RSK and leaf question

[trackspeeder]

Who is PMF? Tried doing a google search......nothing came up for trucks

www.pmfsuspension.com

 

[alienturtle]

Burt. Ill take some pics of my front end and show u what measurements im worried about. When u cram a cummins in then twin turbo it the core support becomes busy with water to air intercoolers and intercooler piping. Ill get you the pics to show u what i mean

 

[burt]

Talk about busy, I just went to try to take a pic that would help and realized with all my crap you can't see anything of the frame detail. The cross bar does go lower than the frame rails though so it looks like it would clear your hitch. Here's one for what it's worth

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[burt]

Looking at the pic of your hitch setup I'm thinking if it doesn't clear it will only be on the inside. So just notch the inside and weld it to the hitch bar. May be I'm overlooking the obvious but I don't know how you will be able to get a wrench in there to bolt it on inside and out the way the kit is designed after you box in the frame. I cut the front of the frame horn off to work with my bumper plan and to be able to get a wrench in there. I left it long in front so that I could do sd springs later so if you can make out the flat bar sticking out the front it's the unfinished end of the frame rail.

 

[160k87F250]

PMF suspension. Nice website. Another option to try to figure out what to do to my truck. Thanks Burt and Trackspeeder.

John

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

well, if you are not moving your current hitch, i don't think you can use the superduty springs, reason being, since the SD springs are longer. If you put the RSK in the same spot as OEM at the front of the frame, you would have to move the rear hanger farther back, and that would not put the axle in the center of the springs. So if that theory is correct, it seems as though there is minimal gain in the ride of an RSK while using obs springs, therefor in my mind making the RSK a waste. With all that i honestly think you would be better off keeping the spring set-up you have now and taking that money you would spend on SD springs and RSK, and invest in some GOOD shocks, either Bilstien or Icon shocks. i have heard great things about bilstein(have them on my truck) and have heard even better things about Icon shocks.

the three RSk makers that i know of are....
PMF, SKY, ORU.

you CAN use all three of those with obs f-350 springs.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Why can't he use the SD springs? all he's gotta do is notch the inboard plates on the RSK of his choice to fit around his current hitch. The crossbar on most RSKs runs between the spring mounts and below frame rails, his hitch runs above spring mounts and between frame rails. I fail to see what the problem is, he will end up with two tubular crossmembers above one another and the lower one a few inches forward of the upper one, if anything that actually makes his frame stronger. And if the hitch makes boxing the frame rails impossible so be it, bolt just the outboard plates to the frame rails, and the inner ones either weld to the hitch that's there now, or modify so they bolt to it. It's hardly rocket science, just a bit of fa work is all it will take. Looking at his work so far, I doubt said fab work will present much of challenge to him

While we're on the RSK subject, any thoughts on moving the axle 1" forward? I've seen it mentioned before, what's the advantage to it?

 

[burt]

Ya, I think it will work too. There is enough frame to move the bracket out enough for sd springs. If you get the ones made for sd springs the bracket mounts in the stock location but the place the spring mounts juts forward to make it 3.5" forward as far as I can tell. Agreed on "hardly rocket science". You are going to have to be cutting and welding to do this on a brick nose regardless so just make it work. Tough country springs do ride like crap but if you want to go the just new shocks route ill ad kyb monomax as a prime one that's cheaper and about as good as bilstein.

 

[alienturtle]

Here are some pics of what i am also worried about. That support bar that is part of the kit hitting my intercooler piping. Could you get a measurement from the bottom of the frame to the top of that bar? i wonder if it will be low enough to clear my pipe.

Thanks for all the help so far guys. I havent decided on the sky kit or the PMF kit. I really like how the PMF kit brings the leaf hangers forward for the SD springs. Are the SD springs the only way to go as far as ride comfort? Or do i get the SKY kit and take a leaf or 2 out of my tough county pack i have now? Im not sure what to do yet. Also looking at the PMF kit im wondering if the cross bar is farther forward to clear my piping if the sky kit isnt low enough.

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[burt]

Well this isn't going to help you much. The cross bars are in different places on my two sky brackets. They are the same kit but on my brick with stock springs the top of the cross bar is 3 1/6" down from the center of the original shackle bolt and its just over 2" down on my obs with sd springs. From the main part of the bottom of the core support to the inside of the bar is 1 7/8" on brick and 4 1/2" on obs. The sd spring is 3.5" longer in front and close to the same in back and that difference is exactly how mine are installed. In other words the bars are different between the two brackets both up and down and front to back. The original shackle bolt hole to new spring bolt hole relationship is identical which is the only important part if you don't have special requirements like you. Both sky and pmf are small enough outfits that i bet they would accomodate your needs If either of those measurements are close to working. Even taking a leaf out you are going to be at least 6" of lift (probably a bit more) which is probably closer to 8" or so over a stock f250. Unless you are building a mud bogger that is more than you want. I did the sd truck first then the brick with stock springs. The brick is better than stock but disappointing compared to the sd sprung obs. I'll snap a pic of the brick with what I think are original stock springs so you can decide if you want to go 4" higher.

 

[burt]

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Both trucks on 35s with ford Oem springs

 

[alienturtle]

Thanks again burt. I do not want to go any higher than 4" total. That is why i wanted to see what it would take to get sd springs and the 3.5 rsk on it. Im running 35 12.50. Also. Ill do some measureing and see what i come up with. If the pmf kit brings that bar farther forward under my hitch then im good to go. By the way your pic attachments dont work for me

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Burt, AFAIK Sky redesigned their RSK at least once, is it possible that you got the older kit on one of your trucks and the newer one on the other truck? That would explain the different heights of the crossbar.

Alien, you can always get a hold of the PMF people and ask them for pictures of their kit installed (the ones I can see on their website do not really show how the crossbar sits with respect to the frame). Same goes for Sky actually, they were very quick to answer my questions so I'm sure they'll respond promptly to you as well.

 

[160k87F250]

You must be registered for see images attach

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Both trucks on 35s with ford Oem springs

Links dont work for me. I get this message...... Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Am I doing something wrong?

John

 

[burt]

Let me know if you can see that one and if so ill post the other two