Suspension Considerations for F350 DWR

First thing I would do is check the year of MFG of the tires that the truck came with. Over 5 years and I would be thinking replacement. Does it have Anti Sway bars? My take on the OEM Ford bars from that era is they are junk, get a replacement Roadmaster or Hellwig Big wig anti sway bar. Newer shocks too From there just play it by ear

Tires are brand new, installed by previous owner, but I need to double check the load rating on them. I would assume the sway bar is stock. New shocks would probably be a really good idea.
Thanks,

Hi,

The tires should be 215/80R16E rated tires rated at about 2,400 pounds each in dual configuration! That is good for about 9,600 pounds on the rear axle.

The spring rate should be close to 4,500 pounds per side, or 9,000 total! That should be more than enough to handle the stock 3,000 pound rear axle weight and the 3,000 +/- camper weight. You do not have a 3/4 ton anymore, the springs will be stiff, and not need the airbags.

A larger sway bar might help a lot. You might also enjoy the drive a lot more with a steering damper. (I forget the correct name right now). IT is basically a shock absorber with one end on the steering tie rod, the other on the frame, so that small pot holes will not try to move the front end around, and should reduce vibration side to side in the steering wheel. Also during a front tire failure, it will slow the amount of twist to one side or the other that the tire is going to try to take the front end on a wild ride!

I would take the truck to a scale, and see what the base weight is. Subtract that from the GVWR, and you will see that all trucks built before 2005 have limited cargo rating, at least compared to the 14,000 GVWR that the new F-350 dually has! If you have crewcab (400#) or 4 wheel drive options (another 400#) you might not have all that much cargo rating. You already stated that the 7.3L diesel is there, adding about 700# more than the 351 or 5.4L of that timeframe had in it.

Have fun camping!

Fred.

Nice looking picture of your truck by the way!

Fred.

I would get the 1191 over the 1161. Aluminum frame vs wood, larger holding tanks and newer.
I carried an 1191 on an 03 Dodge DRW 4x4 diesel with only airbags, you will be fine.
I would look at the Stable loads over airbags. Bags can cause side to side rocking.
Hellwig Big Wig sway bar helps a lot.

I have a '99 2WD. Bags, shocks, bars. Of the set, I would do the bars first, shocks second, and bags third. I did shocks first, bags second, and bars third. The bars made the most difference. I would get the Roadmaster rather than the Hellwig. I got a Roadmaster rear and a Hellwig front, both work but the Roadmaster is a better quality product. I think you can get Roadmaster for both ends on a 4WD, I couldn't for the 2WD.

Thanks for the complements. I love my new to me truck. It actually rides much better than I anticipated. The previous owner took extremely good care of it.

I will have to check out the 1191, can't say that I remember seeing them.

I think I will see how the truck reacts with a camper on before I do anything as suggested. Then adjust as needed.

Thanks for the advice. Looking forward to finding the right camper now.

I have an 1191 on an 06 Dodge dually and love it. You can easily access the bathroom and less easily the fridge with the slide in, but I would not consider using it without extending the slide while camping. There is only 6-8inches between the table and stove/fridge with the slide in. As far as suspension mods, all I have done is stableloads and aftermarket shocks. Pretty happy with how it handles, though a bit of sway on certain road conditions (shock upgrade helped this a lot). I'm still considering adding a rear sway bar but have run 4 years as is.