reverse shackle front, what to do in the rear?

[burt]

Fwiw my brother in laws 05 dodge cummins has the rear shackles in the flipped position from ours stock. Not that I would ever try to copy dodge but it does tow better than my f350. Don't know if there is some other reason why it wouldn't tow as good on an idi with it like that. You can also run big lift springs and run a smaller or no block to level it out but the ride is likely not as good. Rsk on the front of a brick nose is kinda a ***** anyway so I would say don't mess with stock length, go straight to superduty springs

 

[6.9poweredscout]

Yeah I want yo go sd springs, rsk and something to pick the rear up. The sky flip kit and hd shackles look like they'll hold up good. One ton internationals had the shackles pointing down and they were cast along with the hangers and had greaseable bronze bushings instead of rubber.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Ok, what I meant by that is that it's a 2wd, JUST the 4x4 conversion will net about 3" correct? then i'll get the 2.5" SKY kit, following? haha. It's JUST a tow rig so i'd like to keep the shackles up, I hear a shackle flip can cause sway when loaded. I'd prefer NO blocks, assuming i'd need like 7" tall ones with the RSK....right? thanks for the input guys!

and

Trust me I want it to look stock 2wd but I can't with a 60 and everyone I talk to says the sky kit makes them ride awesome.

I gained about 5" increase in ride height in the front, went from 33" to 38" measured from the ground to the top of the fender wheel well arch. Front wasn't sagging with the 2wd suspension, with the D60 now it does sag 1" compared to what it would have been if 100% factory, courtesy of the big-block (not diesel) front leafs I run (should sit at 39" with diesel leafs). Pretty much she is slightly higher than a D44 F250, or about the same as a D50 F250. That's as low as you can reasonably go I'd say, IIRC there's about 3-4" of uptravel before she hits the (aftermarket, ENS) bump stops. Front leafs for a 300I6 or 351W truck may be softer still and bring you down an inch more, idk for sure as my donor wasn't one of those.

With that setup in the front I run just F250 rear blocks and an extra leaf or two in the main packs. Has about an inch of rake, not enough to notice but just enough to keep truck level when loaded to the gills. With the softer 460 leafs the front axle just glides over bumps, rear tho hits so hard it feels like the whole axle catches air and ****** the RABS off. So far my kidneys can deal with it, but a certain artificially-enhanced top-heavy someone never misses the chance to mention big truck air ride seats and/or ambulance air suspension Ah well, she can buy them things and I'll consider installing them

This summer I'm wanting to do F-Superduty front leafs (again of the 460 variety probably), for the rear that will require a Sky shackle flip but I'll be getting rid of the F250 blocks entirely. Shooting for 4" lift over my current setup or 3" over factory F350, this will be just enough to clear crossover steering and at the same time allow me to run my auto tire chains without fear of air chambers smacking fuel tank and muffler upon compression like they would now. Semi tempted to bastardize the F350 rear driveshaft with a Bronco CV (double-cardan) joint at the same time, then I won't have to worry about the U-joints running at silly angles.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

So that's on stock OBS F350 front springs? I'd rather do the RSK with the 99+SD springs and leave the rear stock springs shackle flipped, or lift rear springs.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Not OBS, brick springs, should be the same tho as I've seen factory brick and OBS side by side and I didn't notice much difference in ride height. I only needed the short blocks in the rear cause the rear already sat much higher than the front due to beefier springs, if I had factory springs still like you do then I'd have needed the 4" F350 blocks. So if you're doing 7" front lift (5" from the D60 + 2" from the RSK) then the 6.5" Sky shackle flip for the rear should be a good match.

One thing to remember when doing the 99+ springs is that there are several varieties - I do seem to recall that Excursion front leafs are softer than F-series and will thus ride lower, possibly developing some negative arch like OBS D50 leafs have but obviously without the stiff ride. So if you're trying to keep thing from going too high in altitude then maybe a pair of such softer springs would be suitable - then you could use the shorter rear shackle flip kit, 5" or whatever... I'd take a look at some other sites as well (PSN, PSA, etc.) and see what them people are running for front RSKs with 99+ leafs, then if their general ride height is too high for your liking drop the spring rate down for a lighter engine or an Excursion.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

Yeah that will probably work good. I just don't want to tow with a monster truck....

 

[LCAM-01XA]

I know what you mean, I've bumper-pulled with a lifted SRW truck and it was all around horrible experience. Add a big drop drawbar (not a whole hitch, just the drawbar) to the mess and throw in some cross winds and things get real interesting real quick. At least you're starting off with a swaybar-ed DRW, that alone can make a world of difference.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

Yeah the long wheel base, sway bars and 4 tires in the rear make towing nice, its like there's nothing behind it!

 

[6.9poweredscout]

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=FORD-FSRSDAL-004 this the front shackle reversal kit I need?

 

[junk]

On my 89 Crewcab in the front I used 99-2004 superduty springs, front mounts, rear mounts and shackles. I haven't driven it on the road yet so i can't comment on ride, but should ride nice. In the rear all I have is 4" blocks. My truck was originally 2wd srw and had 2" blocks in the rear. Sits level. I think I'm sitting about factory height for a F-350 4x4. I didn't want the extra height for towing, but am hard pressed to not have my 4x4. I did have to weld extensions on the front of my frame as the superduty springs are longer.

I've got a dana 60 to put in my f250, but also plow with the truck and don't want any additional height. I've heard dana 60's on D50 springs ride horrible, but I don't have any f-350 springs and not sure I want to try and put 99-2004 superduty springs in it. I'm also not up for a commercial rsk that would gain me 2.25-4". I may put superduty mounts in this truck also.

With that sky kit you linked you will need to box the front of your frame right? Also I know the PMF kit can do the 99-2004 springs with less than 4" of lift.

 

[burt]

I wouldn't do excursion springs. V code is what everyone says is best and is what I put on my truck that I put sd springs on. They ride nicely but I will eventually put the next stiffer ones on. I think v codes are rated heavier than excursion springs. For your project you will be modifying your front frame horns no matter what so it almost doesn't matter which rsk kit you get. The one with the boomerang shape will let you put the bar further back on the frame which might be nice tho.

 

[burt]

I've only used the sky kits but the one pmf sells looks good to

 

[hotshotidi]

u can do a shackle spring hanger flip in the rear

 

[6.9poweredscout]

I don't want the additional height, but it seems that's the only way to go for the rsk, I plan on the v code springs, and I'm probably going to shackle flip rear, unless I get a steal on rear lift springs. I'm just wondering if that's the correct kit to run the v codes. I didn't look at the other kit as I heard a lot of good things about the sky kit. I plan on boxing and modifying the front of the frame as necessary to install the kit. Just want to get it ordered so I can build my front bumper around it.

 

[burt]

For some reason your link just goes to the sky home page for me so idk which one you linked. The full v code conversion kit is a couple hundred bucks more and is a 4" lift. The stock spring one is a 3" and uses stock spring hanger in the rear. They had the stock spring rsk way before the sd kit so lots of people just bought it and used it for v codes with some slight modification. The only thing I can think of having to do is cut the front spring hanger a little to clear the spring. I went that route cuz it was cheaper and less lift. If you don't care about an extra inch and a couple hundred bucks the one that is made for sd springs is probably better because of the shorter frame horns on a brick that are unboxed. Otoh cutting a little slice out of the hanger is much less work than replacing the whole system at the rear of the spring. I'm not familiar with 2wd trucks so you may need that whole shackle hanger for the rear of the spring anyway. You will probably wish you had ordered an adjustable pan hard bar once you get to that part to. Either kit will get the same result in the end. I hope you do the shackle flip in the rear so we can get another opinion on it. I'd like to do that also if it doesn't make it wallow with out sway bars. Oh ya I don't run sway bars either