I currently own a 2003 Durango with about 116,000 miles. I've owned it for about 4 years and recently it has been riding really rough. I believe all of the OEM suspension is still on it besides one leaf spring I replaced about 2 years ago. I was curious what would be the best shocks and struts to put on it so the ride was relatively smooth? I understand it's a truck and wasn't made to ride like a Cadillac but I would love to not feel every single rock in the road or feel like my front and rear clip are going to fall off everytime I hit a pot hole. I have the 4.7 SXT model. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

 

What tires do you have, and what pressure do you run them at?

The 2nd gen truck guys really like the bilstien 5100's.....

 

I use Bilsteins since mine was a year old, so 16+ years. I can't relate though because I have the R/T suspension, which is meant to be firm for good handling. You'll never get it to be a '59 caddy land yacht.

 

I've had good luck with bilsteins on my pickup and my Durango. I have them from factory on my pickup-2001 with 186,000 miles. Still good shocks and struts, no oil leaking from any of them. The Durango has them on the front only so far, but they've kept the ride better than any other Shock it's had. Durangos and Dakotas tend to ride rough. They don't have a lot of rear travel, so Dodge just put really beefy springs on them instead of doing a regular spring pack with an "overload" spring. I really wish they rode better. On this forum I always see the "you can tow or have it ride nice, you can't have both" argument, and for Durangos, sadly that's true.

 

With stock suspension, if your ride is that hard there is likely issues with the springs/torsion bar tension. I put 4 of Rock Auto's finest $10ea shocks on my 03 when I got it and it rides nice. I live in a small city with terrible roads and have yet to feel anything jarring unlike before I replaced the worn out shocks as then I could feel every bump.

I'm not suggesting to go cheapo like me, I am sure they won't last more than a year or two, but a good/new set of shocks should make a big difference

You can easily tow AND ride nice when empty with airbags.

 

Stock Durangos ride fine on stock components that are in good repair. I suggest you investigate the 'in good repair' part.

 

I put air bags on my Durango. I removed two leaves in the leaf pack when I did it and yes my ride is better than a factory Durango. The main thing I was saying was, Durangos rear suspension travel is very little. Barely existent compared to those of full size trucks. There's really no room for soft suspension on them because they would just ride the bump stops anytime you put 7 people in one, much less actually tow with one. I'm not knocking the Durangos. I love my Durango even though all it does is eat my wallet. I'm just stating what I've learned about them through personal experience.

 

Get skinny tires and run 29 psi in them. Simple.

 

Kind of tires are Westlake radial sl396 a/t and the psi in all the tires is around 35 with around 5 to 6k miles on them. Since I still have the stock struts on both axles, should I try the Belstien sturts? I don't ever tow anything but I do have the tow package on it. I'm just looking for a smoother ride especially when I have the family with me.

 

@JeeperDon if there is something wrong with the oem suspension, I'm going to replace all four of whatever is the problem and if I can get a better ride from when I bought it, I'm going to do it.