I traded in my 2011 F-250 cc for a 2014 F-350 dually. I needed it for my camper weighing in over 16k. This new truck is 4x4 but does not have the off-road package.

In the 2011 I switched my shocks to Bilsteins. Very big difference. So I was wondering has anyone upgraded to Bilsteins with a dually? Or perhaps another brand of shocks?

I'm just curious if anyone out there changed out their shocks in a new dually and if so did you experience much of an improvement in ride quality? My truck drives beautifully and I have no complaints.

 

mine is a Fx4. So I have the fake rancho's. Tows just fine with the stock shocks. I would not upgrade or change them unless you had issues.

 

Congrats on the new truck and welcome to the dually club.

Can't wait to see a pic!

I still have the factory Rancho shocks on my truck at 43,000 miles.

 

Ok well so far it seems that there isn't a pressing need to upgrade the shocks. The stock motorcraft shocks seem good. They are noticeably better than the rancho branded.

I don't have a lot of experience with duallys. I can feel the difference in steering/handling in comparison to my previous F-250. It's not dramatic and given the 4 tires in the back I would say that the ride quality is surprisingly good.

I'm just wondering if their are any dually drivers out there who frequently tow 16k and up with a fifth wheel if they found any shock and tire combinations that serve them well. I ask this because safety is just or more important than ride quality. The camp sites that I have visited so far do not have paved roads and I have had to use 4x4 several times. Other than some dirt roads the truck is on highway pavement 90% of the time. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm not trying to fix something that isn't broke. Just seeking advice with respect to safety. Thank you

 

I am very close to the weight of you. Come in over 24K gross. I have always preferred cooper tires. I ran discovery STT's which towed very well and excellent off road.

Trouble is the dually. Can't get that pattern.

Right now I have the BFG's and they seem pretty good so far. I think I will run them at least through next summer.

 

I perfer to stay all stock except for the addition of timbrens. Took them off my 6.doh and won't haul with out them.

I haul a horse trailer that has a 17.5 GVWR with a Living quarter package. She is not light. With the 6.7L I find myself comfortably cruising 70 - 75 +/-

Some day I may go with out dual rear wheels... not this time

 

I weigh in between 27-29,000# when fully loaded. I'm still running the OEM Rancho branded shocks and the OEM BFG's with 43,000 miles. I have about 15,000 miles on the truck with the 5er behind it. Rides fine in my opinion. I will probably replace the shocks and tires around 50-55,000 miles; next fallish at he latest.

I have used Timbrens on two different trucks. The first was a 1978 F-250 I had for 21 years. Bought it off the lot and had a 11 1/2 foot cabover for years. The Timbrens took out all of the side-side tipping. The second truck was a 2007 Chevy 3/4 ton short box that was just too small of a truck for the 5er in my signature.

Pretty dually you have there.

 

I weigh 25k loaded. Even though I haven't towed with the 6.7 yet, I put thousands on my '10 F350 DRW with the same shocks and they did fine. I did however put Firestone airbags on both. On the '10, it was after 10k of towing and the original shocks were ok. As for tires, the BFGs on my last one had 21k on them and still looked new. So far, I like them.

 

The off road package is mostly fluff, unless you need the skid plates. Other then that you get decals and fake ranchos, and when I ordered mine it was a required package for one of the other options.

I put Bilsteins on last year, front and rear and the sway bar.
I am not going to say that it was an absolute greatly increased ride, the reality being that I barely noticed it. But, the fake ranchos were completely "non shocking" when I removed them.
The steering stabilizer when removed felt exactly the same as the new Bilstein with a "push pull" test. I still replaced it, but kept the old one.

My 5th toy hauler, when weighed (CAT Scales) is always between 17K and 19K (19 was loaded for an extended boon dock trip). It does typically average right around 18K.

I have 46K on the truck now, 13.6K towing the above trailer.
Still have the original tires, although I am ready for fronts very soon.

It is tough with rear shocks. DO you put shocks on that are valved for the empty ride weight or go with an additional 5000 pounds bed weight?

I "had" rancho" adjustable shocks (rear). Originally tied into the air bags so they would be automatically adjusted. Removed the air feature and went with manual valves and eventually just replaced them with the Bilsteins.

 

On my previous super duty, I blew out 2 bilsteins in hot temps off-road in Baja.

Pity, I liked the shocks otherwise. I replaced them with Rancho RS9000XL's, and found them to be a better shock, they lasted off-road in high temps and I liked the adjust-ability when I had a load in the back to firm up the ride, vs. softening it up when you don't.

 

I really like the Rancho 9000's also

 

I moved the 9000xl's from my 12 250 to my 12 350 DRW.
and added the wireless remote control to adjust them.

 

I installed Rancho 9000 XL's after one year. Noticeable improvement when hauling my 4000lb camper and also softened the unloaded ride.Factory Rancho-branded shocks were compressed after removal and have never expanded in two years!