On my '97 Ram 1500 4x4, it seems to hit pretty hard when I hit potholes. Rides smooth on good road. I've had to replace control arms, track bar, ball joints and u-joints because of mileage, 200,000mi. I'm just wondering if I need to replace the spring insulators to kinda damp out some of the harshness. Almost feels like someone hitting you directly on a bone (solid hit). It happens mostly on the drivers side. Anyone ever had a problem with insulators and ride quality?

 

Insulators don't affect ride quality, they just make sure you don't hear the springs rattle every time you go over a tiny little bump.

How old are your shocks?

 

It just seems that when I hit the bottom of a pothole, it's like the spring almost comes loose ever so slightly and on the other side feels like a solid hit like the spring is hitting the spring pocket. I guess I'm just punting here. I know it definitely made a difference in ride quality on a 2009 Jeep JK I lifted.

 

Bouncing off the stops is pretty harsh.

 

Don't know how old they are since I just got the truck a couple of months ago, but the shop that did the frontend work said they were good.

 

"good" and "useable" can be worlds apart.... The struts on my firebird "tested" ok, (bounce test) but, when I installed new ones, the difference was astounding.....

 

I had them take out the bottom bolt to inspect the bushing and bolt for wear, so they removed the shock completely to make sure all the bushings were ok. So who knows, it's possible they're bad.