[andypick]

Truck: 2014 F350 quad cab short box with stock "snowplow" springs.
Suspension updates: Rough Country 1.5" taller front springs, Bilstein 5100 shocks all around.

Impressions: Much better over stock ride in terms of comfort, plushness, 4x4 - dirt road potholes. Still pulls my 16k 5th wheel great.

I know many folks are looking for the right balance of HD capability and plushness in their F350s. I'm sending this out because so far I'm having great luck with this package. My old 7.3 wasn't cutting it trying to pull the 16k trailer even after putting tons of $$ into it so I needed something stronger. As a daily driver I was racing around in a Raptor and got spoiled by the awesome plush suspension. I decided to trade both in for a new F350 diesel, but quickly learned that off-road it was a tractor. Since I have some garage height issues, I didn't want to lift much and generally keep close to factory geo. I looked at many of the various options and choose slightly taller and softer springs along with better shocks. I got a good deal on all parts from SD Truck Springs and had a local shop install them for cheaps.

Highway driving is still awesome and I now can rip dirt roads with bouncing off of them.

I run full air towing 65/80, 65/65 for daily, and 50/50 off-road.

Hopefully this helps someone.

 

[IdahoF350]

The only thing you don't address is if you need the capacity of the snow plow rated springs up front for a plow or heavy accessory. If you don't, then what you've done is fine. If you do, you'll want to check with Rough Country about the load capacity of those springs.

I'll be upping the spring rates on my 7.3 taking the truck from 9,900GVW to 11,200GVW as I change axles, brakes, steering and all to the later '05+ Suspension. My '05 handled and rode fine for an F-350. If I wanted a plush car like ride I'd drive a Chevy or GMC. Pretty much any shock change will improve your F-350. Another area is tires, getting rid of the LT Metric size and going to a floatation size was like day and night on my '05. Once I'm do e with this 7.3, it will ride as good or slightly better than a '14 F-350, I'll just have to work for it a bit.

 

[andypick]

Good point, I should have mentioned I didn't need the heavy load capacity on the front end. I'm debating a winch setup, but updated springs should handle that find. As for tires and rims I went with a slightly greater offset from inside the axle and tossed on Toyo AT 2s. I kept the size the same, but will likely bump up to 35/12.5/20s next go around. They are inch taller, but much wider and I didn't want to deal with rub. New rims and slight lift should be able to handle them fine, but I haven't tried yet.

Had my first long 5th wheel trip with the 16k lb monster and the truck did amazing. I "could" easily pass cars and hit 80mph whenever I needed. Tracking was great.

Even with full banks kit, my 7.3 couldn't pull faster than 65 on flat I-5 with same trailer.