22’ Timberline Ride Quality

I’ve got a 22’ Timberline with 60K miles and a set of Cooper Road &Trail tires that I had installed 10K miles ago. The ride quality in my Expy has really gone downhill over the past year. The shocks don’t recover well at all and I get quite a bobble when coming down off a curb.

Has anyone successfully upgraded the suspension in a way that improves the ride quality on the Timberlines? It’s to the point where I’m ready to trade it in. I’ve read that some have installed Bilstien’s but haven’t seen a real update on performance post install. I’m open to all options at this point. I’ll get absolutely crushed on trade in value, but this thing is turning into a bouncy rattle box.

I have a '22 Timberline, but I've got half your mileage and still running on the stock tires. I'll definitely be paying attention to this thread hopefully I won't have your same issue at that mileage.

Well…. I decided to go and test drive a brand new one today and WOW. The difference is unbelievable. Either my Cooper Tires have completely ruined the ride of this car, or the suspension is going. It’s a completely different vehicle. I’m half tempted to trade mine in for the new one.

Is it worth just changing the shocks and getting a new set of Wranglers, or is there more to the drivability of this think that I’m not thinking of?

Tires can ruin a ride. What psi are you running. I bought new tires and the they said to run 50+ psi and it was terrible.
Went down to 32 psi and the ride is nice and wear after 20k miles is perfect. Tire pressure is not soley determined by the tire mfg. its the usage and load and 99% of the time the sticker in the door is correct for any tires and brand.

LazSlate said:

Tires can ruin a ride. What psi are you running. I bought new tires and the they said to run 50+ psi and it was terrible.
Went down to 32 psi and the ride is nice and wear after 20k miles is perfect. Tire pressure is not soley determined by the tire mfg. its the usage and load and 99% of the time the sticker in the door is correct for any tires and brand.

Click to expand...

i was running then at 40psi, but took them down to 38psi a month ago in an effort to smooth things out. I’ll move them down to 35 to see if that makes a difference.

Deciding today if I’m just going to swap it for a new one that has the max trailer package and trailer backup assist… which I always wanted because no one in my family can back out fishing boat trailer down the ramp… Or, do I just go back to a set of Wranglers… see if the ride improves and if it still need some help, install the bilstein 5100’s.

So spend $3k to try and fix the issue on a vehicle that’s out of warranty, has developed quite a few rattles and sometimes has transmission hiccups, or $30K and get an all new one with a new warranty. The first option seems like the right one, but the second seems like less of a potential headache

Hold out for the my25s if your looking to replace it. Get an updated expy eith a better ride, or get a better discount on the 24

They've done zero changes to the suspensions on them, so I'm sure a new set of shocks on yours will realllllyyy help.

FWIW, I have had terrible luck with Cooper tires in the past. New shocks and tires may be your best best. Although your choice of tire can effect the ride. If you want a good all terrain vs an all season, you will most likely compromise the ride.

Some things on the bilsteins. Depending on the model you get it could stiffen the ride as different bilstein models add compression.
A bouncy ride are bad shocks since there is little to no rebound dampening. Also the load range on the tires has an effect on smoothness. Higher load ranges have thicker sidewalls. I bought some bilsteins for my van and they had 3 models I went with the lightest non-service duty ones and it definitely made the ride more harsh due to the increased compression. Some shocks only account for rebound, the bilsteins do both that is why they are so popular.

Really appreciate all your reply’s. So happy I came across the forum.

So the dealership I work with has agreed to drop the price of the Black Timberline (mine is tri-coat white) they have to 10% off MSRP… looks like most are still selling at 5% below. Additionally, they are willing to give me top of the scale Kelly Bluebook trade in. So my out of pocket would be sub $30K. They are also offering 0% financing for 36 months. And it has the trailer backup that mine doesn’t as previously mentioned. I think I’m gonna do it.

I just worry I’ll spend the $3K on tires and shocks and will still struggle with all of the rattles that have shown up and will wish I just started over. I really think these cooper tires being overinflated caused a lot of the issues I’m experiencing.

Was gonna pick it up tonight, but am going to sleep on it instead.

Thanks again for all of the help. I’m still considering the tire and shock swap, but leaning towards the new black one