Suspention modifications

[bboone52]

I was refered to this site by a fordtruckenthusiast forum where I was looking for information on sway bars. I read through about 3 years of posts on suspentions and hope I learned something. In any case, I have a 2002 F350 srw 4x4 crew cab long bed truck with a northstar Igloo 9.5 on the back. I have airbags and ranchero rear shocks. My air bags are mounted inboard of where they should have been but seem to work fine. I was told to reduce the sway I should lower the camper until the rubbers just touched the overload springs. This did reduce the swaying conciderably. I set the shocks at 7 and off I went on my first trip. There was minimul swaying and trucks and windy conditions were of little to no concern but each and every bump in the road was pronounced and rough road surfaces were alarming.

I have tried different adjustments and last trip I reduced the shocks to 4 and lifted the truck up off the overload springs. the rough ride was very much improved but the swaying was awfull.

I have looked into air suspention systems by Air lift and Kelderman which are cost prohibitive (Has anyone tried them) and have been advised that I should add a rear sway bar.

At present I am planning to add the rear sway bar and install Rollguards by Amtech. and when I can afford it, add the 19.5 tires and rims from rickson truck.

Am I on the right track?

[bboone52]

I was refered to this site by a fordtruckenthusiast forum where I was looking for information on sway bars. I read through about 3 years of posts on suspentions and hope I learned something. In any case, I have a 2002 F350 srw 4x4 crew cab long bed truck with a northstar Igloo 9.5 on the back. I have airbags and ranchero rear shocks. My air bags are mounted inboard of where they should have been but seem to work fine. I was told to reduce the sway I should lower the camper until the rubbers just touched the overload springs. This did reduce the swaying conciderably. I set the shocks at 7 and off I went on my first trip. There was minimul swaying and trucks and windy conditions were of little to no concern but each and every bump in the road was pronounced and rough road surfaces were alarming.

I have tried different adjustments and last trip I reduced the shocks to 4 and lifted the truck up off the overload springs. the rough ride was very much improved but the swaying was awfull.

I have looked into air suspention systems by Air lift and Kelderman which are cost prohibitive (Has anyone tried them) and have been advised that I should add a rear sway bar.

At present I am planning to add the rear sway bar and install Rollguards by Amtech. and when I can afford it, add the 19.5 tires and rims from rickson truck.

Am I on the right track?

[CD]

bboone52
Wecome to our Forum. There are a lot of very knowlegable people here and you will get some good advice.
I can't help you with the shocks or air bags but with the money you are throwing at it I think you should move up to a dulley. You will have a wider footprint for stability, you can lower the tire pressure for a better ride and get it down on the overload springs to tighten it up.
I put the Kelderman system on a 91 Dodge and as you say they are spendy. I did it because my wife has a bad back and the ride was killing her. The Kelderman sure helped. My present Dodge 3500 rides better than the 91 W/Kelderman. It has a better suspension and I use less tire pressure. By the book 45 lbs will carry more than the axle rating but with the camper I use 55 lbs.

[Harald]

Welcome bboone52.

What kind of airbags do you have? Are they Firestone or Airlift brand? My only thoughts on the airbags is to make sure each airbag is seperate from the other (has it's own air supply valve). It the 2 bags are hooked together you won't have any sway control at all from your airbags because the air will just rush from one bag to the other when the truck leans.

The other thing you should try before spending any money is to keep the truck off the overload springs and set the rear shocks to a higher setting (I'd go for max or 9). Those shocks really work great to dampen sway on my setup and I set the rears to max and the fronts are mid range.