Hi all!

I have a 2003 7.3 L F250 with stock springs. I do need to carry a lot of weight in the back (slide in truck camper). I would like to fit 33 to 35" tires.

A nearby 4x4 shop told me In other words, lift springs are not recomended for hauling a lot of weight, use oem.

1) Anyone here using a lift spring and hauling a lot?
2) Would "new" ford factory springs give me any lift given that the current springs are 8 year old now?
3) What does the wisdom of FTE say, go with a bigger block and stay with smaller tires if you're hauling a lot of weight, or modern lift springs are fine?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

Not that this has much to do with lifting, but still with the rig - if you put taller tires on there your effective gear ratio/final drive ratio goes down. Its like dropping an axle ratio from, say, 4.10's, to 3.73's or 3.55's. You can do the math and figure out the actual number, but in simple terms the bigger the tires the harder it is to push down the road/pull anything.

My thought with the springs is to block it. My 2010 F250 is level, or a slightly negative rake, from the get-go so you might want to go taller in the back than what you think you want. Look at adding a set of air bags too - these will help out a lot since you can adjust the pressure = ride height and ride quality/stability.

 

ya, I'm familiar with lifts and understand the effective gear ratio issue .. but .. the 7.3L diesel, with some mods, just puts out so much power / torque I'm not to worried on that issue.

I ... worry about going with blocks too high.

I have 2" blocks, and I think the F350 of the same year used the same springs and a 4" block, so that would be an easy way to add 2" in the back .. BUT ... I would probably not want to go much higher on just blocks, due to axle wrap concerns. IDEALY aftermarket springs would handle weight better than th OEM springs, and I could eliminate my current 2" block. :-) BUT ... I've heard (e.g. quote in the post above) that oem springs are "better" for heavy loads ... and am hoping FTE can help confirm or disprove this.

Thanks!

 

Everything I've read about aftermarket springs is that they are soft, for more articulation, than the stock ones. I've talk to Icon, they use deaver springs, and they told me their springs are rated like half ton trucks. They can't handle the wait. you can go with a taller block with traction bars or new rear springs with a set of air bags.

 

Ah that's good info, the deaver springs I have heard are "good", but your info indicates they are probably better for pure offroad and not for my purposes.

Anyone got any guesses, or a way to test, how much my 8 year old springs have "sagged", i.e. any guess on if it would be worth it to buy "new" same size oem springs? Perhaps if we compare measurements, e.g. tire size + distance from ground?

 

If it were me. I would run the 4in block in the rear. If I was going to upgrade I would do a entire upgrade and use the 08-10 springs which are longer and will require a little bit of fabrication. Another option is to add a add a leaf to gain a small amount or lift. It might look like a lot but expect it to settle to about 1/2 of you original gain. The best way however to keep from having the sag in the rear when loaded and control the load a lot better would be to invest in some air bags for the rear in conjunction with the factory springs. This will handle the load a lot better than just relying on the springs. My 04 truck was able to run 315/75/r16 bfg kms with the factory ride height. Keep in mind this was on stock rims. The tires did rub the springs on the front at a full turn to the left. If I had changed the offset on the rims or gotten wider rims though I would have rubbed in other places stock. I also did notice a difference in power having 3.73 gears running a tuner. It wasn't bad but it was noticable. There are a lot of leveling options for the front like shackle drops and add a leafs.

 

Get 4.5" rear blocks and air bags.
Then put a leveling kit on the front, made for stock 4" block F350s.

When you load it up it will sit just like an empty F350 that just has the level kit, and should look great with 33s.