​​​​​​Yes that's all want

 

I've called 4 different shops in the OKC area and no one wants to do this job. They are either too unfamiliar with the job, or unwilling to break the factory warranty.

Guess I might have to buy jack stands and do it myself.

 

Some dealerships should likely do it. Back when the 1999 SD came out dealers around here were swapping them out to accommodate 5th wheel and gooseneck owners.

 

 

It doesn't. If a vehicle modification can be proven to have caused a failure, then the warranty can be made void. In other words, if you attempt to make a warranty claim for some sort of failure, and then the dealer and Ford conclude that your modification brought about or caused such failure, then the warranty does not have to be honored. You DO NOT have to use Motorcraft brand parts to maintain your Ford vehicle. But if any non-Ford part causes a failure, then you're SOL warranty-wise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus...s_Warranty_Act

 

I don;t know if I have already posted in this thread or not as its extremely long, but for the last 25 or years I have had my dealership lower every Super Duty I have bought. They simply remove the rear blocks with the shorter blocks used on the F250?.
They have all been done before I pick up the new trucks (9) its really not a big deal as they re-use the u-bolts. I always make sure to re-torque them.

I have always used the same dealership and they know when I order a new truck its part of the deal to lower it for me and re-adjust the headlights.

 

Found a shop that would do it. The swapped out the blocks and kept the factory U-bolts. I'm happy.

Does lowering the rear end like this warrant getting an alignment?

 

I my opinion no. Just maybe headlights.

 

What camping nut says.

Please post if you noticed any difference quality in ride or vibration.

 

I'm going to lower the rear of my new F-350 2" this weekend. I'll be using the ORD zero rates Add a Leafs, Zero Rate for 4x4 Suspensions from Offroad Design and for the sake of making sure I like the stance I'll just be building some thick washers on the lathe to make up the 3/8"+/- that the U-Bolts will be too long. If it all works out I plan to either install airbags or lower the factory bump stop so that it engages the axle instead of the sidearm like the factory system, and I plan to change the U-Bolts fairly quickly over to this part # BC3Z-5705-F,

Can anyone verify that this U-bolt is about 13" long? This is for a "4 leaf spring" system, the "5 Spring" F-350 U-bolts are about 15" long on my truck, so these in theory should work out well.

We have a 13' F-250 here at work with the factory overload spring system and 2" block, this part # is what comes up when I enter the VIN into several parts warehouses.

 

13" = 330mm
Yup, Looks like the -F are 330mm.

 

 

Got mine all done over the weekend.

Since I was using the ORD Zero Rates I had a few hurdles to work around since the kit isn't exactly for a 17' F-350. Since I have the added "camper" spring or overload above the spring pack I needed a longer center pin than what comes in the kit from ORD. I used a 7/16" Grade 8 bolt 6" long (might have been 7") and just rounded the head off in the lathe. This allowed the Zero rate to be bolted into the spring pack instead of being like the factory block. Once I had that all established it was a typical straight forward install. I'm using a set of 14" round U-bolts that I thought would work out better than they are. Ford has a semi rounded U-bolt that is not really typical to most shops.

Drop old blocks, clamp spring pack together, remove factory center pin, install new center pin with zero rate, raise axle up and line up, tighten U-bolts. Rinse and Repeat for the other side.

Onto some pictures.

Before, just a few days after I bought it
New round U-bolts with nut kit, Zero rates and the supplied hardware that wasn't needed in this case.
After
Another After When I first set it down on the ground I was a bit shocked how much shorter the tailgate seemed, it's a noticeable improvement for sure. This was needed to get some better clearance for our goose neck horse trailer. I almost made my tailgate a different shape last week and figured I had better do something so that it wasn't a worry. The trailer was nose high with the new truck as well so lowering the truck was the only real option since my wife won't let me lift the horse trailer.

Things I would and or might change, 2" lower is a lot honestly, using the typical F-250 block idea might be better for some. There is still an inch of rake on the truck but I think it looks too level. However since our trailer has to hook up to a 2006 GM truck as well as this truck I needed to more closely match to the GM truck. There is a bit of a good change in ride quality for some reason, on paper there should be no change but perhaps the different attitude of the truck has changed things.

I might??? take a look at putting a set of different coils in the front to make the ride a bit better and lower the front just an inch or so. This would give me back some rake and also make the overall ride quality better, the down side is there will be less travel available in the front so some bump stop changes and probably way better shocks will be needed. Both of which I don't mind really.

 

Nice work, it looks great. Thanks for the report. By the way, I love your neighborhood.

 

Thanks, that's the "crappy" view too.