Ive been thinking about ways to level the front, and still maintain a level truck when towing. When I bought this truck it only had four springs and a main on the back so I had a spring shop make me two new packs with the same capacity as a F550. They still have a little give with 20,000 pounds of cattle in the stock trailer but the truck remains level with that much weight. I guess my question is how can I make the truck level while empty and not have the front raise up when loaded? I had thought about air bags on the front but have never heard of that any suggestions?

 

With 20,000 lbs of beef(not including trailer) behind you, I'm hoping that first you have a gooseneck and second I would think that airbags in back would be your best bet. They shouldn't sag like a spring pack does.

 

He wants the truck to ride level empty. It rides level when loaded. How much higher is the rear of the truck when its unloaded?

 

yes I have a 28' steel Gooseneck trailer and the reason I didnt do the bags insted of the spring pack is the salesman for firestone said the bags they sell for pickup trucks wouldnt handle that much weight and last very long. So your saying i need to get a leveling kit and rear bags in order to maintain a level truck while towing and not towing?

 

I wouldn't go that route just yet. If you can find an airbag kit for the front springs, you should be able to bring that up a little to make the truck sit closer to level. I'm sure somebody makes them but don't have a clue who would.

 

The truck sits about 3 or 4 inches higher in the back.

 

And will probably rattle your kidneys when riding empty, right? I would have gone with the air bags in the rear also. You can get them rated at 5,000 per bag and I doubt your tounge weight is 10k or more.

I would recommend against the air bags up front unless you only want 1" or less or lift. If you raise the suspension up front more than that you really need to adjust camber and all that mess. I've got airbags in the front of mine. Anything over 1" of lift and you can feel the truck get <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->squirrelly while driving.

 

Yea its pritty bad empty it basically has no give at all, but whats done is done. I dont want to spend alot of money on something that is just for looks. Ive got the truck set up like I want it exsept for the front sitting lower, but I can live with it Im still glad I went with new springs though because of the relibility. So i basicaly have no options except to drop a grand on a leveling kit and rear bags (that I dont need). By the way the heavy springs cost me $650 for the pair. So I would have close to $2000 in the suspinsion to get what I want.

 

Hind sight is always 20/20. You could have just done airbags in the beginning without an onboard compressor and spent less than what you did on the springs. Of course I made the same mistake on a 94 F450 which is how I knew about the ride empty.

You could just add the leveling kit up front, but before you do that you really need to measure how much "sag" you get with a loaded trailer so you don't end up with the nose up look when you haul a load. The leveling kits are usually 2 1/2".