Pete 386 suspension improvement?

I have factory front air on my 2021 567. I dont know why anyone would have alignment issues with a straight front axle, at least not from air ride itself.
It's not all it's cracked up to be. At least not for 12 or 13k axles. Maybe a 20k front axle with 385s or something would be different, but 275s on a 13k axle I cant find any real appreciable improvement in the air ride front.
All 386s are SBFAs right? I would think spending the money on a drivers seat and visor package would money better spent to reduce fatigue. I know with my drop visor and door visors, I rarely have to wear sunglasses. Once I step out on a bright sunny day however,......wee doggy, best have them polarized glasses quite handy.

 

Possibly switch to larger front tires and run at less pressure? I run 385’s and around 85 psi and my t800 rides decent for a SBFA. Plus they look cool. 385’s will require different front wheels also.

 

You don’t say how many miles these trucks have on them. But, there are options to swaps leaves to custom made packs with a higher number of thinner leaves, which are more progressive in their spring rate. The industry has went to using just two leaves on many models, which have zero progression in their spring rate. I’m guessing, they’re a lot cheaper to produce. I’d look into custom multi-leaf packs, first.

Second, you have some really good shock options, for Peterbilts. If you go with something like the Fox or King options, they’re rebuildable. However, they can be problematic, if just thrown onto a truck and forgotten about like a disposable shock. The seals need to be periodically flushed out. Otherwise, frequent replacement with Gabriels or some other equivalent will go a long way.

The previous driver of my T680 had the 5th wheel slid all the way back. I occasionally run heavy, so I slid it as far forward as my steer tire weight rating allows. Doing this really calmed the frontend and makes the suspension work, now. In addition, I had the steers spin balanced, which helped calm the tire action, as well. If I owned the truck, I’d have all 10 balanced and run centramatics.

Setback axles simply don’t ride great, given the driver is sitting right up on the steers.

 

Get some good shocks. It is night and day. Went back to a cheap shock after 300k on Road Kings and it rides like crap. Fox makes good quality shocks now that Road King is out of business. Cue the "I ain't paying but $69 for Monroes!" guys.

If they only knew.

 

I had a 386 for 250k miles.. And it never rode any better or worse then any other truck ive driven

 

Road King isn’t out of business; the commercial application side of King Offroad Shocks was shut down. Like many businesses catering to the offroad truck crowd, they don’t NEED to sell shocks to truckers. They’re too busy as it is. And, many in the trucking industry never understood the product and techs to rebuild them is lacking.