had put more aggressive all terrain tires on the truck when I bought it and thought this might be the problem. But I went back to the dealership and drove a 1794 with stock tires – it was just as rough, so it’s not the tires. They also said it might be the 20” wheels I have and that the 18” wheels might be smoother. So I drove another Tundra with the 18” wheels. No luck. It was just as rough.


I also considered getting another vehicle. I looked at the 4 Runner, which was smoother riding. But they wanted a fortune to change from my current Tundra lease (less than 3 months old) to leasing the 4 Runner.


At this point I am out of options. Have any of you successfully dealt with this problem? E.g., softer shocks? Anything else? I’d appreciate any ideas.


Thanks.
Bob

 

I have the PRO suspension and do not have the issue.

 

Crazy crazy ! A stock riding Tundra is pretty smooth.

 

Mine did this as well at roughly the same speed when I was driving thru Albuquerque on I-40. I have an aftermarket lift. I had to slow down to get it to stop.

 

Neither of my tundras rode rough, but my current 1794 with Radflos rides wonderfully

 

This is a very common issue.....Bed bounce...usually appears on concrete slab highways. Rear leafs are not mounted parallel. They are mounted trapezoidal. The unforgiving OEM rear bushings along with the trapezoidal positioning of the leafs cause this bed bounce affect at times. Replacing with poly bushings help somewhat. Greaseable OME shackles with bushings should even be better. CoachBuilder has replacement bushings too, along with ToyTec.

 

It's more of a road problem than a truck problem. I noticed a slight bounce going through some stretches in Alabama over the holidays. Never see it here in Florida.

 

Search “bed bounce” in the search function.

 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I'll check out "bed bounce" as Joonbug suggested and look into the suggestions Grey Wolf made.
Cheers, Bob

 

This ^^^^

 

I noticed a similar stiffness at first on my 2018 limited tundra. After 5,000 miles driven it has gotten much smoother. Or maybe I got used to it. I think the leaf suspension needs to loosen up a bit. Now the ride is not as smooth as my previous Ram truck but it’s not in the repair shop as much either.

 

Rough as in it hits bumps bad? Or like it bounces on cement highways. Bc before I leveled it it rode unbelievable smooth over bumps and potholes. But I even noticed driving it from dealer 3 hours away that on a cement highway it had continuous bumps like a rollercoaster going up and down. Just on one highway. By me. I think it is from having a soft suspension? But coachbuilder shackles helped. I’m sure there’s small suspension changes you can do to make it much better. Versus getting a new car

 

I believe watching a 2018 truck shootout, the GMC Sierra Denali had the most sedan-like ride. Since you’re stuck with the 1794, I agree getting shackles with new poly bushings softened my bed bounce, cheap mod. I also hear Pro suspension is the most forgiving, maybe why they sag so much under load, expensive upgrade. Lowering the psi in my tires without flattening them too much I noticed softened the ride. Maybe adding lumbar/seat support too?

 

Off road shocks and coilovers will minimize it a lot. Fox, Kings, Bilstein offer oem versions. I have Kings and some weights on my 2010 Crewmax 4x4 and still have some bounce. Not bad at all though. I have Hankook AT tires stock tires on 18 stock aluminum wheels. Pressures front: 38-39 psi and rear 38-39. I found out that at 35 psi at the rear tires makes the truck bouncier. And I don't want to go 30 PSI cause it is heavy to drive. Try airing rear tires at 38-40.. Keep the weights on the bed for now and test drive.

 

Many thanks for all your comments. There were 3 I wanted to follow up on:

1. Art64: Off road shocks and coilovers will minimize it a lot. Fox, Kings, Bilstein offer oem versions. I have Kings and some weights on my 2010 Crewmax 4x4 and still have some bounce. Not bad at all though.


2. Ron: Now with the CB shackles and bushings, it really takes a rough road to make it bounce like that. When loaded, it’s caddy smooth.


3. Grey Wolf: Greaseable OME shackles with bushings should even be better. CoachBuilder has replacement bushings too, along with ToyTec.

I am by no means a mechanic and don't know some of these terms (i.e., coilovers, CB shackles and bushings). I'm thinking of going to a suspension specialist near me (Boulder, Denver) and ask them what they have. So what should I ask for exactly?

Thanks,

Bob

 

if you're in Denver you need to visit @Toytec Lifts, might even be something where you can see/feel differences in person

 

The rear suspension needs the most modification. If you're going with the Kings, I recommend the ones with compression adjusters so you can dial in the firmness of the shocks. You can do the rear suspension first. The shocks are expensive, but they are adjustable, rebuildable, can take more abuse than the oem's and really makes a difference in rough roads or terrain. Truck will feel planted, stable, minimized bucking or pogo stick motion on the rear when you hit big bumps. I will be retrofitting my Kings oem with these compression adjusters this year. I wish I had bought the ones with the adjusters to begin with.

If you're going to a suspension shop make sure they specialize in off road.

I forgot to add: To have the shocks nitrogen pressure checked to make sure they are in spec. Some of these shocks are shipped with less nitrogen pressure than what the manufacturer recommends. Hopefully, the shop can refill the shocks to specs. Otherwise, the shocks will not perform as designed and you'll be pissed.

 

Thanks, I'll check with them. I called a suspension place in Denver, they recommended the Bilstein, 4600 series shocks. Said they would run $1100 installed. Seemed very high!

 

absolutely not, the 4600s are similar to the OEM TRD (non-pro) shocks and will likely be minimal help

 

I’ve owned three tundras over the years. Each had TRD package and oversized tires from the non-TRD models. My 2008 and now my 2015, both 18”, listed factory 30 lbs front, 33 lbs rear. Ride was too soft in front and way to hard in the rear when empty bed. Guessing, the weight front to rear ratio when the bed is empty is 65% front/35% rear. After experimentation, I always run 34 in the front and 28 in the rear. Problem solved. Handles like a slot car, no body roll, flat in turns and handles remarkably. If you are running the 30/33 p, reverse them. Plus, at 34 in the front, you will still have radial bulge. Then merely lower the rear visually to the same bulge, check what you have for pressure and you are optimum. If you get down with your truck on a flat concrete driveway, head one the slab, you should see no more than 1/2” of outer tread not touching the ground. Will drive like a different truck.

 

Depending on what you were driving before it may seem rough in comparison. Mine is not the best ride but pretty good based on the fact that it is a truck, a very heavy truck. You may need a bit more time to adjust to the ride. And it is true that they loosen up a bit with mileage. Stick with it if you can.

Good luck!

 

I was leasing a 2017 limited that rode like a Cadillac. I decided to buy this time and went with a 2020 platinum. I love the platinum, they've made a lot of improvements in 3 years, but the platinum rides rough, and very rough compared to the 2017 limited Unfortunately I test drove it during a snow storm so I couldn't tell at the time Again I love the truck, but may have made a different choice if I had test driven it under regular conditions

 

Reach out to mike at dobinsons USA and let him know your issue and see if he would recommend a softer set up. Curious also what you drove prior to the tundra and if you had similar issues or not.

 

Maybe the limited also was off-road package. They might be a little smoother

 

Coach Builder +1 shackles will help. Had the same problem. Re built my whole rear end suspension. I like to take it too the next level. My wife loved it