I don't know how it should ride but do know that my 49 rides very nicely. Smooth and quiet except for some wailing of the tranny bearings. Most people who ride in it are amazed at how smooth it actually is.
One thing I did was change the spring shackles/bushings all around. Prior to that when I would hit a good bump the sound was awful. My springs are original and have notched wear on them where the adjacent spring rides against it. What I did for that was get what people in the snow country call a "Flying Carpet".
Its a rolled up plastic snow sled. I cut narrow strips from it and placed them between my spring leaves.
I changed my front lever shocks for tubulars primarily because getting the lever shocks rebuilt is very expensive. My rear still runs lever shocks but they need rebuilding or replacing with tubulars.(next year) If I had a choice I would keep the lever types but at $500 to rebuild and have them shipped in/out is too much for my budget.
For tires I am running 650-16 Firestone bias-ply at 30 psi and I love them. I debated putting on radials but ended up with these. I would personally never run radials on this truck, but that is my opinion.
Finally as it was made to carry a load the truck can be light in the rear which on occasion creates a bit of a bounce. I guess if I had a few hundred pounds in the bed it would help.
