Is there a difference in the suspensions of the 3/4 ton 4x4 PSDs from '96 to '97?

Reason I ask is a friend of mune went to have her husbands '97 F-250 4x4 lifted 2.5" and the people running the place said they couldn't do it because there was something different for the '97; which IMO looks identical in every aspect to my dads '96 PSD. They told her it wouldn't be safe.

Are the giving her a load of BS or is this true?

=Eric

 

I'm pretty sure the '97 F250 PSD is just a carryover from '96

 

A lot of people don't realise that the F-250 and F-350's of 97 were just really late build 96s.

Ford had a gap between when the "old" body style was switched to the "new" body style. They stretched the 92-96 body style into 97, and were early on the 99's new body style, to somewhat cover the gap of 98'.

What did they say the difference was? They should be able to tell you...

My guess is they are confused. The F-150 was a little different because the body style did infact change in 97, but the F-250/350 didn't.

Check out what their reasoning was for why it wouldn't fit...

 

Yea I agree that was a wierd era of ford trucks. The 150s changed but the 250s and 350s stayed the same. Then in 98 the f-150s and 250s looked the same. I dont think I've even seen a 98 1 ton, did they look like the 99-04's? Then in 99 the 150 had its own look and the "super duty's" looked the same. I get into many arguements with people about the 98 f-250s lookin like the f-150's. Oh well..

 

You couldn't plow with a '97 F150 is what I recall, there were more changes than just body style.

 

They said, if i recall correctly, there were bolts that couldn't be replaced.

Basically they said the suspension was different, BUT my thinking was they were too busy and didn't want to screw with the truck.

 

The F250 light duty changed in '97 with the F150 to the new round body style. The F250 HD stayed the same with the F350 up through the '97 model year. The new '99 superduty's (F250 HD and up) were released early, say later in the '98 model year.

 

I don't believe there was offically a 98 F-250 HD or F-350.

In 96 or below, there were LD and HD F-250s, but they had the same body style. All of the trucks had the same body style. In 97, the F-150 changed, and the F-250 LD changed to look like the F-150. The F-250 HD and F-350 remained at the old body style. In 99, they changed the F-250 HD and F-350 into the new body style. And like I said before, they stretched the 97s into 98 and the 99s into 98...to cover that missing production year. They were trying to introduce a brand new model and had some complications doing so.

 

What everyone is trying to say is that if you have a 97 that looks like a 96, the kit will work fine. If you have a 97 or 98 that looks like a newer F-150, you'll have a problem.

 

Is there any difference between the Super Duty and non SD?

What they said was that there's five bolts in the front end that if messed with, can cause a serious safety issue.