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There is plenty of people running oil field roads in company trucks loaded like that and its nothing super special to ask of a vehicle like this.
But speaking from experience, I have the factory tires on my dually and if I was running offroad I would go to the 255/80 ASAP; those stock tires are tiny and have little sidewall. That will be his first line of defense from beating the $iht out of his stuff. Plus with a compressor he can air up and down in a few mins. Running the rears at 75-80psi is also unnecessary even at his weights as his rear axle is no where near 12,800lbs.
There is plenty of people running oil field roads in company trucks loaded like that and its nothing super special to ask of a vehicle like this.
But speaking from experience, I have the factory tires on my dually and if I was running offroad I would go to the 255/80 ASAP; those stock tires are tiny and have little sidewall. That will be his first line of defense from beating the $iht out of his stuff. Plus with a compressor he can air up and down in a few mins. Running the rears at 75-80psi is also unnecessary even at his weights as his rear axle is no where near 12,800lbs.
Those trucks they trade out every two years because it isn't economical to keep them longer? I ran in the oilfields of Texas for a while, welders with fairly heavy duallies but the vast majority are srw and lightly loaded. Nothing special if it is disposable, like I mentioned. The blown shocks are a testament to the beating given. If I were trying to do this with an F350, which I simply wouldn't, it would need springs, shocks wheels and tires replaced for piece of mind in remote areas. Like I mentioned very early on, there is $10k in mods needed. Anything less and things are guaranteed to get torn up. .DRW in an of itself is a poor choice for any off road use.
Ive had a 861, 1172, 1062 and now a 975. You'll benefit from the 7500 lb Bags with individual fill. I'm a fan of the Torque-Lift Lower Stableloads. I like the Suspension doing the work, they've done very well for me. The Uppers effected the ride too much on my 16' 450, I took them off immediately. I've carried a Cabover for over 40 yrs. Sway control and level left & rt. All is good.
I also have a 2019 F350 CCLB but it's a single rear wheel set-up and I carry my 990 around just fine, on and off road. I also have an hitch extension that carries (2) E-bikes ( remove battery of course ) so that adds another 100lbs at the very back.
Truck has mods that set me back a pretty penny but are worth it for my usage.
Truck came with some Fox 2.0's all around and they work great unloaded and loaded
.Replaced the existing rear springs and got a custom made progressive set that are made to carry the actual weight of the camper loaded up. When camper is on my overload springs don't even make contact. Had a spring shop do the work and it cost me about 2k. Had the camper loaded up on the truck when they made the set up and installed.
I purchased and installed the same airlift 5k bags you reference but I also got the onboard compressor and mounted it up under the truck and it has a remote digital keypad for inflated and deflating and I can visually see how much air is in each side.. Bags are separately connected to compressor so they can operate independently, Even mounted a fill valve at the rear bumper sides in case the compressor rolls a six and I can inflate with a tank or air hose if needed. I run them at 5psi when not loaded and then put 50psi in to stiffen and sway I get. Inflating the bags don't raise the back end at all they just provide additional resistance.
Purchased and installed big rig sway bars front and rear as they really help.
Removed the factory steering stabilizer and installed a Fox 2.0 dual set-up in front and it made a noticeable difference. Don't even spill my drink when off-road.
But the very first thing I did was install some Toyo M/T tires and Method NV305HD's rims.
Have had this set-up for 2 years and have been to the local mountains and desert's as well as the upper half of Baja without any issues.
Last year we took a month long trip up through Moab UT and up into Idaho and Wyoming and was off-road alot of the time looking for places to boondock.
This year we went back to NC for 6 weeks and were off the beaten path going and coming home ( san diego) nothing broke or failed.
Invest in the springs and let them do their job would be my advice for a starting point and then add as you see fit.
Sunset outside moab:
Heading over to the Moki Dugway trail.
Couple of pics local.
Thanks for these ideas! Love the photos. Want to do the Moki Dugway someday. We've camped in Valley of the Gods twice now - LOVE that area! Great place to visit in the spring, when it's raining at home in western WA. It looks like one of your photos may be from Valley of the Gods....
I haven't looked into replacing the rear springs before - but do think that makes sense. Not sure what shops near me do that sort of work, but will Google that and see what comes up. Seattle and Tacoma have shops, but those aren't local for me, so we'll see.
What air bag system did you get? I'm still looking at upgrading the bags I have to the 7500 version (which is a shame, after spending the money on the 5000's, but is probably necessary).
I upgraded the tires this year (actually, only on the back, because I was forced to - flat tire in Death Valley - what a pain - have to take the camper off to even get to the spare), but it wasn't the different size tires recommended by others on this post. I can't afford to do everything at once, so may start with shocks, then air bags, and then springs - but we'll see how much I can get done by the fall, when we typically head back out (to avoid the summer crowds).
I don't think upgrading the truck is the right answer for me - at least not now. I've got other investments already installed on it - such as the Superhitch, camper tiedowns, and heavy wiring to run a DC-DC converter to charge the Lithium batteries in the camper - so either way, I'm going to be looking at adding more $$$. I don't do bouldering or serious offroad stuff - just dirt roads with washboards and potholes. I typically go slower over pothole roads - washboards seem to ride smoother at faster speeds (especially LONG stretches like I ran into in Death Valley), but I'm typically more subdued on roads with less regularly spaced bumps, and I'm not trying to be a Jeep.
I'll look for shops that specialize in trucks - that is a good recommendation. I've only talked to one shop locally, so far, and all they could offer me was bigger air bags - and that sort of installation work I can do myself. Springs, on the other hand, are not something I can do myself, and I think that is something I should at least investigate. From the responses I've received, shocks are a must, so I'll do those as well.
Yep Valley of the Gods on the one pic. Stayed the night out there then up and over the valley heading north on our travels.
I went to a company that specializes in Off road vehicles called North County Springs, They did what was needed to let the truck suspension carry the load.
If you just go with airbags your kinda balancing the load on two smaller points instead of the full length of your spring pack. Like I said all my bags do is stiffen up the movement and act as a damper.
I am using the Airlift 5k bags and on-board compressor and it makes it easy to add/remove air as needed. I just put in 50psi and call it good. When traveling I always check the air level before heading out and it's always the same. If you have it set to a specific psi it will auto inflate if for some reason it gets lowered until you adjust the keypad.
Im running Toyo M/T's 35x12.5x18's on the 18" Method HD rims, that alone 3.5k. Oh and NO WARRANTY on the m/t's. But I like them better than the A/T's I had on my old truck and I feel better and stiffer than when I used to run BFG's.
I had some Bilstin 5100 on my last truck and this truck came with the fox 2.0's. I like the Fox better as their not as bouncy.
This is my daily driver and I run 80psi all around when loaded and run 65ish when unloaded and my teeth aren't rattled out by any means.
The progressive pack is responsive when light but put the weight in it and the stiffer leafs come into play.
Swapped out my old lead/acid battery's for 560ahr of Lipo's and have 510w of solar on the roof. Also have the Victron 12/12/18 isolated charger and just tapped into my existing 7-pin wiring ( Hot and ground are #10awg already) next to the camper's battery box , fused it and have the unit mounted under the galley countertop and can access the program via bluetooth on my phone.
I still carry a small 2.2k dual fuel generator but never even used it on our last trip. Running a 3k inverter too for making coffee in the morning and occasionally using the micro. I can even recharge up my e-bike if Im in the sun on the inverter alone.
These are heavy campers some of us carry and I feel if you don't address the weight issues effectively your gonna break ****. Easy to do just cost's some cash
RidgewaySD call for 10k is pretty close but worth it in the long run.
It looks like many comments recommend Fox or Icon 2.5's, so I'll probably go that route in the front. These appear to come with and without oversprings. Since most of my weight is on the back wheels, I'm not sure oversprings are necessary on the front, but I'll ask for opinions on that. I've read that both Icon and Fox make good products, and that Fox provides a better street ride, while Icon provides a better off-road ride. I'm on pavement 95% of the time (freeway, getting to and from backroads), but when I'm off pavement, I may be off for miles - so I'd probably be happy with either of them. If anyone has any strong opinions on this, please share.
For the rear, I'm still thinking of replacing my Airlift 5000 Ultimates with either the Airlift 7500 or the Firestone 7500. My current system has 2 independent air lines run to in front of my wheel wells (I cannot run the lines to my bumper because the camper completely covers the bumper). From what I can tell, the Firestone bags are rated up to 150 psi, and the Airlift to 100 psi, so if I went with onboard air with dual controls, I'd choose Airlift's system that is wireless, or the Firestone system that requires running air lines. Thanks for the input that I don't have to have the air lines in the cab with me - but honestly, I'd like to have the ability to control from the cab. For example, if I'm leaving a gas station and there is a dip in the road leaving the station (as is often the case in Utah where they use dips to channel water away from the street), I'd like the ability to air up a little to raise the rear and prevent dragging the bike rack, and then air down again after getting on the road - without needing to exit the truck to make the air changes. Do the Airlift and Firestone bags both provide the same amount of lift? Raising the bags by an inch would probably raise the bike rack by 2 inches, which is often enough to help.
Should I look at Fox or Icon shocks for the rear as well, and if so, would oversprings be more appropriate for that? Sorry if these are novice questions - I've never messed with suspension before, other than when I put on the Airlift bags on.
Thanks also for the suggestion to move the bikes to the front of the truck. I should have mentioned, however, that I already tried that. It helped the weight distribution, but messed up my adaptive cruise control - which is a godsend on the freeway, so I went back to putting the bikes on the back. I think the adaptive cruise uses the front camera, and the bikes confuse it - if there was a way around that, I'd really like to hear about it! I know I could just use the normal cruise control, but I'm hoping not to go down that road if I can find alternatives.
Steve
go fox or King. i wouldnt do ICON. lead times are dumb right now. Filthy motorsports would be the first person I'd call if I were you. they also usually have ford king shocks in stock. 2.0's with a resi might work fine. but in your situation, just go with the baller 2.5's with the adjusters.
