I'll chime in.Does anyone use sumo springs or other type of solid rubber type of helpers?? If so, how do you like them, and are they working? Are there down sides? Would you install them again? I like the idea of install and forget. But if they don’t work I’ll go with air bags instead.
Mike
I have the Sumo Supersprings on my truck, made a world of difference with the squat and bounce while towing/loaded. Adds the better load handling capabilities of air bags without the maintenance. The nice thing about the Sumos is they are progressive in the amount of support they give; meaning the more load they are carrying the firmer they are, and you don't feel them unloaded at all. Very unlike the Timbrens I had on a previous truck, which felt like every time they made contact for the slightest bump when empty felt like you hit a huge speed bump going down the road. Would definitely go with the Sumo Supersprings again.Does anyone use sumo springs or other type of solid rubber type of helpers?? If so, how do you like them, and are they working? Are there down sides? Would you install them again? I like the idea of install and forget. But if they don’t work I’ll go with air bags instead.
Mike
Roadmaster active suspension "prevents" axle wrap by pre-wrapping the axle. It does this by putting tension on the rear half of the leaf spring which results in arching it more than Ford intended, and causes more load to be placed on the rear spring frame mounts. There are people who rave about the RAS, but personally I'm not a fan of how it does what it does.Still evaluting options. Anyone have experience with the Roadmaster Active Suspension?
Got the sumo springs installed at last oil change . Installed with the spacer witch makes the sumo touch the housing when let off the lift. Seems to have more bounce in the back, so I might take the spacers out . Haven’t towed yet so no comparison there yet. But so far so good.Pulled the trigger on sumo springs, I’ll let you all know what I think after I install them.
thank you all for your help!
I run mine without the spacers, no issues.Got the sumo springs installed at last oil change . Installed with the spacer witch makes the sumo touch the housing when let off the lift. Seems to have more bounce in the back, so I might take the spacers out . Haven’t towed yet so no comparison there yet. But so far so good.
I’m going to let the spacers in for now because I have a long camping trip coming up. So I’ll see how that goes and make a decision then weather to take them out or not. It’s fairly easy to swap them out so I might just put the factory bump stops in until I need the sumos again.I run mine without the spacers, no issues.
Sumo springs are more progressive than timbrens and have a much smoother engagement and ride, both unloaded and loaded. I had a 2014 CCLB (6.5') I installed the timbrens on and hitting a bump or pothole on the highway was always a very hard jarring hit whenever they made contact with the rear axle- and that's after modifying the mounting brackets to have more clearance with the axle when unloaded.Any more feed back on the Sumos? I'm currently looking at at air bags or replacement blocks to put some rake back into our truck, specifically when loaded. With the levelling kit up front there's very little rake empty and loaded it looks overloaded.
Note I've had Timbrens before. They did the job but I would prefer something more progressive.
They've got several types of sumosprings options for our trucks now.@navyR113 sounds good. I'll look into the Sumos or Sumos and slightly taller blocks versus the air bags.
My issue with the roadmaster active suspension is that in order to do what it says (improve load handling characteristics and prevent axle wrap), it pre-wraps the rear axle by pulling on the rear spring eye and holds it there- causing unnecessary stress on the leaf springs. I know there are people who rave about the RAS, but personally I'd rather have the Supersprings which don't cause axle wrap.@Cummins6712, living in Northern MB, you might want to ask supersprings how much the durometer of the sumospring changes from -40C to +20C. I have an E-350 with a 4x4 conversion that had front bump stops from a 2005 F-350. As soon as the weather approached -20C, those bump stops turned into rocks. Ford had updated their F-350 bump stops the next year, and so I did the update and found it to be an order of magnitude better, but still stiffer in extreme cold.
Incidentally, that van runs Roadmaster Active Suspension in the rear (in addition to an overload leaf), and I have to say that I am really happy with it. Bulletproof, does what it says, and adjustable...with wrenches.
My F-150 came with air bags; it's too early for me to report how they work; however, I am thrilled with the airbags in my Chevy DRW 3500. As long as they are not leaking. The Chevy has SuperSprings, but they really didn't do the job for heavy loads (4800lb slide in camper). The air bags are great, but they really hinder articulation, which is what I suspect has caused my bags to start leaking. I'll be ordering replacement bags for that truck this winter.
