Anyone know offhand which is the correct Firestone Ride Rite kit for the F-350 DRW (1994). It's either a 2065 or 2071. It's not lifted and not a 4WD. Would this truck be the "ambulance chassis"?

Thanks in advance.

 

Think I've answered my own question. Read the install manual for both kits and went out with my flashlight and measured the frame to tire gap. It looks like 2071 is the correct kit.

 

Just closing the loop to help others. I installed my Firestone Ride-Rite 2071 air springs this weekend on my 94 did turbo drw. The installation was very straightforward, and I'm looking forward to getting the trailer hooked up to see how I can improve the front to rear attitude of the trailer and truck. I bought these to improve the nose down attitude and improve braking which was a little longer than I wanted in the rain on on downhills with the trailer. The installation was fairly easy except the hardware to mount the springs to the leaf springs. The kit included 7" carriage bolts which are a one-size-fits-all kind of thing but were a pita to fit properly over the leafs and also were taking forever to run the bolts up. So I measured the fit and ran over to Lowes for some grade 8 hardware. Better fit, lock washers, no potential for interference, and a little red loctite to hold it together.

 

I'm a bit confused here, how do rear helper springs improve your braking and nose-dive? The nose-dive under braking on these trucks is cause mainly by the front suspension, but you're working on the rear instead. Actually if you have a bumper-pull trailer when you get on the brakes hard the weight transfer in the trailer causes its tongue to push down hard on your hitch, which in turn pushes down on your rear axle and sorta tries to lift the front one (not like this happens) thus working against the truck's own weight transfer and nose-dive. Those air springs may keep the truck's *** end up when you ain't braking, and they may prevent it from squatting as much when you do brake hard, but I don't see how they'd do much of anything for the front axle. Or how they gonna improve the actual braking performance of the truck and trailer...

 

Yea, you kind of described there in your second sentence. When unloaded I have no issues and the truck acts like it should with weight shift to the front under braking - it doesn't nose dive, the front suspension is fine, it's the rear that is too soft. FWIW I pulled a much lighter trailer for 3 years and never experienced a problem, but since I have had this heavier enclosed trailer (still well within the GCVW) I've had a few dicey experiences with shortened braking distances even with new Michelin LTXs and a WD hitch. With the weight of this trailer the bumper pull pushes down on the rear and slightly raises the front, lessening the brake effectiveness. If you add a downhill grade it's even less. I added air springs to raise the rear from sagging, making it more level when trailering which should allow the proper weight shift under braking and improve the braking distances somewhat.

 

Are you running a weight distributing hitch? If not, you might want to invest in one. Makes a world of difference when set up right. My Toy Hauler comes in around 10K loaded and I have no issues when braking.

 

Thanks, yea I have one. I may need to adjust it differently in combination with the air springs. Also thinking I might need to load the trailer differently for ideal tongue weight. For the money and time in the springs and what I read on RV.net I won't have regrets in installing them, but it might not be the whole solution either. For a one ton truck and well within the tow capacity and hitch rating I was a little surprised at the rear suspension droop, just trying to work it out.

 

Cool. The key is getting it set up correctly. Takes time, but once done, makes towing a breeze.

 

No suspension upgrades or air bags are going to improve braking ... Only better brakes or less weight will!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Does the 2071 kit fit on top of the overload leaf springs or do they have to come off? I am going to put a set of these on my 97 DRW probably tomorrow.

 

They bolt right up, I had to drill mounting holes per the instructions.

 

Okay, thanks. Now if the UPS truck will just show up.

 

Good luck with it - if you have Qs, just post I'll help if I can.

I think I did to make it easier was replace the nut/bolt hardware that bolts the air springs to the leaf springs. They come with like 7" carriage bolts which were a pain to bolt up - they were made long for a universal fit on different trucks, but they were way longer than I needed and it made running the bolts up a hassle and I like stuff that's easy to maintain. I just mocked up the fit, measured and bought new grade 8 stuff at Lowes. It bolted up easier, looks better, and no longer have these super long bolts in there. My truck is a 94 dually, your fit could be different.

 

No, mine came with the seven mile long bolts too. I did the same as you, I went to the hardware store and bought some shorter bolts. It wasn't any kind of a big deal. I think the hardest part of the whole project was building up the courage to drill holes in the frame.