This is not an ad for DR products, nor do I have any relationship with them, but I just have to let everyone know how impressed I am with the DR 2.5" leveling kit on my 2006 F-350 SRW 4x4. I was one of the major complainers of bump steer and bouncing all over the place when I first got the truck, and at 17k miles, decided to bite the bullet and install teh 2.5" over coil springs and the extended shocks from Donahoe Racing to see if this mod would help. Well, I am glad that I did! What a difference in drivabliltiy, plus it looks much better with the front a bit higher.

One thing I did not do, and not sure I will, is to replace the upper ball joint shims with the ones that were sent with the kit. The instructions say to use the new offset shims and then have the toe-in checked after installing the kit. Honestly, I didn't want to go through the aggrevation of pulling the axle and the ball joints, and all the other stuff attached to it, so I just skipped the step for now. Not sure why they would be needed with a solid front axle when it was only raised, but I didn't engineer the kit, so what do I know. Anyway, it is a little lighter in the steering effort, but not too bad, and the bump steer is almost non-existent now, and the shudder I get over bumps on the highway is drastically lower now.

Best $650 I have ever spent on the truck. Hope this helps others with the same problem.

 

How about some pics??

 

Did you do the work yourself?? what is involved? special tools? likts.....etc.....

 

The directions I got from DR's website seem to suggest that removing the stock alignment cams is easy: "remove cotter pin and nut from upper ball joint. With brass hammer, strike the ball joint stud to dislodge taper. Remove stock alignment cam."

To install new cam: "Make sure arrow is pointing towards the front of the truck and the flat end of the cam is aligned with the flat end of the knuckle. Use the old sleeve to tap the new cam down onto the taper. Install nut and torque to 69 foot pounds."

If you don't want to do this then at least take the truck to a shop and have the alignment checked.

 

Well, that sounds easy enough, and getting the nut off shouldn't be an issue, though that is where I get lost. The shim is a large bushing that apparently fits into the upper ball joint mount point (on the axle housing side) and the taper runs through it. I am not sure, but it seems that simply striking the ball joint stud to dislodge the taper will not work on a 4x4, since the lower ball joint will also have to slide out at the same time, and the axle would first have to be removed to get that out (and the various steering linkage removed on the passenger side). Then the shim/bushing could be punched out and replaced. After all that, changing the spring height shouldn't have changed the caster/camber at all, anyway, so I am not understanding the need to change it. I have to call Donahoe, but it seems as this part maybe for 2WD models only(?)

 

Not too bad a job - about an hour and a half total for the front, another 15 to 30 minutes for the rear shocks. The worst part was removing the factory shocks, upper mount. The upper nut has to be removed and there are a lot of (rusty) threads to go over, and not a lot of room to work.

1) Set parking brake and chock rear wheels.

2) Jack the front up by the axles enough to place jack stands under the frame but still have the wheels off the ground when the jack is removed (I placed the jack stands under the front plow mount horns.)

3) Remove front wheels.

4) On one side at a time, place jack under axle to hold it up. Disconnect brake hose mounting bracket from spring mounts top and bottom. Disconnect ABS hose mounting clamp from axle trac bar. Pull rubber air line from pumpkin. Remove bolt holding sway bar. Remove upper shock mounting nut. Remove lower shock mouning bolt. Axle is now free to drop to ground. It will hang up until both sides are completed.

5) Let axle all the way to ground. Front springs will pretty much fall out of their mounts. Install new springs using the old rubber bushing at top and make sure they are oriented to seat into the lower seat properly. Jack the axle back up, making sure the springs stay aligned, and then they will squeeze into place on their mounts as the axle is jacked up. The bottom mount will take some preasure to seat, but they will pop right in.

6) On each side, replace the shocks with the new ones, reinstall the sway bar connection, and replace the hoses and brake mounting tabs. One note, at full droop, the brake hose mounting tabs could not be remounted. I had to wait until the wheels were on and the truck was on the ground to hook up the lower bracket. I believe that longer hoses are required for the extream droop case. I plan on replacing these soon.

7) Replace wheels, remove jack stands and let it down. Hook up the lower brake bracket (I toyed with the idea of leaving it floating, but the position of it makes me think it might get pinched in the coil spring, so taking the risk of stretching instead.

I skipped the step about replacing the alignment cams (see my other response in this same thread.)

Rear shocks were easy. Pull out old ones, put in top of new ones first. The DR shocks took a lot of effort to compress to fit the bottom bolt in. Leave the strap on, though even it is not holding the shock closed enough to reach.

Bottom line, pretty easy install. Brake line replacement should be easy as well, since access to the fittings is good. Don't forget to bleed them.

 

Thanks for the detailed instructions.......... A new project ahead of me.........

 

I suspect the ride (and bump steer) improvement is because of the shocks.

My 2001 was HORRIBLE. To this day, I can pick out an SD that has the stock shocks by how much it bounces. And that includes the newer ones.

 

Would you care to mention where you got your leveling kit for $650? Best price I can get is up over $700 (Leveling kit w/4 shocks) . Also, did you go with DR Signature Series shocks or the Bilsteins? Thanks!

 

While I have not done this(yet hehehehe) I think the taper of the ball joint narrows towards the nut. I think the smack with the hammer is to loosen the bolt and the bushing. I don't think removal of both ball joints is needed. This is how they align the front end so it has to be somewhat easy to do. Ford changed these bushings on my truck under warranty(I forget what my original complant was) so it can't be that hard. Superduty HQ here in Mesa, AZ quoted me $925 +/- for install of the leveling kit, rear shocks and alignment. I can order it online for a lil over $785 shipped. So for $200 or so I'm thinking I will let them do the work.

 

That is a good point on the alignment shim replacement. I didn't think of that. I have the question into the tech staff at Donahoe, but I will be gone all week. I will post their answer when I return.


FWIW, I paid less than $700 after shipping for the DR 2.5 kit with 2 new coils and 4 new shocks and alignment shims.

 

So I guess your not going to name the place where you purchased it from? It sounds like you got a really good price. I'd really be interested in getting one for that price. I am also considering their (DR) dual stabilizer even though it's a little spendy....

 

I'm interested where you got it from as well...

Was it brand new?

 

The Axle doesnt need to be removed. You are not removing anything but the alignment cam and the nut during this process. All you have to do is remove the upper balljoint nut and strike the side of the axle housing next to the balljoint to shake the cam out of there. The steering knuckle, axle and everything else is not touched. the cam simply lifts out of the top and drops back in.

And yes, on a radius arm suspension, any ride height change drastically effects the caster on the front end. The axle moves in a circular pattern. It is fixed at one point and rotates from there. So as it rotates down (droop) you will lose caster. Which is what happens when you lift the truck. The cams need to be installed in order to get that caster back that was lost from the lift.

 

Hi, Just back from vacation.
OK, Good info on the geomety. I understand about the needed adjustment now and I will put them in later this week to see how it affects things. Sounds easy enough with your explaination.

I just put 800 miles on it round trip to NH with everything from 85mph highway to dirt logging roads, and still like the changes the new suspension made.

As far as where I got the suspension, it was from WheelersOffRoad.com. The kit cost $609 and the shipping was around $65 - no tax to Massachusetts.