Suspension set up on a dually

Powerstrokeracing · Jan 7, 2013

Hey guys, just recently bought a 2004 CCLB dually. It's stock everything basically.

I want it to sit a little higher of course with bigger tires. What are you all doing to do this but not hurt my towing much?

I was thinking either leveling kit and whatever size tires I could fit.

Or

A 4" all spring lift (thinking it would be better for towing?) is also what I was looking at.

If you all don't mind I would like come input/expierience on this. Never played much with lifts.

Thanks guys. Pics appreciated

Powerstrokeracing · Jan 7, 2013

Anybody? What brands everyone using?

tbsimmons · Jan 8, 2013

All depends on weight.
If you a 4" spring in back you will loose the stock over loads, which hold a lot of weight.
If you do I would put air bags on it for the pin weight.
I had 4" rear springs made for a 1 ton when I had my F350 SRW. When you bought rear springs, at least then, they were the same for a 250 and 350.
For a dually me personally would just do a leveling kit and leave it.
If I was going to raise another truck I tow with I would do blocks and traction bars.

Powerstrokeracing · Jan 8, 2013

Yea I was kinda afraid of that. How big of tires is everyone fitting with a leveling kit? Still doing spacers in the rear?

ducatirider944 · Jan 8, 2013

I had a 2004 F-350 dually. I put a F-350 SRW block on the back axle. Your dually will have 2" rear blocks the F-350 SRW has a 4" block. this will give you 2" of lift in the back. Your truck still uses leaf springs on the front. I then added a extra leaf to the front that went shackle to shackle. This raised the front about 2.5" then I made a 1.5" lift block for the front that was the width of my springs with a hole drilled in the center of the block in order to have the line up pins. This leveled the truck and raised the front by 4". It rode about the same as stock, but I did have a plow mount that was about 250#. I pulled 20K trailers on a regular basis with the truck and never had a problem. I ran 255/85/16's on it which are 33" tall tires vs the 31" stock height. I could have easily ran a 35" or 36" tall tire no problem. What you have to watch is how close your duals get together when picking a tire size. a lot of the taller tires are wider. You need to make sure even when the back is loaded either by something in the back or tongue weight of a trailer that you keep a minimum 1/2"- 3/4" gap in them. if they touch, you will have a tire fire.

davey99ps · Jan 8, 2013

ducatirider944 said:
I had a 2004 F-350 dually. I put a F-350 SRW block on the back axle. Your dually will have 2" rear blocks the F-350 SRW has a 4" block. this will give you 2" of lift in the back. Your truck still uses leaf springs on the front. I then added a extra leaf to the front that went shackle to shackle. This raised the front about 2.5" then I made a 1.5" lift block for the front that was the width of my springs with a hole drilled in the center of the block in order to have the line up pins. This leveled the truck and raised the front by 4". It rode about the same as stock, but I did have a plow mount that was about 250#. I pulled 20K trailers on a regular basis with the truck and never had a problem. I ran 255/85/16's on it which are 33" tall tires vs the 31" stock height. I could have easily ran a 35" or 36" tall tire no problem. What you have to watch is how close your duals get together when picking a tire size. a lot of the taller tires are wider. You need to make sure even when the back is loaded either by something in the back or tongue weight of a trailer that you keep a minimum 1/2"- 3/4" gap in them. if they touch, you will have a tire fire.

Blocks in the front is asking for trouble. I'm not trying to pick on you, but I don't care how small of a block it is, you don't use them in the front period. There's a few different ways to safely lift the front, bigger springs, mini packs, shackle drop, etc.., as for the rear I'd go with either PMF's or OUO's traction blocks(it's a lift block and traction bar all in 1). I know a lot of guys that run a 4" lift with 35's, an it doesn't effect towing abilities at all and looks great. I really love the way lifted duallys look

ducatirider944 · Jan 8, 2013

davey99ps said:
Blocks in the front is asking for trouble. I'm not trying to pick on you, but I don't care how small of a block it is, you don't use them in the front period. There's a few different ways to safely lift the front, bigger springs, mini packs, shackle drop, etc.., as for the rear I'd go with either PMF's or OUO's traction blocks(it's a lift block and traction bar all in 1). I know a lot of guys that run a 4" lift with 35's, an it doesn't effect towing abilities at all and looks great. I really love the way lifted duallys look

Pick all you want, the truck had 200k on it, pulled 20k on a weekly basis, pushed snow every winter for 3-4 months and in 8 years never had one problem from that set up

Powerstrokeracing · Jan 8, 2013

I was thinking of running spacers on the rear sense I want a little wider of a tire. Thanks for the good info!

MINK · Jan 8, 2013

4" lift with a traction block setup and stock springs in the rear.

powerstrokin15 · Jan 8, 2013

MINK said:
4" lift with a traction block setup and stock springs in the rear.

:whs: jansan.

Sent looking at my blown up 6.4

Powerstrokeracing · Jan 8, 2013

MINK said:
4" lift with a traction block setup and stock springs in the rear.

So your saying just do blocks in the rear with springs/hangers in the front?

davey99ps · Jan 9, 2013

Powerstrokeracing said:
So your saying just do blocks in the rear with springs/hangers in the front?

He's saying use a traction block in the rear(it's a lift block and traction bar all in 1), PMF an OUO make them. Then either use springs or hangers on the front. I'd go with a quality spring for the front, it'll help the truck ride a little better. You'll get a better ride out of a spring pack that has more thin leafs as apposed to a couple thick ones.

kyle43335 · Jan 9, 2013

davey99ps said:
Blocks in the front is asking for trouble. I'm not trying to pick on you, but I don't care how small of a block it is, you don't use them in the front period. There's a few different ways to safely lift the front, bigger springs, mini packs, shackle drop, etc.., as for the rear I'd go with either PMF's or OUO's traction blocks(it's a lift block and traction bar all in 1). I know a lot of guys that run a 4" lift with 35's, an it doesn't effect towing abilities at all and looks great. I really love the way lifted duallys look

by the sounds of it, he made a mini pack. it center bolts in with the main pack. if so theres nothing wrong with that. especially at a modest 1.5". just make sure the extra spring span the distance of the u bolts, so they can't turn.

my blue truck has a 3" mini pack and gets beat on quite a bit.

video^

Powerstrokeracing · Jan 9, 2013

I think that's the route ill go... Anybody have pics of this set up? Maybe squeeze 35's under it if I can. Would I need anything to adapt the steering to the lift or would it be fine? Thanks guys sorry not modified a suspension a whole lot.

kyle43335 · Jan 9, 2013

Powerstrokeracing said:
I think that's the route ill go... Anybody have pics of this set up? Maybe squeeze 35's under it if I can. Would I need anything to adapt the steering to the lift or would it be fine? Thanks guys sorry not modified a suspension a whole lot.

steering should be fine other than a minor adjustment to the drag link.

with my 3" mini, i opted for a adjustable track bar.

davey99ps · Jan 10, 2013

kyle43335 said:
by the sounds of it, he made a mini pack. it center bolts in with the main pack. if so theres nothing wrong with that. especially at a modest 1.5". just make sure the extra spring span the distance of the u bolts, so they can't turn.

my blue truck has a 3" mini pack and gets beat on quite a bit.

video^

I read it as he drilled holes in the block for the little pins to slide in, not the main center bolt that runs through all the leafs. I see nothing wrong with your mini pack set-up, I even recommended using a mini pack to the op. the point I was trying to make in my first post was that using a lift block in the front (similar to what's used in the rear of trucks) is a bad idea. I've seen first hand what happens when a lift block flies out of the front of a strictly mud truck. I'm sure there's plenty of others that'll agree with me on not using blocks in the front. At the end of the day though, it's not my truck or money, so it really doesn't matter to me, I was just trying to pass along info. I'm not trying to have an argument about it

kyle43335 · Jan 10, 2013

davey99ps said:
I read it as he drilled holes in the block for the little pins to slide in, not the main center bolt that runs through all the leafs. I see nothing wrong with your mini pack set-up, I even recommended using a mini pack to the op. the point I was trying to make in my first post was that using a lift block in the front (similar to what's used in the rear of trucks) is a bad idea. I've seen first hand what happens when a lift block flies out of the front of a strictly mud truck. I'm sure there's plenty of others that'll agree with me on not using blocks in the front. At the end of the day though, it's not my truck or money, so it really doesn't matter to me, I was just trying to pass along info. I'm not trying to have an argument about it

I agree 100%