Ok guys, I'm looking for some opinions. I want to improve my front suspension. The truck's factory springs were fatigued when I bought it. Between the heavy 7.3 power stroke, the bumper, and winch, the truck was at least an inch under what it should have been. My solution was a simple set of add-a-leaves. I've gone this rout many times over the years. Usually it's just fine- especially on the rear. However, I didn't get much lift so I added a second set of add-a-leaves. While this did give me the amount of lift I wanted the ride isn't so good, but mostly it doesn't flex. Hardly any. I knew better when I did it. Luckily the frame flexes easily! Anyway......I like the shackle reversal kits. But: 1-they give more lift than I want. 2-my factory springs are shot- so I need two new packs. 3-my truck has an aftermarket intercooler so I have to buy a more expensive shackle reversal kit to fit. 4- I'm really not crazy about how they look in terms of how far the rear of the springs hangs below the frame. I know it doesn't hurt anything. I hear that they ride super nice, but it's a 1-ton truck and I expect it to ride kinda rough. So, these are a lot of factors that add up to a lot. Mostly expense. The SRK and springs are quite pricy when combined, and then the fact that it's more lift than I want is making me look in a different direction. What I need is 2-3" over stock (I'm running 35" tires and don't intend to ever go taller). It needs to flex some, but not too much since I get some big loads and high weight numbers- I need to be able to control the truck at highway speeds. I pull goose necks regularly so height is an issue as it can get my bedsides crushed by the trailer neck when off-road. Many goose neck trailers do have adjustable height necks to level the trailers out, but again the bed clearance is an issue. Since the truck is nearly level now if I go taller in the front I'll need to get taller on the rear. So I'm leaning towards putting a pair of SkyJacker 4" lift soft ride springs on. I've spoken to the tech guys there and they tell me that for diesel trucks like mine they sell an additional add-a-leaf for these packs to give the advertised 4" of lift. So if I were to put these packs on my 460 powered truck then I'd have the 4" lift. But if I opt to not use this added leaf, the weight of the diesel and the winch and bumper I'll get 2-3" over stock. Basically right where I am now, but with a considerably better ride and a suspension that will actually flex. I've called them twice and spoken to different people both times. Both said basically the same thing. I'm wanting to trust their advice. "All around" can be a difficult thing to achieve. Be tall, but not too tall, be firm for big loads, but not too firm, flex well off road, but no too much. Off-road I tend to travel reasonably slow. If the camper is loaded I'm kinda heavy. I don't abuse this old truck, but I do use it. I always seek to improve the functionality and quality of it when I change things up. Making a wise decision can be difficult. There's about 1,000 years of combined wrenching, off-roading, and camping experience on this site. All opinions are welcome. I am fairly set to trying this out. However, I haven't bought anything yet......but, Summit Racing has it all loaded up in my shopping cart. I'm almost finished with fall crops and I'm about to be ready to take this little truck repair on. Somebody talk me out of this, or tell me I'm right! Thanks in advance guys.
That last pic is my handy work with my "back porch" legs. We used to run New Holland bar bailers to roll our hay. They were always bending those bars. So I got plenty lying around to work with.
