Might sell the F450 and go F550 with liquid springs

[SoonDockin]

Love the F450 with the Arctic Fox 1140 for traveling. Just find the ride a bit rough on some of Americas moon scape of a road system. Been looking at suspension upgrades but as we are at the limit of payload, it makes sense to go with a higher payload and not worry about adding weight from new suspension.

Any one had seat of the pants experience with Liquid Springs? From what I have read, most are happy with the outcome.

[Sliding-into-ho]

Did I understand the OP correctly in that we're worried solely about the weight of additional suspension components?

Part of your problem could be that airbags are a terrible suspension upgrade for truck campers.

After years of forums and friends saying great things about airbags, I finally bit the bullet. Dual path and remote adjustability. I've played with all manor of combinations of stableload settings, rancho 9000xl settings, Hellwig settings and air pressures ranging from 5-75lbs.

The more I air up, the scarier things get.

My experience may or may not be relevant to yours, but the 450 is plenty of truck for your camper. I might play with your suspension configuration before replacing it with a 550.

[Cliff_and_Miche]

Grit dog wrote:

Cliff and Michele wrote:
As for tires and wheels, we are replacing our 19.5” tires with 20” wheels from Stazworks and Falken tires. Much better ride and you can air down the Falken’s to get through mud or snow or sand. You cannot do that with 19.5” tires.

So your replacing med duty G rated tires with custom wheels that allow you to run light duty E load tires? Presumably with a srw wide front rim and tire so as not to lose front capacity and essentially be “at” max load on the front of a class V diesel, at least, I hope?

Well this is a solution, but the thinking is flawed. You’re sacrificing tire life and capacity for presumably the very reason you bought the truck. To carry very heavy loads.
I guess if your primary objective is to have an “off road” rig that weighs like 8 tons, then it makes sense. But at that point, I’d do it right and mod ‘er up to take some big super singles.


But thanks for supporting a local Northern WI business. The depressed economy up there can use all the money it can get.

I am replacing the rear tires with 20” wheels and tires for several reasons. First, better ground clearance when on BLM or NF roads. Second, I can air down as needed for sand and mud and snow. You cannot with the 19.5’s. The tires I am looking at are only 200 pound less capacity than the factory tires I have, still well within my needed capacity. And finally, a much better (I hope and have been told) ride. I am not a fan of super singles, having owned dump trucks and trailers.

I also intend to add the Liquid Spring system for the ride capacity and they just announced the ability to auto level the truck and camper at the end of the day. I am sold! And John at Stazworks sounds like a super good guy. Family business

I’m still waiting for my 20” wheels made from surplus MRAP vehicles. I will report back when I get them. I will post pictures when I get it all done.

[Grit_dog]

Cliff and Michele wrote:
As for tires and wheels, we are replacing our 19.5” tires with 20” wheels from Stazworks and Falken tires. Much better ride and you can air down the Falken’s to get through mud or snow or sand. You cannot do that with 19.5” tires.

So your replacing med duty G rated tires with custom wheels that allow you to run light duty E load tires? Presumably with a srw wide front rim and tire so as not to lose front capacity and essentially be “at” max load on the front of a class V diesel, at least, I hope?

Well this is a solution, but the thinking is flawed. You’re sacrificing tire life and capacity for presumably the very reason you bought the truck. To carry very heavy loads.
I guess if your primary objective is to have an “off road” rig that weighs like 8 tons, then it makes sense. But at that point, I’d do it right and mod ‘er up to take some big super singles.


But thanks for supporting a local Northern WI business. The depressed economy up there can use all the money it can get.

[SoonDockin]

Cliff and Michele wrote:
As for tires and wheels, we are replacing our 19.5” tires with 20” wheels from Stazworks and Falken tires. Much better ride and you can air down the Falken’s to get through mud or snow or sand. You cannot do that with 19.5” tires.

I'll be interested to hear more about your new wheel/tire choice and how you like them so far.

[Cliff_and_Miche]

As for tires and wheels, we are replacing our 19.5” tires with 20” wheels from Stazworks and Falken tires. Much better ride and you can air down the Falken’s to get through mud or snow or sand. You cannot do that with 19.5” tires.

[Cliff_and_Miche]

Soondockin, I have a new Ram 5500with flatbed and as of yesterday, a Northern-Lite 10-2LE DB. The truck, without the camper, gave me shaken baby syndrome after just a few miles and if I hit an expansion joint, a traumatic brain injury to boot. Even with the camper, it is still a pretty rough ride. We will prolly go with the Liquid Spring system as they reportedly make the ride between a 1500 and a 2500 truck. Another advantage is when I am parked in my driveway with a 4 degree down slope, I can lift the front 4” and drop the rear 4” to level it out to get the fridge to work. Note that the Liquid Spring manufacturer says you have to remove the 22 gallon fuel tank to install the power unit, leaving just the 50 gallon tank. A friend of mine found an alternative place to mount the power unit so keep that in mind. I won’t do a 3500 series truck despite all the enthusiasts’ comments. I owned dump trucks and a truck built for 80,000 pounds and a truck built for 58,000 pounds, when both loaded to 60,000 pounds, the heavier built truck handles it much more comfortably where the lighter built truck handles it adequately. Which one do you think is more pleasant t to drive?

[Grit_dog]

SoonDockin wrote:
I run what the truck calls for on the factory tires. 90 in front and 80 in the duals. I would not run them lower as the stiff sidewalls likely would not be happy. I would like to find some load rated tires with more squish or that reach an expectable load at lower pressure. Then maybe some squish to help smooth our the road joints and potholes.

Again, hence my comment about not thinking about this right...
You want to "upgrade" to a MUCH heavier duty truck, which like your 450, has 19.5 wheels as the only option (save for 22.5s or a VERY custom setup with...whatever).
If you want "load rated" tires that will handle your camper AND have softer sidewalls, you reasonably have to move DOWN in truck class to a class 3 1 ton with LT tires.
And as I mentioned, you also haven't looked to see how low of pressure you can run for your load. But if you do, you'll find that with your load, youll be able to lower the pressure a bit from where you're at.

[Grit_dog]

markowwes wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

SoonDockin wrote:


The F450 is super capable. Maybe I should look for different tires to absorb a bit of the road feel.

The 19.5s will always be a little stiff. My experience with them is limited to work vehicles though, probably aired to the max.
Which poses the question, are you running them rock hard, max psi? Maybe more than needed for the load?
19.5s are recommended to run 70psi min (to keep the beads on the rims). You may get some more cushion at a lower pressure than you're running and still have adequate load capacity.

Financially speaking, there's not a better time to sell a vehicle, although no advantage considering the inflated costs of purchasing another to replace it.

You may want to watch what you do with your tire pressures, manufacturer says so much psi. to a certain weight but nothing about lighter loads. Lowering too much will cause heat and abnormal wear. You can try a different tire for your load and or contact the manufacturer and ask about what pressure for your load range. I run about 5 psi less than manufacturer suggested because the camper is not on all the time. I have approx. 32,000 mi. on factory tires with no sign of abnormal wear, which is not much but that is at an average 70 to 75 mph. any tire will wear faster at higher speeds. Stay away from the aggressive grip patterns unless you do a lot of off roading, they will be much quieter on the highways.

What part of 70psi min did you miss?

[jimh406]

Fwiw, my F450 says 80 front 75 rear. Mine is a 2010 with 19.5s. It has a 14500 GVWR.

[SoonDockin]

I run what the truck calls for on the factory tires. 90 in front and 80 in the duals. I would not run them lower as the stiff sidewalls likely would not be happy. I would like to find some load rated tires with more squish or that reach an expectable load at lower pressure. Then maybe some squish to help smooth our the road joints and potholes.

[markowwes]

Grit dog wrote:

SoonDockin wrote:


The F450 is super capable. Maybe I should look for different tires to absorb a bit of the road feel.

The 19.5s will always be a little stiff. My experience with them is limited to work vehicles though, probably aired to the max.
Which poses the question, are you running them rock hard, max psi? Maybe more than needed for the load?
19.5s are recommended to run 70psi min (to keep the beads on the rims). You may get some more cushion at a lower pressure than you're running and still have adequate load capacity.

Financially speaking, there's not a better time to sell a vehicle, although no advantage considering the inflated costs of purchasing another to replace it.

You may want to watch what you do with your tire pressures, manufacturer says so much psi. to a certain weight but nothing about lighter loads. Lowering too much will cause heat and abnormal wear. You can try a different tire for your load and or contact the manufacturer and ask about what pressure for your load range. I run about 5 psi less than manufacturer suggested because the camper is not on all the time. I have approx. 32,000 mi. on factory tires with no sign of abnormal wear, which is not much but that is at an average 70 to 75 mph. any tire will wear faster at higher speeds. Stay away from the aggressive grip patterns unless you do a lot of off roading, they will be much quieter on the highways.

[Grit_dog]

SoonDockin wrote:


The F450 is super capable. Maybe I should look for different tires to absorb a bit of the road feel.

The 19.5s will always be a little stiff. My experience with them is limited to work vehicles though, probably aired to the max.
Which poses the question, are you running them rock hard, max psi? Maybe more than needed for the load?
19.5s are recommended to run 70psi min (to keep the beads on the rims). You may get some more cushion at a lower pressure than you're running and still have adequate load capacity.

Financially speaking, there's not a better time to sell a vehicle, although no advantage considering the inflated costs of purchasing another to replace it.

[SoonDockin]

Grit dog wrote:


Are you sure you’re not just looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist? Or just an excuse for a new truck?
Because your analysis and reasoning is off a bit.

Ha Ha, I just got back from a 1400 mile round trip. One section of road construction had so many 2-4" transitions I had to stop and adjust my tie downs. I am not as critical of the ride but my wife is no way satisfied.

The F450 is super capable. Maybe I should look for different tires to absorb a bit of the road feel.

[SoonDockin]

markowwes wrote:
We went with a F550 Super Duty with the heavy suspension pkg. to get the most GVW possible.
Added the Kelderman 4 link air ride to the rear and Kelderman air bags in the front. The package came with Rancho Shocks and an extra heavy rear torsion bar. Each wheel has a ride height automatic adjuster so the truck never changes the ride height no matter how much load you carry. The empty ride is still a little rough but not as bad as with the springs and loaded it rides very well. Total weight with the boat we are at 28,500 lbs.

That's a really nice setup. I have been pricing bed options and am surprised how expensive they can be.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

markowwes wrote:
We went with a F550 Super Duty with the heavy suspension pkg. to get the most GVW possible.
Added the Kelderman 4 link air ride to the rear and Kelderman air bags in the front. The package came with Rancho Shocks and an extra heavy rear torsion bar. Each wheel has a ride height automatic adjuster so the truck never changes the ride height no matter how much load you carry. The empty ride is still a little rough but not as bad as with the springs and loaded it rides very well. Total weight with the boat we are at 28,500 lbs.

Beautiful Setup! That's Having Your Cake And Eating It Too!