Call me an idiot, but every year I get my truck something for it's birthday. This year it turns 4, and we're getting some suspension upgrades. Other years it has been a tool box, seat covers, and tires. This year it's suspension. For those wanting notes I just hit 40,000 miles and this truck is my daily driver. It's seen -11 ºF and 80 ºF in the same day. I'm running out of things to put on it.



Has anyone installed the zone dual steering stabilizers on their F250 SD? I was looking at the instructions and there are some bits that deviate from other brands I've looked at. Thoughts on removing the "anti-rotation brackets" and just being like eh, toss? Also is the new bolt in step 6 just going on the clamp's on the tie rods, and the picture is just looking at the tie rod end since they want that straight?

Thoughts? If you don't like stabilizers thats great. I want them, the front feels a bit sloppy. I'm hoping this will help a bit. I could possibly be swayed on brand here

http://4x4media.info/instructions/zon/3350.pdf

I'm going with a leveling kit. A zone leveling kit. In fact that decision has been made already, so you can tell me how much better other brands are, but I don't care. I'm having a shop install the kit next Thursday. There will be pics, in this thread at that time (before/after). They will be boring, here's why:

So the shop is gonna put in the 2" leveling kit in the front w/o changing the shocks from the crap stock ones I have. They said I could do this "but it's not ideal." I agree with that sentiment, and will add zone nitro shocks (could possibly be convinced on another shock/brand) soon after the shop finishes the install and alignment. Since I see no reason why new shocks or stabilizers will have an bearing on alignment after the front 2" kit is installed.

Additionally the shop is gonna put in Zone dual add-a-leaf kit in the rear. It should sit about level at this point since it's just slightly less than an inch taller in the back. The truck has sagged a good amount since I bought it. Which comes at no surprise, since it's only got 2 leaf springs per side to it's name. It the truck is a tad taller in the back I'll be pretty happy with that.

Sorry if this thread is repetitive, I literally found nothing on the zone front stabilizer kit for the new model F250s and I wanted to know if anyone has looked into them.

 

From your post, it seems you are set on the Zone line of products. They are inexpensive and will probably be an improvement over what is on the truck now. I have no experience with them, but have looked at them online and am eager to hear what you think of them. Keep us updated on your opinion!

 

I'm set on a few things. The 2" raise will come from a zone branded spacer in the front, and I figure the back of the truck will get about 1.5" of help from the added leaf springs which are also zone. I guess I'm not limited from choosing a different brand of shock or stabilizer at this point.

I'm surprised in the apparent lack of their use so I'll make sure to come back with more details as I go along.

 

I'm using a procomp dual stabilizer kit on my 11. I like the feel in the steering wheel it transmits a lot less vibration through now.

 

Alright guys so the truck has been leveled, and the rear leafs have been installed. Like I said the suspension is still stock, and it seems to be riding pretty smooth. Smoother than before which makes me think that the change in hight has maybe put my shocks in a slightly less worn spot. Anyway it drives nice right now, but considering I just had it done I'll save judgment for later and just upload the pics already.

Before:



After:



The back sits roughly one inch higher then the front, the front is exactly two inches higher than the stock height. It looks way taller than it did before, but I think it's mostly just because I was used to the way it was before. I'm very pleased with the look. The truck is not parked level in the second picture (a bit down towards the front). I'll provide more exact measurements tomorrow!

 

Okay. It's been a bit since I had the springs and leveling kit installed. It's been pretty nice, haven't really noticed any real change in ride quality in terms of stiffness. No major issues, one of the shackles that hold the two additional leaf springs in line loosened up shortly after the install but that was a simple fix. I didn't mention then but the shop had to have new u-bolts cut for the rear leaf springs, the originals were not tall enough to accept the new leafs.

Regardless, I ordered and received new shocks from zone and will be installing those tomorrow so more updates to come. If anyone happens to know the torque settings for the bolts on the shocks that would be helpful! I believe the front lower bolt is 55 lbs and the top bolt is just tightened till the bushings expand but I don't know the rear at all. I'll probably try to figure it out when i take the old bolts out but I'd rely more on the numbers if someone has them.

 

First things first, truck looks great with the level and rear leafs. I did a similar trick to my '06 a year or so ago - new custom leaf packs for the rear (7 springs, similar to a F450, call me crazy) and a 1.5" spacer up front. Looks like it sits similar to yours, about 1-2" higher in the rear. I agree with you on that being a great setup, and it looks very sharp on your truck with the tire setup and lack of step bars. NICE.

Second, I can tell you that according to both Chilton and Hanes, the lower rear shock bolts get 66 ft/lbs, and the uppers get 30-35 ft/lbs. I can also tell you that I torqued both uppers and lowers to 70 ft/lbs when I did my shocks and never looked back.

 

Thanks! I love the look w/o step bars, and for my they're simply just going to rust to fast in the northeast. I'd consider getting them and taking them off in the winter, but the look has grown on me. It's easier to just forgo them here in my opinion. Truck is essentially 2 inches higher all around with a 1 inch forward rake. Far in the future I might go as you did with a full leaf pack, something makes me thing that the add-a-leafs won't have the longevity but I'll see how they hold out.

Thanks for the bolt torque information! Man, 30-35 sounds a bit low for those upper shock bolts. I might do the same as you, or find a happy middle ground at 55-65 lbs. I'm pretty sure the bolts are the same top and bottom so I can't really justify any reason why they wouldn't be close to the same.

P.S. I saw your writeup on the dual up fitter switch kit you have in you signature probably 6 months back or so and thought that was way to awesome.

 

Alright shocks and stabilizer installed today. I took the truck around for a quick ride after the install of the shocks and then after the stabilizer. The ride feels significantly better than it did before with the new shocks. Not F150 smooth, but way way better. Much smoother over general potholes and most noticeable over some speed bumps I hit every day. No major problems with the install. The top nut on the front R shock got hung up about half way off and I ended up shearing the bolt (rod), but since I don't ever intended to put these back I'm ok with that. I checked the torques all around and pretty much got 75 lbs on everything before taking it off, so thats what I did. One of the front shocks was pretty loose on the lower bolt though (like nearly hand tight). Anyway, the big improvement is the lack of rattling from the shocks.

The stabilizer install was pretty straight forward as well. No major hurdles, the only thing I'll say is that they're not on perfectly straight. Ones a bit higher than the other. This comes down a step in the instructions where they essentially want you to turn the tie rod end a bit so the mounts (center and sides) are parallel with one another. One end is, the other is a bit lower. I didn't really wanna mess with my alignment right now as it's pretty solid and I feel like this is mostly just a visual thing. Unfortunately even though I was using a torque wrench I managed to over tighten one of the dampener bolts and messed up a bushing, it might have been a bad bushing, but, it's probably more likely that I just didn't have the torque wrench on straight enough for it to work properly. It's fine for now but I'll probably get in touch with ZONE for a replacement bushing.

The handling change involved with the stabilizer is certainly less noticeable. The overall steering feels a bit tighter than it did before, and less wobbly over pot holes. The real change here is on the highway... with the heavier more aggressive tires I always had some amount of shake in the steering wheel at good speeds but thats mostly non existent now! I'm hoping this results in helping the life of the wheel bearings a bit.

I also hit my head on the overload leaf spring pretty good, so that sucked.

 

Straightened up the passenger side stabilizer today. Looks much better! I think it was fine before but I also figured that adjusting the tie rod end just the little bit that I had to would probably have minimal to no effect on the alignment.

I attached some photos, you'll be able to see the bushing I mucked up on the drivers side stabilizer. :/ I'll be calling zone tomorrow to get a new bushing sent out. I'll probably do some adjusting on that side as well to lower the dampener a bit. I haven't put the branding stickers on anything, I sorta like the non branded look more, but I might change my mind, maybe on just the stabilizers.

 

I've always kind of wanted to pull my step bars off, but 1. I've got 3/4" LED running lights in each of the mounts that I love the look of (and they're almost invisible when they're off), and 2. I'm a little shorter than I'd like to admit, so the step bars are actually functional, ha! Plus my OEM ones are aluminum, so they have held up well here in MA.

I've never run a set of add-a-leafs, but don't think I went with a beefy upgraded spring pack by choice. I blame an over-zealous forklift operator who came down with a pallet a bit hard, which I still think is the reason I found a cracked leaf a week or two later. Hence the beefy upgrade. I'd just run yours until it sags (IF it sags).

Interesting report on the steering stabilizer. I've wanted to install one forever, but it's low on my list of mods. The improvement on the highway piques my interest, though. That sounds really nice. I'd be interested to hear your feelings about it after a few weeks of daily driving.

Thanks for the words on the up fitters! I'm still tickled with how well they came out and how functional they are, I've got way too many gadgets and gizmos on the truck now...I'm thinking of a complete switch panel overhaul...

Again, she's a beaut and you've done some great work on the truck!

 

Okay so its been a few weeks after the install and I think I'm pretty pleased with the setup. I was able to get an additional bushing from Zone and replace the one I over torque'd. It was tuff to take the old one out but it worked out pretty well.

So the opinion on the shocks is about the same, they noticeably smoother to ride around on, and most rattling sounds from around the truck have disappeared. Like I side, it's not by any means F-150 smooth, but it's not bad.

The dual stabilizers are a nice addition, and the Zone Offload kit is pretty cheap so if you're thinking about biting the bullet this could be a good option. (they have another which is $10 more expensive for black shocks). As with most stabilizers, you need to have at least a 2in level installed.

The stabilizers haven't changed much in how the steering feels while turing, it's about as easy as it was before. Over potholes it is noticeably less wobbly, and I think the biggest improvement is on the highway at speed with less feedback from the larger tires.

With this kit I'm not a huge fan of the removal of the anti-rotation brackets which other kits have round ways to work with. However, I also figure with the dampener and everything installed the kit itself in a sense takes the place of these brackets.

Overall I think it was worth the money all around, more so because all the parts and what not were pretty cheap.