Please check out the update at the bottom.
After 9 months of waiting, I finally got my steering box TSB completed this spring. The difference in steering and overall driving was fantastic. As you’ve heard, yes, it’s an absolute MUST.
TSB + Brace + Stabilizer + ???
The TSB, paired with the Synergy brace and Falcon steering stabilizer meant that I had just about all the core gear to help with keeping the truck going in a straight line. However, a separate issue arose. My electronic disconnecting sway bar was driving me nuts. It was always making “clunking” noises and I had finally had enough.
One thing I noticed when dealing with these sounds was that when I disconnected the swaybar links manually, I LOVED the way the truck drove. I mean, I wasn’t a fan of the insane body roll, but I loved how smooth it was over bumps.
Rock Jock Sway Bar
Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’m installing a RockJock Swaybar. The ride quality with that sway bar is just as good as no sway bar, but it doesn’t feel quite as much like you’re going to roll over and die. If a stock sway bar is 100% stability and no sway bar is 0% stability, I would say the RockJock is in the 40% range. It’s also just really nice not to have to worry about messing with anything when I go off-road. I’ve got enough to deal with, what with adjusting the shocks, loosening the steering, and airing down the tires.
Suspension and Stabilizer Settings
Enter the NEXT issue. Driving around 80mph on the highway with a RockJock in Colorado winds can be a little terrifying. I tried a few remedies, including setting the shocks to “Firm” and adjusting the steering stabilizer from “Medium” to “Firm.” All firm’d out, high winds were far less of an issue. But, the ride was certainly harsher.
My happy medium in the end is keeping the shocks at Medium-6 and keep the steering on Firm. It’s not perfect, but it’s a nice mix of ride comfort and stability on the road.
UPDATE: something that was also driving me nuts was that on the highway, I found the truck "bouncing" in certain sections of road. After some testing, I determined that the spare tire no longer existing under the bed was affecting how the truck drove.
In that sense, it's less about having weight on the truck, and more about where the weight is. My plan was to put something heavy in the tire's place. Ultimately, I decided to fill a patio umbrella weight with 150lbs of sand and use that.
HUGE difference in ride quality. With the spare tire on the bed rack and all other suspension settings the same as what I highlighted above, the bouncing isn't eliminating, but it's deadened.
When I get a new rear bumper and beef that up, I think that will be just the weight addition I need.