Here is a pic of the rubber bumper on the overload spring.

 

Ramon,

We went thru setting up our excursion to tow with a lift. A year ago we bought the excursion with 37k miles, 6.0L diesel, stock XLT. Over the winter I did some engine work - (studs/resurface heads/exhaust/guages/EGR) to prepare for the added HP from the SCT tuner. Then I did a V and B code spring swap with a 4.5" ICON spring hanger kit and 6" rear block. Went with 325/65-18 (approx 35-12.5) tire/rims. Bilstein shocks valved by Caryt - dual front shocks. Changed the sway bar to the 30mm bar. With these modifications my wheel wells are up 7.75". Initially had some driveline vibration until I added a 8 degree shim to set the rear pinion at a -1 degree angle with the drive line. This cured all vibration at all speeds but I already had a factory CV driveshaft. Minimal axle wrap on hard acceleration.
This spring we hooked up our bunk house Cardinal travel trailer that is about the exact same sticker weight as what you have posted. We had a lot of sway (white knuckle) and did not have a good WD set up - just a single friction arm. We also had a lot of axle wrap on acceleration with the trailer. We solved the axle wrap by adding One Up Off Road traction bars. As far as the hitch goes we already had a 1000lb Reese WD set up so I was able to add the reese dual cam set up to the existing hitch. With these modificaitons it appears to be all dialed in. We towed quite a bit in the mountains and the sway appears to be gone. I have yet to try towing in a lot of wind as we do not get that here in Washington very often.
We love the lifted truck for both looks and capabilities. It rides very smooth loaded and towing - much better than stock. Handles good in the corners - better than stock. The only negatives to the lift IMHO are parking garages and fuel milage (dropped about 2mpg but we still get 17-18mpg on the highway).
Let me know if have any questions on this. With a V-10 you would need to re-gear to at least 4.30s.

 

Red Ex,

Thanks for all the information, what you have done is pretty close to what I will be doing over the course of the next month. I am currently looking at 35" tires and a 6" lift, and was concerned about towing my TT at the new lifted height. The Icon lift has definitely peaked my interest and I have been on their site 'educating' myself with their product. I have already done the calcs and it would appear I need to put 4.88s in to compensate for the 35" tires to give me a 4.30 final drive ratio 'aspect'. I have really been looking at the Reese dual cam setup with the 1200# bars mostly due to performance versus cost, as with dropping so much on tires and lift I am out of the market for any consideration for a hensley or pro-pride. So it is nice to know you are having good luck with the Reese at a lifted height and about the same towing weight.

Did you have to change any brakes lines for your 6" lift? They appear to be long enough, but would like to know for sure, before I get too deep into the project.

Thanks again

 

Ramon,

When I bought the Ex the front brakes had a lot of vibration so I change the discs out to the ART cyro/slotted discs and also upgraded to stainless steel brake lines. No more mushy pedal. The stock brake lines should be long enough for a 6" lift. My lift ended up at 7.75" but 2" of that was from the bigger tire. With the V/B spring swap it handles the trailer weight real well and the ride is great both loaded and unloaded.

Yes, I am very satisified with the Reese dual cam. It does a great job of keeping the truck straight going down the road.

If you have any other questions on my setup, let me know or PM me and I could give you a call.

 

Well I have an appointment to get the truck in for a 6" lift...can't wait. But since I'm keeping the rear springs and just getting blocks I decided to go ahead and replace the bumpers on the assist springs. The passenger side was almost completely gone. I bet it will tow a hell of a lot better now. Check this out. Heck it raised the truck a good inch in the back just replacing these guys.

 

Ramon

I do not think that spring is meant to assist with load carrying capacity. I thought it was just to control axle wrap. If your springs are putting that much wieght on the bumper all the time - the new one will most likely wear out quickly. I wonder if your springs have to much sag and should be replaced. If so I still recommend going with a modified B code. They will handle towing better and still have a nice ride.

 

Those are not "assist springs." They do absolutely nothing to increase or otherwise offset weight capacity. Those forward-facing leaves are nothing more than the factory's attempt to create snubber-style traction bars. They work OK under acceleration, but are worthless at all other times.