I have a 2012 F250 King Ranch with the FX4 package. I have a gooseneck ball and have recently bought a 37' fifth wheel. The rear of my truck sits a touch lower than the front and anytime I'm hooked to a trailer it looks to be squatted way down. It actually is dropping maybe 3". I am looking to replace the shocks which are Rancho's as I have 55k miles on. I'm wondering about shock types, air bags, helper springs??? Just don't know what my best option is. Please help!

 

Welcome to FTE Beechbum.

If you look at the sales literature for the FX4 package, it says "Rancho branded shocks." Probably not a real Rancho. Replacing them with a decent shock absorber would be a good idea.

Air bags are what you need to level your truck once the pin weight is on it. There are many threads in this forum that discuss the pros and cons, mostly pros.

 

I got the rancho 9000 adjustables when they went on sale and airlift wireless one compressor and air bags - Love em !

 

I have a 2014 with the camper package and can not find what part numbers you guys are using on non lifted trucks. Any help?

 

I would go with Rancho RS9000XL's.

If you are squatting down that much then I would certainly look hard at the upper TorkLift Stable Loads Truck Camper Suspension - truck sway - truck sag - reduce camper roll | StableLoad

As for the bags, I had them on my '09 and found them useful to level out my camper when overnighting, other than that not sure what I would use them for. Since I had electric lifts on my camper the bags were really not needed. But the guy I bought the truck from had a Gooseneck set up and carried some very heavy loads, my guess is the bags were beneficial??????

 

Not trying to strike a sour chord here but you may have too much trailer for this truck. What is your available payload and what is the Pin weight? Airbags can appear to fix the symptoms (level) but not the actual problem of being over the payload limit.

 

Air bags will help you level out the truck while loaded and will also help with towing stability. However you never want to exceed the towing limit of your truck. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

I replaced the Rancho branded shocks at 17k miles and they were totally shot. I opted for Bilstein 5100's, but the (real) Rancho socks are highly rated here. My F250 has the camper package, which counter-intuitively does not seem to increase the factory payload number. Air bags will level out your ride, and make for a better towing experience but will not increase any payload or towing ratings.
All options deduct from the payload so you will need to check the door sticker to get the actual payload of your Lariat. Do a search over at RV.NET to read up on payload, tow ratings, etc.

 

^^ This

I have air lift bags on my 2004 Dually and what a difference it made !
I only run 60 psi in the bags and the truck has the perfect ride height with the slide -in camper and an 8K lb. enclosed trlr.
On my truck it really helped with front sway as well.
Very pleased.


Strangely, the kit on my 2004 right now came off my 1995 F350 dually and it happened to fit perfect, even tho Air Lift catalog shows a completely different kit for the 1999 and later Super Duties.

Got lucky I guess, but I like the way the 83-96 F350 kit fits my 2004 better than the "inside the framerail" kit.

 

X2 I have been looking at 5th wheels that size and I won't get one because they are too close to weight limits of a F 250. You can probably get by, but there is no comfort level left over for peace of mind.