Hi folks. My family got a 4x2 A/T D-Max last January. It's a great vehicle and we're very satisfied with it in all aspects except for the stiff rear suspension. Any suggestions on what can be done to eliminate the harsh ride? Thank you. ;)
Thanks for your suggestions guys. Yup, we know it's a pickup but we testdrove other pickups like the Strada, Frontier & Ranger before deciding to get the D-Max & we experienced an almost carlike ride with the Strada & the worst ride in the Frontier. At least, 'di naman pinakamatalbog ang D-Max . Moreover, we have travelled several times in the D-Max with 5 average sized adults and the cargo bed full with 2 sacks of rice, 3 large coolers of fish and our bags but still, the ride was harsh. We don't usually haul heavy stuff, we're actually just after the high ground clearance of the vehicle para may magagamit kami pag may konting baha. We would have wanted the Trooper but it's way beyond our budget . We're more inclined to do the spring reversal scheme since malamang mahal magpalit ng shocks. :D
it all boils down to you needs ng pick-up. if you use it to haul then stick with your present set-up, but if for occasional loading lang, then there are a lot of ways to improve the ride, from leaf modification, changing spring packs, shock absorber change and others.
with regards to changing to fluid shocks, na ka gas ka na why go back to fluid, fluid shocks does not neccesarily mean a better ride, softer on some instances but no more vehicle control, faster fading shocks and watery ride.
yes changing shocks to aftermarket ones is expensive, but this are just parts that you can change, once you suffer from back pains due to the hard ride of your vehicle, id rather change shocks that to let my body suffer na walang spare parts available. PM me if you want to improve the ride i can give suggestions or email me.
looks like the mitsu strada is still the winner in passenger comfort category.....hehehehe and I thought that the Dmax was much better in terms of ride coz it has a bigger body w/c means heavier than the previous model....seems like they updated the leaf springs as well to a harder one....hehehe
weird..I thought having that much load would make the ride much better. Well, I've tried it on my strada less bumpy. But of course, the loading capacity must be taken into consideration. According to my passengers, it was less bumpy with the load. But their main concern was the seats... :confused: I was totally shocked the first time I heard it. Well, to my observation and testing...lo and behold, yes the rear seats were higher than the front ones. It seemed that the rear seats were stiffer and the "bucket like" comfort was not there. I haven't tried the rear seats of the other pickups but so far the rear pickup seats I've rode on was the explorer's was far better then my strada's. Probably, change the rear seats? hehehe :D
by comparison the new strada has only 3 leafs that handle the load compared to the d-max which is 7. the strada has 5 leafs total but the over load does not stick to the others, unlike the d-max that all seven help each other make the ride hard.
Originally posted by 5Speed looks like the mitsu strada is still the winner in passenger comfort category.....hehehehe and I thought that the Dmax was much better in terms of ride coz it has a bigger body w/c means heavier than the previous model....seems like they updated the leaf springs as well to a harder one....hehehe
that is because the suspension of the dmax is tuned for heavy loads. if you will compare the leaf spring of strada and dmax.