I will be doing a lot of front end work on my 09 350, replacing rusted through spring pockets, and replacing the old rusty coils while I am at it. I've often thought of a leveling kit, and if I need to replace the coils anyway I'd much prefer just buying lift coils instead of stock coils + spacers. Variable rate coils that might make this tank ride a bit softer would be nice. Everything I am seeing is for diesel trucks though? Anyone have any leads on +2" or 2.5" variable rate coils? Would a heavy fabricated bumper + brush guard make the diesel springs more applicable? I currently have TT code springs / 5200# F GAWR
Thanks!

 

I did a fair amount of research when contemplating lifting/leveling the front of our 2wd gasser. While the 4wd springs are physically different than the 2wd, and incompatible, I believe I understood that the 4wd springs were compatible, save for that extra weight of the diesel engine. That extra weight on the nose (or say like a plow hangin off it), should get you close enough to "work". Obviously, it's not going to ever ride like a caddy, but if you can determine the approx difference in your V10 vs. a 6.4, you know what you need to "make up"

 

Back in the 2009 or so, one of the hot rodding TV shows purchased an F-350 DRW 4x4 with a PSD, for a shop truck and tow vehicle. They were mounting a Ranch Hand bumper on the front and were concerned about the front suspension sagging. They measured 1/2 inch sag after the bumper was installed.

Don’t worry about the sag, unless you don’t like the look. Then, figure out how to fix it.

 

Not worried about sag, worried about it being too stiff. My 5200# springs are already as high as I would like to go.

 

Well I got an email back from Icon.. yeah their coils will be stiffer and ride higher.

Are there no aftermarket springs in existence that won't make my truck stiffer? Do I really need to buy the stock coils again and add a spacer to get a level ride that isn't harsher?

 

Last I checked rough country had a set of 1.5” coils that said compatible for gassers. I originally was going to do the same thing but I changed my mind when I had trouble finding compatible coils for a 4x4 6.2. I’m planning on a 4” lift with coils from a complete kit.

 

I'm currently running Icon 4.5" dual rate coils in my truck. I ran them when my truck was still a 5.4 and it rode better than stock then. When I did the diesel swap I swapped to Pro Comp 6" springs and noticed a much harsher ride and quickly switched back. I was running Fox 2.0 monotube shocks when it was a 5.4 and now I'm running Bilstein 5160 in all 4 corners and couldn't be happier with the ride.

 

I usually stay away from Rough Country but I just went and checked. They only have on set of coils for each height, and they say for V10/diesel only. My guess is they are either rated for the diesel and figure the V10 is close enough or its somewhere between. There site looks kind of sketchy, as well as their answers to some of their questions. 133 reviews for the 1.5" leveling springs... but you can only see 5 of them? Well at least they are cheap? How many different springs does ford offer for the super duties? idk...I'd be more comfortable ordering from RC if they at least offered 2 versions of their springs.

Well thats promising, but idk they specifically told me the lift would be greater than 2.5" and ride would be stiffer. Would be kind of hard to return or complain about them being taller or stiffer when they specifically told me so. Might not be a big deal if I would run a lift kit but I just want to level the front and a spring that could potentially be higher than 2.5" sounds a bit much. But you have got me debating now...

 

So it feels like I'm spinning my wheels here for the past week. I've sent out emails to a few manufacturers & dealers. Half of them have never been responded to me after a week. Usually thats an automatic strike from my list, however some of the ones that did not respond seem well regarded here, like PMF.

Speaking of PMF I noticed they sold Icon dual rate springs with much lift options than I thought Icon made? Maybe when I saw 2.5", 4.5" and 7" at https://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/ that is not actually Icon but perhaps just a dealer that doesn't carry everything? But PMF shows Icon dual rates in 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 4 at https://www.pmfsuspension.com/2005-1...oils_p_46.html

Maybe the Icon dual rate 1.5" diesel springs would give me the ~2" ish and perhaps softer ride (or at least not stiffer) that I am looking for in my v10 with potential heavy fabricated bumper?

If I do that, do I need the caster cams? They come with the springs like the 2.5" from https://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/...Dspring%2Dkit/ but the PMF Icon springs have no mention of castor cams.

 

skyjacker f520, 2" lift in softride, not variable rate. Many people (likely those with a towing package) report it didn't lift the front at all, If you feel yours had a towing package or a plow package then bump it to the f540, which is the 4" softrides. the 540's lifted my 09 about 1" above plow prep diesel springs on a 5.4 truck and it rode alot better, but the air bag conversion rides 100x better than any coil setup I tried

 

Thanks for the info, hadn't even checked Skyjacker options so may look into it. Seems like that muddies the waters even worse lol. Some dealers saying using their springs on my truck would make it ride higher than advertised now your example shows less than advertised. I have the heavy service suspension. It is not the snow plow prep, but the one in between. I have a 5200 lb FAWR. The snow plow prep trucks would be 6000lb FAWR and stock I think was 4600 or something like that? It muddies the water that the factory had several different springs available, but its not rocket science for the manufacturers to calculate the differences. "Tow packages" for these model trucks didn't effect the front coils at all.

I'm not looking to jack it all up, but since my coils are really rusty and I am re-doing much of the front end, I figure its a good time to replace the coils and if I can level it then great. I'm leaning towards the Icon 1.5" springs. If it ends up being stock height I could always add a spacer, but I'd prefer to get the work over and done with in one shot.

All this uncertainty in lift height also confuses me on which castor cam to get also....

 

I thought Bilstein had a levelling kit when I looked a couple years ago but may be wrong.

 

I searched around and found they do offer a leveling kit (just springs and shocks) for very reasonable price. However I'm a bit skeptical... says it basically fits all model 2005-2016 no mention of gas or diesel differences, etc. Looks like regular coils instead of variable, but at this point I'm willing to try. Its already the second week of my two week break I was going to work on my truck and I haven't even ordered the parts yet. Probably won't have much time until fall now to work on it but at least I can start tearing things down this week. I just hate to be down my truck so long.

Appreciate the heads up though. I don't know why Bilstein is so hard to search, even when I typed Bilstein levelling kit thier own website didn't come up on the first couple google pages, and most of the links even when I put their part number were taking me to lift kits for dodge rams and such!

Seems like the usual places don't carry this part for some reason, most the sellers I've not heard of. Anyone use these guys before?
https://www.suspensionlifts.com/shop/ford/f250/bilstein-5112-2-inch-front-0-1-inch-rear-levelling-lift-kit-shocks-2005-2016-ford-f250-4wd/?srsltid=AfmBOoo2RITRm3rPVO7mYNuaok5fQNbBAQKK6a99-0x87nzRq6oYZ24gG54