Forum Discussion

klr650goldwing's avatar
Sep 09, 2020

Lowering rear of truck

Our 5er hitch is hitting the rails on the Retrax tonneau cover. And the front of our 5er rides 3 inches high. Someone suggested lowering the back of out 2017 F350 DRW LB CC truck. What are the pros and cons to this adjustment. Has anyone done it?
  • My 4wd F250 used the shorter blocks while the SRW F350 used the taller ones. This may be another source for shorter blocks if that is the way you go.
  • i swapped out the blocks in mine for factory 2016 units (2" instead of 3 3/4") and i lowered my truck's rear end by about 2", looks like a leveled truck now and my fiver sits nice a level. I did this in 2017 and its been fine the whole time.
  • Thank you guys. I have an appointment at a spring and suspension shop. The Ford dealer wasn't interested in even talking about doing it. This sounds like the easiest fix for the current problem.
  • Depends how level it sits now, I'd say. If ya replace the blocks or remove them altogether will it be doin the Carolina squat?
  • joelc's avatar
    joelc
    Explorer III
    Not sure if it would be cost effective, but when I bought my 5er they flipped the axles.
  • You could also look at raising the trailer a bit, although a shorter spacer block on the truck would be a pretty easy fix. Even DIY if you're slightly handy.
  • Do they still put the 4" spacers under the springs on the F350 4x4? I had my dealer replace the 4" spacers on my previous F350 FX4 with the 2" spacers, the same ones the 4x2 trucks use. Leveled out the truck and no affect on any thing else. Service manager liked the result better as it straightened out the drive line somewhat.

    There was actually a service bulletin put out by Ford years ago about doing this if you were towing a 5er as the rear may be too high. Dealer did mine under warranty. But I don't think they do that any longer. I considered it with my current 2012 F350 but haven't done it.
  • I removed the brackets that the aux springs hit cuz I was getting a hard "slap" when going over bumps. Not done to lower rear end any. Pin comes in at 3700, w/o aux springs, rear end drops couple of inches. No problems w/this in regards to hitting anything (I have Access tonneau cover which has lil over 1" sides), 5er is pretty level. ONLY real issue I have is during the winter w/1200# of tube sand over rear axle and towing 4 place V-nose enclosed sled trailer/ 2 sleds up front, again, w/o aux springs engaging, I get "beamed" a few times during nighttime travels.