Need some advise on suspension and cooling things down

[3Kp]

I bought a slide in camper for my truck over the weekend. Drove it roughly 75 miles with it on the truck. Truck doesn't squat much but can tell it's on the back of the truck. When we went over bumps or dips in the road I felt like I was in a car with hydraulics. I was thinking of putting air bags on the rear any suggestions of brands or types? I was looking at http://www.suspensionconnection.com/2071-ford-350.html

I don't have a pyrometer yet but plan on getting one. I noticed the dummy gauge was getting close to hugging the H. Which brings me to what can I do to keep things cooler. I was thinking of getting these gauges Pyrometer, transmission temp, and Boost (which will go to an imaginary turbo lol)

Any advise would be great.

Plan on getting different mirrors, original ones are slightly to small and do not like the extendable ones.

Thanks for your advise

Michael

 

[subway]

Pyro is a great gage to have along with the others but the biggest one you need first is a real temp gage. It is hard to quantify H with a engine temp # .

I am not sure how your shocks are but a decent set should help a lot with the bouncing.

Glad you got the new toy home safe!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[3Kp]

Of course my Father in law asked it I was going to sleep in it the first night I got it. Umm No!
I cleaned it out extra stuff the lady gave me with the camper. so I can walk in it. I would like to clean it up more but rain since Saturday and plans not to quit anytime soon . I was trying to figure out how to get the table apart to turn it into a bed since the lady that owned it had no clue lol. Think I got it figures out finally.

 

[Koch13351]

I've had luck with the adjustable shocks when it comes to having a huge load one day and an empty bed the next. You can change the dampening from soft to firm, and several positions in between. The Rancho 9000 is a good example of one. Also, some shocks are self adjusting, but from my experience, they'll go rock ******* a dirt road.

 

[ironworker40]

Air bags you will like but buy the compressor and gauge kit so you can adjust anytime easily from the drivers seat, its well worth the money. You can also get a two gauge setup so you can take out any lean to on side ore the other. Also make sure you have good ten ply rated tires. Those cheaper tires will flex more. Dually's are the best but may not be if you plan on going off road.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

IMHO gauges are kinda worthless, knowing the pressure really doesn't do much for the function of the system - you push the button and hold it till the height is where you want it anyways, the pressure ends where it wants to be. Nice to have for sure if, but not really needed. Pressure would be load-dependant anyways, I suppose one could write themselves a cheat sheet with different pressures for different things they regularly haul, but I prefer the tape measure method at the wheel well

A note on air suspension in general - the larger the air bellows the nice it rides, and typically the less air pressure it needs to produce a certain amount of lift force. High pressure is the enemy, it makes things ride rough and is hell on the shocks as well. The frame-outboard kits like the one linked to use 6" bellows, about as large as you could fit in the space between the frame and the tire. If you go inboard mount you could run larger bellows and they do make a huge difference, however the setup would be more "tippy" with a high-COG load like a camper. Big swaybar would help with that, or you can roll a dually axle under the truck and put your single wheels on it and that will give you like 3" more space between the tires and the frame which would allow you to run 8" 5k-each bellows that will just laugh at that camper or anything else you decide to put in the bed and still make everything ride nice Also keep in mind when someone says 5k load rating on the bellows you gotta ask at what pressure, more often than not that would be the max pressure the bellow is designed for (usually 400-500psi) and for the regular user that is practically unattainable as most compressors shut off at 150psi.

 

[3Kp]

Sometimes I just want to punch or kick this truck! lol I'm definitely at a frustration phase at the moment.

Was driving it over the weekend running some earns When I was going with the wind truck did fine but going head on with the wind with the camper on it still. I couldn't stay over 60 MPH on the interstate unless I turned off the OD which caused the temps to go up according to the dummy gauge. it was 25-30 degrees that day but felt like 13 degrees outside.

Last night was running some earns with out the camper on the truck 32 degrees outside and my truck got warm but never got comfortable in the cab. My sons truck 84 F 250 6.9 Idi gets warm inside even with all the holes in the floor?

I'm thinking of putting in a new radiator not sure if I should get a 3 or 4 row. looks like the 4 row keeps it roughly 20 degrees cooler from articles I have read. I was looking at Champion, they offer a shroud with (2) 16" electric fans would this be better than using the factory clutch fan? Probably also going to change out my T-stat heating seems to be a issue ever winter I have owned this truck so far.

Any other suggestions?

 

[TahoeTom]

Start with a Motorcraft thermostat. You may have a cheap parts store thermostat or a failed one. A real temp gauge would be a plus, and pretty easy to install.

 

[crash-harris]

My thoughts exactly. Just picked one up from ebay, genuine motorcraft and comes with the gasket. All motorcraft/IH t-stats are 190*. You may need a good flush as well.

 

[riotwarrior]

Real tempurature guage
Motorcraft or IH thermostat
Motorcraft clutch for fan
4 core Rad...Champion...Rodney Red...yer choice.

In that order.

BTW...truck looks cool...needs a real front bumper though

JM7.3CW

 

[catbird7]

AHHH, "she's a brick---house", she's mighty mighty just lettin it all hang out,,,,,,(well you know the rest)!
I've logged many miles hauling a large slide in camper on my brick. It has F350 suspension with add on air bags. I put 50psi in the bags and 50 psi in the rear tires. Also, my front camper mounting assembly attaches to the frame vs just the bed. It forces / re-locates the load to the truck frame instead of the bolts holding the bed down. Big difference in ride quality and handling. Standard braking system is the biggest problem however that's another conversation....

Regarding cooling, I have a Champion 4-core aluminum and she pulls mountains with no coolant temp problems however I do have to back out of the throttle due to increase exhaust temp. Trans temp and a larger trans cooler would be good things to have if you're running an auto.

 

[3Kp]

BTW...truck looks cool...needs a real front bumper though

JM7.3CW

I need a few bumpers the rear one is missing as well. I plan to attempt to make some this spring. I plan on making the front one with a 2" receiver .

 

[3Kp]

SO electric fans must not be a good idea since no mention them lol

 

[IDIoit]

I need a few bumpers the rear one is missing as well. I plan to attempt to make some this spring. I plan on making the front one with a 2" receiver .

go overkill on the bumper brackets. will double as recovery points.
im in the middle of building one right now.
hidden winch, 2" receiver, chain storage, and maybe some other stuff

 

[crash-harris]

Do a search on electric fans. It seems like the best upgrade is an electronic fan clutch, but that's pricey. Not sure if anyone has used the Champion electric fan setup with any success, or at all here. I'm curious myself how 2 Taurus fans do with hauling, or one Taurus fan and a JDM fan. A 3G alternator would be a necessity. With Taurus fans, I'd rather have a powermaster 300 amp. Did one Taurus fan on my gasser with a 130 amp 3G and on high it still put quite a load on it. Was also overkill for the inline six gasser.