Ok friends, this is a project that I have been looking forward to for a few months now.
Took delivery on the 2018 F550 in August of 2018 and have been using it for a daily driver since then. It was too late to go to the coast fishing so wife and I went to Kalispell for a weekend just to stretch the legs out and see how it handled. As we ordered it with a heavier suspension it was not a surprise to feel every bump and crack in the roads, the Okanagan weights in around 7000 lbs loaded up so we thought it would squash it down a bit, this came out to be a 2” difference from loaded to empty.
Still a pretty rough ride with the camper on, shook thinks up a little.
After shopping around for a while we pulled the trigger on a Kelderman 4 link air ride suspension package for the rear and the front kit that replace the front coil springs. We had them ship the kits to Sweet Grass MT (At the Border Storage) as the charge to get it across the border and up to my house in Canada was way too much. We are going South tomorrow to pick it up.
Pulled the body off the other day to clean up the frame and get the truck ready for the project, much to my surprise I found some cracks between the front boxes and the structure of the deck.
So out came the welder and another project began.
Ground out the cracks and welded them up. (Aluminium that has been powder coated is a real B*&^h to weld(difficult to clean properly). Purchased a ¼” sheet of Aluminium and welded it to the front all the way around both boxes and the frame for more strength.
Now how to make all the burnt paint look good again? Raptor makes an excellent bed liner/rocker guard that is tint able. So after 6 hours of prep work and 2 coats it looks great! I recommend this stuff for any job like this.
So off to the border we go. Pictures of the progress will soon come.
Took delivery on the 2018 F550 in August of 2018 and have been using it for a daily driver since then. It was too late to go to the coast fishing so wife and I went to Kalispell for a weekend just to stretch the legs out and see how it handled. As we ordered it with a heavier suspension it was not a surprise to feel every bump and crack in the roads, the Okanagan weights in around 7000 lbs loaded up so we thought it would squash it down a bit, this came out to be a 2” difference from loaded to empty.
Still a pretty rough ride with the camper on, shook thinks up a little.
After shopping around for a while we pulled the trigger on a Kelderman 4 link air ride suspension package for the rear and the front kit that replace the front coil springs. We had them ship the kits to Sweet Grass MT (At the Border Storage) as the charge to get it across the border and up to my house in Canada was way too much. We are going South tomorrow to pick it up.
Pulled the body off the other day to clean up the frame and get the truck ready for the project, much to my surprise I found some cracks between the front boxes and the structure of the deck.
So out came the welder and another project began.
Ground out the cracks and welded them up. (Aluminium that has been powder coated is a real B*&^h to weld(difficult to clean properly). Purchased a ¼” sheet of Aluminium and welded it to the front all the way around both boxes and the frame for more strength.
Now how to make all the burnt paint look good again? Raptor makes an excellent bed liner/rocker guard that is tint able. So after 6 hours of prep work and 2 coats it looks great! I recommend this stuff for any job like this.
So off to the border we go. Pictures of the progress will soon come.
Went hard last night, had help from the son with the boat, tit for tat works well.
95% stripped down, just two overload brackets to grind off and the assembly starts.
Only work till noon today, lots will get done this afternoon.
95% stripped down, just two overload brackets to grind off and the assembly starts.
Only work till noon today, lots will get done this afternoon.
OK so got my shop all cleaned up to do this job and what happens? All of a sudden with a clean shop my boy wants to bring his boat in to get it ready for summer. How many of us have to knuckle under and help out the kids?
O well, that’s what dads are for right? That out of the way and on with the modification, cleaned her all up, measured the pinion angle, now on with the tear down.
More to come.
O well, that’s what dads are for right? That out of the way and on with the modification, cleaned her all up, measured the pinion angle, now on with the tear down.
More to come.
Supercharged111 wrote:Kayteg1 wrote:
This is about 10' long bed, so the axle has to be at least 5 ft behind the cabin.
Those welds look poorly done from start. No penetration.
Will look for pictures on air ride.
I put sulastic hangers on mine dually and after restarting the season 2 days ago, drove some with empty truck as well. No big complains about ride on good roads.
I guess the proportions must be similar to a regular pickup then? I was thinking the axle would be farther rearward than it is, but still an improvement as the wheelbase is extended and you have more truck period.
Point is that F550 has rear axle about 1 foot farther to the rear than F450, or that is what I have seen in previous years. (C&C F350 has rear axle farther too)
This way when you slide-in heavy camper, you will have COG well in front of the axle, when on lighter trucks it comes behind the axle, what force owners to limit the loads.
