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2024 F-350 & Sulastic Shackles

M and E

Well-known member
I've replaced the shackles on the leaf springs on my F-350 with the Sulastic Shackles. Essentially, they are torsion springs that replace your fixed shackles. Absolutely positively they are really effective at improving the ride on this vehicle when unloaded. Smaller high speed hits are almost eliminated from transferring energy. Railroad tracks are no longer jarring. Highway driving comfort is greatly improved. Suspension recovery on washboard roads is so much better. They do not reduce any of your capacities. However, they are a wear item but have a three year warranty with many users reporting they have lasted for 10 plus years. I've seen one or two posts where owners have reported failures but that was with the old torsion rubber (they've been improved since). Anyhow, I am not in the habit of recommending products but these are really exceptional. They were great from the moment I installed them and perform even better now that I have about 300 miles on them. I don't want to suggest that these perform like a Carli suspension, but they are not $10,000.00 either.
 

Tony P

Member
My ride in my 2024 F350 dually is fine, rides more like a SUV going down the road then a 1-ton truck. I am with UFF pictures please.
 

M and E

Well-known member
My ride in my 2024 F350 dually is fine, rides more like a SUV going down the road then a 1-ton truck. I am with UFF pictures please.
I have a SRW. The stock suspension was not horrific but it certainly was not even close to any modern SUV with coils, struts, or air. Not this anyone should expect that in a one ton at this point in time. I added Bilstein 4600 on all four corners, and a 5100 steering stabilizer. The shocks improved the unloaded ride but not transformational or anything...20% improvement +/-. The 5100 steering stabilizer is transformational and if someone were to ask what one thing would you do on your suspension this would be it. I also added AirLift 5000 Pro dual channel with an onboard compressor to help while under load.
 

M and E

Well-known member
Driver's side from the rear.
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Passenger side from the rear.

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Passenger side view.

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Driver's, side view.
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In my opinion, worth every penny if you want to achieve a noticeable improvement in unloaded ride quality.
 
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Lantley

Well-known member
When it comes to ride quality expectations are a huge factor.
I'm not a brand loyal guy. One guys smooth is another guys rough when it come to ride quality.
While I have nothing against Ford trucks, I have owned both Ford and Chevy. I do believe Chevy has a noticeably better ride than Ford.
 

M and E

Well-known member
When it comes to ride quality expectations are a huge factor.
I'm not a brand loyal guy. One guys smooth is another guys rough when it come to ride quality.
While I have nothing against Ford trucks, I have owned both Ford and Chevy. I do believe Chevy has a noticeably better ride than Ford.
Yup. Most suspension systems' performance, OEM and off the shelf, are largely subjectively evaluated outside of complex tuned systems. I'm not being contrary here, just making a point about subjective opinions on suspension; neither my wife nor I found the GM suspension on any of their HDs to be nearly as good as the Ford or the Ram (and we found GM's seats....also subjective...to be torturous). The Ram was the best in our opinion, but lacked payload with the trim level we wanted. I loved my last Ram truck and it was actually my favorite vehicle out of every one I have owned, despite its flaws. But, I just forked out $200K for the truck and the new RV so I let the Ram go to offset the costs.
 

Lantley

Well-known member
I agree Ford has the better seats, for that matter the better cab overall. Remind why I chose Chevy! LOL

Back on topic

Sulastic Shackles seem like a good idea, While I understand why, I don't like the idea that they ae a wear part.​

 

M and E

Well-known member
I agree Ford has the better seats, for that matter the better cab overall. Remind why I chose Chevy! LOL

Back on topic

Sulastic Shackles seem like a good idea, While I understand why, I don't like the idea that they ae a wear part.​

Very fair and exactly the reason I gave that caveat. However, replacement and failure rates seem to be really anecdotal; so though a concern, quite possibly a minor one. I love working on vehicles so not a big deal for me. Plus, a friend of mine is accomplished in building motorcycle suspensions and I became super interested in all suspensions after rebuilding a few bikes and seeing the performance improvements. If we are ever in the same area, you are welcome to drive my truck to see if the performance improvement would make you reconsider.

Oh, just so you know, if it does fail it just performs like the stock shackle and you are not left stranded.
 

Lantley

Well-known member
The doesn't leave you stranded part is good to hear. Crappy RV suspensions can fall apart and leave you stranded.

My thought was, why would I want to risk being stranded by a failed / worn out shackle on my truck?
Glad to hear failure doesn't mean you are left on the roadside.
 

UFF

Well-known member
Pretty cool. Would like to see a pic when it’s loaded if possible and you think of it. Thanks for sharing and the pics.
 

M and E

Well-known member
Pretty cool. Would like to see a pic when it’s loaded if possible and you think of it. Thanks for sharing and the pics.
I can do that. Sulastic claims the provide ride improvement when loaded too. I’m not doubting that but I’m a trust but verify guy. I’ve only towed 3K and 6.5K with this truck so going to 15K won’t give me a great frame of reference on ride quality.
 
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