Alright guys, my work season is starting back up so on my list go around is to update the suspension.

00 F250
7.3 extended cab
4x4

This truck is my go to work truck, compared to some of you guys here that tow my work does very little work. I own a Lawn Maintenance Business, and I personally take care of the area I am in so I do still tow. I am looking at 5-6 days a week that I tow roughly 7k lbs (like I said very little work to some of you guys). The truck is right at 250k miles with the stock 3.73 gears. Nothing at all wrong with the truck except for one little oil leak I have to hunt down on the top of the motor. Other than that, I would have no problem driving across country in it because I feel it is very reliable.

Now for what my suspension consist of now. I have 2.5 spring packs in front, along with the 1 inch hanger system to give it roughly 3.5 inches in the front. The rear has an extra 3 inch block in the rear which pretty much when hooked up keeps the front down just a little so I don't blind people. All this is on 315x75x16, and looking at it I could easily put a 36 inch tire under it.

Now the reason for all this is due to the previous owner having blockes in the front, and a bent OEM hanger. To me, I don't think it's unsafe but I could be wrong. And it tows just fine the way it's setup.

My initial idea was I really was to fix the previous owners block mistake cheaply until I could afford the 8 inch lift and 38's I wanted. But looking over all this again, my head is spinning on what if's? If I do go to the 38's, I would already loose a lot of power having only 3.73 gears, so I would probably need to re-gear to maintain the ease of towing 6 days a week.

So that brings me to what I was thinking about and discussing with a company yesterday. If I go just a little higher, not up much in tire size, not much should change. So now I am thinking of keeping the 1 inch hangers in the front (since OEM were bent) and adding new 4 inch leaf springs. This here should get me a total of 5 inches in the front. Then for the rear, replace the stacked blocks is a single high quality 5 inch block. If I did that 36 inch tires should not be a problem to clear, and since I would probably have a little extra room for the tires I was thinking of going to something wider than the common 12.5 inch. Maybe something along the lines of 36x14. This setup would be much cheaper, and if my head is thinking it out right, should be easier to tow with than 38's.

So that leaves me to some unanswered questions for the rear. When I do hook up, it does drop a bit in the rear as it sits now. So I am thinking the rear leafs are getting weak after years of abuse. The F350 have a higher tow rating than the F250 right? Would I be able to switch just the leafs so I didn't get as much sag in the rear?

So as you can see by my post, my mind is going in a million directions at once. Please take a read over this and give me your input on what my mind is thinking, and experience on if it will work or won't.

Thanks guys

 

For your rear springs you can get the F350 springs for a dually. I bough mine from Ford. They ride nice and hold the weight well. The 350 dually springs sit a bit taller also.

 

Thanks. I will look into them. Figured I would look into this before shelling out money for bags. Bags may come later, but I want to take care of the weak suspension first and not mask the issue.

 

Since I run the setup you were wanting to run I can tell why it's best not to.
Here's a short list with 38s
Hubs. .... Every year....
Tires.... Over $2k.....
Front end parts.... Constantly.....
Towing...... Not practical
DDing with a lawn service truck...... You gotta jump a lot higher
Dana 50+38s= broken D50

I also ran 36x14.5s......
Hubs ..... Every 2 years
With 14+" wide go with 12" wide rims.... 10" wide looks stupid....
Front end parts.... You get a chance to forget about them... Then BAAM

There's also A LOT of good to go with the not so good. Believe it or not power is still plenty and unless you're towing heavy 3:73s with 36s or 38s are just fine. These things make a LOT of torque.

 

Thanks. That takes the thought of the 8 inch lift out of my head. I want big, but in a work truck I think it will stay lower. Now my 08 F250 maybe. haha. So with the 4 inch leafs and the 1 inch hanger kit, would that be one of the NOOOO don't do it? Or is it ok?

 

Ok guys, back on this because all the research and talking to companies I do sometimes doesn't make sense since they don't have one of these trucks to work on all the time.

So here I am, pretty much going to go with the pro-comp front 4 inch leaf spring to add to my one inch hangers to give me 5 inches in total for the front. On top of this I am going to have to buy the sway bar brackets in order to mount them up the proper way. So I already have a adjustable trac. bar, on the front, would I have to do a lower pitman arm to? (I think that is what they are calling it.

For the back, I am going to go with new leafs, because after 14 years they are tired. So with that said, I need something that can handle towing everyday, and handle a 200 gallon spray rig in the bed (sometimes full of water, sometimes not). So looking at a site for the specs for the F250, and F350 rear leafs they were showing to be the same rating at 3,000 lbs. Mine may just be really tired, and new wont sag that much, but not sure. Now looking at the F450 ones, non commercial truck specs, they are showing 8,000 lbs a piece. Do these fit? How bad is the ride quality going to be? Do they lift any over the 250?

Because after that is said and done, I will have to find out what blocks to use for the rear to make it up to 5 inches to stay level. Most likely I am going to the One Up Offroad blocks because they are made for the truck, as for what size I don't know yet.

Any information you guys can add to this hell I am having would be appreciated.

 

And what am I looking for in the way of wheel size. Probably going with 20x12 so if the future brings more, I won't have to upgrade them. The tires I am looking at measure in about 35.4x12.8x20. Some a little smaller, some a little bigger.

So what is this on the offset and backspacing area? 4.5, 4.75, 5 backing spacing? What about the offset?

 

I have OEM F350 springs for a dually truck from Ford I put in mine. It has a good ride and they hold plenty of weight. My truck has the factory overload spring on top and I can load my bed as full as I can with firewood and I still don't ride on the overload springs. I have had them for about two years and I have been verry happy with them. If you look up the specs they also sit an inch or so taller than a single rear wheel F350 spring.

 

Wow, my springs must be really worn then. I hook up my landscape trailer it drops 2-3 inches using g the overload springs and all.

So just called the dealership on these and all springs are by code. Should have known that with all the talk about X code fronts and all. Do you happen to have the code for the rear 350 DRW springs?

 

I believe they were C Code. Here is what is stamped on the spring.

 

You are the man, Thank you very much. Now to find out the answers to the wheel questions.

 

Those tires on a 12" wide rim will look funny I would go 10" unless you plan on going wider later. If you plan on going with 14.5 or 15.5s later then go 12 wide but if not save your money for something else.

 

See thats what I really don't know yet. If I ever run this truck for just my spray rig, and don't tow with it I will probably go wider and bigger later on. 37x13.5 or so. But even depending on the brand of tires I go with, some of the 325x60x20 are claiming they are 13 inches wide.

Never seen a 10-12 inch wide tire in person, so can't really say what will look good and not. I know I am looking for a deep lip, simple wheel. If I could get that in a 10 inch and not 12, it may be a plan.

So for the wheels I have been looking at, they all have an offset, and a backing spacing number. I have heard talk around here about a 4.5, but also about a 5 on the backspacing. Where should I be looking as far as fitment? Don't want to rub the leaf springs anymore if possible, or at least get a very minimum of rubbing.

 

I am running a 7" lift, 37x13.5x17 tires on factory 3.73 gears (soon to be swapped due to breakage) Towing isn't exactly "fun" with 3.73's on 37's. If you will be doing any sort of regular towing, I would either, stay with 35's or re-gear the truck. I am going with 4.30's, I tow a fairly heavy boat & toyhauler all the time. Plan on ball joints every 2 years too, wide & tall tires eat em up pretty fast. I have Warn Premium Gold hubs, and they have lasted a couple years so far.....

 

Yea I pretty well through off the 37's until all this truck is, is my pesticide spray truck. Until then I do tow daily, that's why I'm staying in the 35-36 range. Most tires I have looked at measure in at 35.4 roughly. And then not being common size, not much go over 12.5 wide unless I use an off-road only tire that wears quick on pavement.