Is LiquidSpring Suspension Worth the High Cost for RVs and Pickups?

[PancakeBill]

I first found ut about Liquid Springs at the Tamps RV show sharing a spot at the Lazy Days booth. They were pretty new at the time and mainy for a gas class A. They had a demo motorhome for test drives. At the time I had nt Country Coach, so it was just a curious thought. This past month I attended a Truck Campr Rally in Quartzsite, Liquid Spring was one of the vendors. They now install them on pickup trucks, plus they had a truck set up for test rides. I did not go.

I spoke to a couple guys that did, and they were blown away by the ride. I was blown away by the pricing. I can see a need, especially if one were to buy a new pickup with a high dollar camper mounted and lots of disposable income to set it up, but for my situation, forget it. I swapped out springs and shocke for a ton truck into my 3/4 ton ttruck and the ride is awesome until I unload, and then it is just like my 1 ton truck ride was.

Has anyone here had the setup installed?

 

[EdJunior]

No, but curious, what was the price for these springs?

 

[PancakeBill]

Hard to tell, depends on the truck, but somewhere north of $12,000. Involves more than just some extra suspension, there is a microprocessor in thre, auto levelin etc. Pretty extensive. They have kits for Ford and Ram, none for Chev.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

Hubby looked into doing this for our rig which is a Ford chassis and it was $30K.

 

[PancakeBill]

Guessing a C woud be similar to a pickup truck.

 

[EdJunior]

Hard to tell, depends on the truck, but somewhere north of $12,000. Involves more than just some extra suspension, there is a microprocessor in thre, auto levelin etc. Pretty extensive. They have kits for Ford and Ram, none for Chev.

Wow! Serious Wow. It better ride like a Cadillac for that much. Dang. I don't think you would ever recoup that when you went to sell the truck.

 

[PancakeBill]

Aside from the fact they don’t make them for Chev yet and I doubt they would add a 2007 to the list, I am safe from 1AM sleepless night ordering one.

 

[PancakeBill]

Just spoke with a friend that had his Ram 5500 truck done, $50,000. he likes it but regrets the cash outlay.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Just spoke with a friend that had his Ram 5500 truck done, $50,000. he likes it but regrets the cash outlay.

 

[WoodIsGood-iRV2]

Very late to the party here, but I had the full, front and rear, Liquid Spring suspension install done on my 2012 Newmar Baystar (F53 chassis) in 2021 and it was money well spent. But, it was nowhere near the $50K mentioned above.

Not sure if I'm allowed to link to other RV forums here, but if you Google my username and Liquid Spring I'm guessing you can find my detailed writeup.

 

[RayIN]

Source: https://www.buckstopinc.com/liquidspring.html
Excerpt from main page: Quote "Price varies by chassis and application ranging from $23,000 to $26,000."
Whomever paid $50,000 got ripped-off.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Source: https://www.buckstopinc.com/liquidspring.html
Excerpt from main page: Quote "Price varies by chassis and application ranging from $23,000 to $26,000."
Whomever paid $50,000 got ripped-off.

That's a lot of money for any "improvement", especially when you consider the the entire F53 stripped chassis sells new in 2026 for $58,000-$62,000 (depending on configuration). That's around a 40% upgrade, so you have to enjoy it a whole bunch to be "worth it".

 

[Kirk]

I don't think you would ever recoup that when you went to sell the truck.

I am sure that you would not, but that is true for any RV or truck add-on equipment. I knew someone who had the Kelderman system installed on his 1998 class A, F53 chassis and he was really happy, but when he sold it in 2016 he didn't get that much more. Those cost a bit less it seems but not a great deal. I have only known one owner to have one, but they must sell as they have been around for a long time.

The Liquid Spring maintenance appears to be something that the owner can do at least some of.

 

[WoodIsGood-iRV2]

I've had the front and rear suspension for 5 years and over 30,000 miles. The extreme reduction of rattles, vibrations, and "whams!" of rough road hits undoubtedly will help my coach last longer. This also makes for a significantly quieter, more pleasant ride. Due to poor roads all across this country, my wife and I have said repeatedly, "I'm glad we spent the money on the suspension." We had it installed in 2021 on a 2012 F53 (yes, our motorhome was 9 years old at the time). We have used it an additional 5 years now and plan to use it another 20+ years if luck will allow. I'd spend the money again in a heartbeat, but I'd drive to Indiana to the Liquid Spring shop to have the install done. Our installer did a terrible job, but Liquid Spring made things right in the end.

If you tend to buy a new rig every few years the cost is likely prohibitive, though I'd expect at least a partial return in increased resale value. If you're like me and plan to drive your current rig until you can't anymore the amortized cost is much more modest.

Maintenance to date has been an annual inspection by me; the fluid tank is still full, desiccant beads are still purple, and witness marks still indicate tight bolts.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If you tend to buy a new rig every few years the cost is likely prohibitive, though I'd expect at least a partial return in increased resale value. If you're like me and plan to drive your current rig until you can't anymore the amortized cost is much more modest.

This is the key, but few people think that far ahead or even realize their own tendency to buy a new vehicle or home simply for the sake of change. Newcomers to RVs or motorhomes are especially vulnerable to this simply because their lack of experience leads to a desire to get an improved model.

 

[Kirk]

If you're like me and plan to drive your current rig until you can't anymore the amortized cost is much more modest.

I like your thinking. We traveled in RVs for 50 years and in that time we only owned 6 RVs. Our fulltime was a 1998 Cruise Master on the F53 and we lived in it for 12 years and owned it for 14. We would have kept it longer had not my wife's health gotten in the way.