I am waiting to take delivery of my 2025 premium LC. I live out of town on an unmaintained gravel road that is usually full of washboard and washouts from rain. My goal for suspension upgrades would be to help with a more comfortable ride on this type of road and decent handling driving around town. Travel speed on these roads is 25-30mph until I hit pavement. I am thinking 35’s on 17” rims giving me more sidewall flexibility, and have been looking at Icon, fox, and king coil overs and a UCA upgrade. Will a suspension upgrade get me a decent ride in this type of road condition? Thanks in advance. Can’t wait to take this ride home!
New to LC and have suspension questions.
- Thread starter bluezilla
- Start date
The stock suspension is actually compliant. Try it out maybe with a small tire upgrade for a while and see if you like it.
Welcome to the asylum.
I would think that altering (upgrading?) the suspension as you described may make the ride worse. Try what you have first..
The best modification for your use case would be allowing the stabilizer disconnect to stay disconnected up to 30mph. Sadly it auto-disengages at 19mph but up to that speed it feels so nice on washboardy back roads.
Note: this mod doesn’t exist, welcome to the forum!
Note: this mod doesn’t exist, welcome to the forum!
A quality setup like Fox or King will definitely help, mainly by improving damping control over small bumps at your typical 25-30 mph speeds. That means less jarring and better wheel control on washboard.
Remote reservoirs help most with heat and fade over long, rough runs, which matters less at your speeds, but they still offer better tuning. Adjustable coilovers also let you dial in ride height if you’re going with 35s on 17s, which is smart for added sidewall and comfort. Just be mindful of how much you lift. Too much without correcting geometry can hurt handling. That’s where upgraded UCAs come in; they don’t add comfort directly but keep alignment in check if you lift past about 2 inches.
Honestly, you don’t have to go top-tier if you don’t want to. Even mid-range adjustable coilovers (Bilstein 6112/8112, Fox 2.0/2.5) will be a real upgrade over stock. Also, don’t overlook tire choice. A good all-terrain with softer sidewalls can make just as much difference for ride comfort as the suspension itself. Bottom line: a good suspension upgrade will make those rough roads more comfortable, just don’t expect it to erase all the bumps.
Enjoy the new truck when it arrives!
Welcome to the forum.
Just be advised you will get poor mpg trying to push 35” tires. It sounds like you have coin though to throw that much upgrades on a new vehicle. Enjoy it bub!
Just be advised you will get poor mpg trying to push 35” tires. It sounds like you have coin though to throw that much upgrades on a new vehicle. Enjoy it bub!
Like others have said, I think you should try your truck stock for a while before deciding on any changes. Just make sure you get a version with the sway bar disconnect and 18" rims and then slap on a nice set of AT SL 275/18 tires like the Nitto Terra Grapplers G3. I think you would be pretty happy with that. Going to 35s seems overkill for your use case and it will certainly make on-road driving less comfortable. Also it will force you to come up with a spare tire carrying solution.
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- Thread starter
- #9
Fortunately I get to use the company CC for gas and mods so the gas mileage is not a thing for me, but I understand that can be a consideration for most.
- Thread starter
- #10
All great advice. I am looking at going to a 17" rim to get a taller sidewall. I need to figure out how to determine sidewall stiffness on the tire specs. I think it's the load rating that affects that so definitely not an E rated. I have a Ram diesel 2500 with 35's and E rated tires and that is not the ride I am looking for in the LC.
- Thread starter
- #11
Thanks TrailWhale, I wouldn't have thought about the disconnect but I have that option on my build. I will give that a try
I've had my LC on some pretty bumpy dirt roads with washboard over the past two weeks. While I had originally planned to upgrade the suspension, the ride has been so good that I'm not sure I'd want to spend the $ to change the stock suspension. I'm riding on 17" Method 703 Beadgrip wheels with Falken WildPeak AT 4W 255/80R17 tires. Airing down the tires to 20 psi makes the ride off road really, really nice! I'd side with the group suggesting that you give the stock suspension a chance before changing out for an upgrage (which may actually be a downgrade!) The one upgrade I think is worthwhile is to change out the rims and tires for 17" and a solid E load tire you can air down.
- Thread starter
- #14
The wheels on your rig are the same as what I have been looking at. What color are they, the titanium? I bought the blue two tone paint scheme.
I drive washboard roads all the time and this LC is made for it. I can go normal speed on them with no problems. I would try before you think of upgrading. The suspension is pretty plush and made for what you describe. I have a 18" wheels and E load AT tires. I can't imagine spending 4k on suspension to get a worse ride possibly?
- Thread starter
- #17
Thanks for your input. I’m leaning towards replacing the oem 20” with a 17” wheel and tire so I have more flexibility in the side wall plus I like the look better. Maybe down the road I will do some suspension work. I need to do something in my shop with my lift so at minimum I can save the install labor.
Use the company CC.
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