Thanks Mark, your truck looks great!! I ordered basically the same truck, F350 CC SB SRW, so we should be very similar. Very interesting that your center hitch height is basically 22". I went to the local dealer here and measured a couple stock trucks at 22". My only guess is that raising up the front end rotates the back end down more than one might think...

Either way this gets me close enough to know how long of a drop shank to get, thanks so much!

Josh

 

Hmmm.. I'm surprised mine is so close to the stock measurement. I am sitting here trying to reason out why. I don't want you making decisions on bad data. I remeasured mine again and is indeed at 21 and 5/8 in.

Your thought of the front lift bringing the tail down a bit might be part of it but I can't accept that as a complete explanation given my 37's and the Deaver/King combo.

Thinking more about it tonight the Deavers really do 'give' or squat a lot especially early in compression. They have a total travel of about 15 inches and the first half or so of that travel happens relatively easily, hence the awesomely soft ride. Any added bed weight is going to compress the Deavers relatively easily at first.

I have a bed mounted tool box in the front of my bed with tools and supplies in it and I have another small tool box (a Swing Box) mounted in the back of the bed with tools in it aand I also have the factory 5th wheel hitch attachment with spray in bed liner aaand a 60 Gallon metal replacement fuel tank (Transfer Flow) which I just filled to capacity yesterday. That's a significant amount of added weight.

Since I deflated my air bags completely to take this measurement I am sure this added weight caused compression of the Deavers. The problem here is I can't really gauge how much compression was caused by the added weight which in the end leaves you with bad numbers to go by.

It will take some time for me to burn off much of the 60 gallons of fuel (which I suspect is the biggest added weight) but when I do I will take another measurement.

As a side note if I were to hook up my 5th wheel without inflating the air bags it would sag unaccepted-ly (I think I just invented a new word).
The air bags effectively regain the payload capacity lost when replacing the stock springs with the Deavers and of course allow me to level my truck and trailer for towing.

 

 

Adding air bags compensates for payload lost by switching from factory to Deaver springs. In my opinion it's the best of both worlds, I can enjoy the fantastic ride on Deavers unloaded but still air up the bags and have the ability to weight the bed and feel safe about it. Personally I would not significantly weight a Deaver supported bed without air bags.

The factory 5th attachment does not count against payload since it was a factory installed item and the factory payload sticker takes it into account.
Other than that you are correct, the 5th wheel hitch and everything else I add to the truck subtracts from payload.

In my case I am still well within my payload (about 3400 lbs) as my trailer (a 28 ft) pin weight is relatively low compared to some of the bigger triple axle trailers. I still have room in payload to add a bunch of firewood and other supplies into the bed of the truck. If I were to get up over payload I would simply move the tools or other items into the trailer.

 

Do you have any pictures of your airbags with the deavers? The deavers remove the rear blocks which have the jounce bumper stops that the airbags sit on. So with the blocks removed how do the bottom of the airbags contact the axle? Can't seem to find any info on this. I hear lots of people suggest daystar cradles, but no first hand experience with any of it.

 

Josh, these air bags sit on the springs not on the axle.

I like this set up as it places the bags more outboard and in direct alignment with the Deaver Springs.

This to me seems preferable to the 'over the axle' setup as the force that counteracts the compression of the Deaver Spring (the air bag) is in alignment with the force vector of the spring as it compresses. The bumper stops can be left in place.

The Daystars allow release of the air bags as the Deavers reach full extension. This protects the air bags from damage due to over extension and allows for the full uninhibited limit of movement for the Deavers. Some say the drawback here is the risk of the air bag not 'landing' into the Daystar cup properly as the spring with cup attached approach the air bag during compression. The ideal here would be an air bag that has 15 or more inches of travel, which one would presume is in part what Carli is working on for their yet to be released air system. Another rumor out there is that Carli's system will be much more than 'just' long travel air bags.

I off road with my truck but not in an aggressive enough manner to concern me about the over extension issue. For aggressive off roading I want to be in a much different vehicle. My primary reasons for choosing this setup were to get the optimum ride with the truck unloaded and the ability to regain payload and level my truck and 5th wheel for towing. For the mild off roading I do this sytem performs very impressively.

I will do my best to pull wheels this weekend and get some good pics for you.

 

Thanks, yeah I have always seen the airbags installed next to the rear leafs, so you are already straightening me out by telling me they sit on top of the leaf spring and not next to it. Which then opens up another question on you must have to modify the top mounting bracket to move it over the leaf spring...
Don't put too much time in it, but yeah some pictures would help GREATLY!!!

You are awesome!

 

OK Josh, here you go.
Some pics of the 'over the spring' setup...



Looking from the front angle...



Looking from the rear angle...



From the inside...




From below...



I then deflated the bags so you can see the relationship between the bags and the Daystar cups. I pushed the bags up with the screwdriver so you can see clearly.
When deflated the bags sit fully down in the cups and make 'kissing' contact only, no support...






The Deaver tags...



Some of my On Board Air components have been patiently awaiting me on the work bench. I had a bad get-off on my dirt bike last December and am just now getting back to being able to work under the truck looking up. This will be my next project.


Hope the pictures help. Best of luck in setting up your rig.

 

Thanks so so much!! I do have two follow up questions.
1. Do you have air lift airbags or firestone?
2. Where did you get all the bracketry that mounts the cups on the top of the spring, and the mounts that hang the airbags to the side of the frame?

 

These are Firestone 2600"s. See this link for the installation manual...

Firestone 2600

All the brackets come in the kit.

On my previous truck I ran Air Lifts for 15 yrs with no issues. This is my first set of Firestones so I have no personal long term experience with these bags. So far no issues. They visually appear to be of equal quality to my old Air Lifts.

You understand I assume the Daystar Cups are a separate item. Spacers are also available from Daystar.

 

8 weeks ago today ordered a Pintop 2.5 system with Add-A-Packs and Radius Arms for my F350. My credit card was charged that day. Shipping of the kit was to be delayed 4 to 6 weeks for the Radius Arms.

Called Carli to see what was the hold up and was told the kit will ship within the next two weeks without the Radius Arms. The radius arms should be available in another one to two weeks after that.

That would be a total of 11 to 12 weeks in total for Radius Arms.

So if you are considering ordering from Carli, better plan on the better part of a 3 month delay not 4 to 6 weeks as stated if your kit includes Radius Arms.

 

Ya that sucks but thats the price you pay when dealing with a product that is hand made and in high demand. If they stamped these things out too fast they lose quality control. There is a balance between production and product quality. At least there is some comfort knowing that the product is worth the wait.

 

I ran almost the exact same setup on my 2015 F250. Carli 2.5 Backcountry, Firestone airbags, Daystar cradles, Airlift remote controlled compressor, and Carli high mount steering stabilizer. I added a 5th wheel hitch and swapped the stock fuel tank with a Titan 50 gallon tank. It was a solid setup that handled absolutely awesome and never gave me issues. I upgraded to a 35' toy hauler and the pin weight on this new trailer put me over the trucks payload so we wound up getting an F350 dually. I plan on installing the same Carli kit on this new truck and picking up a Fuelbox 60 gallon auxiliary fuel tank tool box combo. I may go with the King shocks but I'm not sure i would need them on a dually, LOL!

 

I know that the quality is great and that is why I continue to wait.

The wait is 10 weeks now so I called Dan at Carli again. Dan is terrific to deal with and was honest with me about the situation.

It turns out the dealer I ordered from has gone rogue. He takes the order, charges your credit card but doesn't order the parts from Carli.
Not Carli's fault the parts don't get shipped if they know nothing about the order. Dan is making sure the parts get to me as soon as possible now he has my order which should mean I could have the kit in about 3 more weeks.

 

besides your dealer screwing you, what was the backorder/wait for? just the radius arms?