so i wanted to get yalls opinions on some things.

truck is an 03 (mods in sig)

right now it is sitting on a 6" kit spinning 37s and im starting to get tired of the terrible ride and crappy fuel econ (14-16 sometimes down to 12 at higher freeway speeds) and am thinking about changing things up a little. I do go off road about 3-5 times a month so i dont want to go back to stock with the truck.

right now the truck has traction bars on the rear end so what i was thinking about doing was using those as a 4-link and building a 4link for the front end and air riding the truck. on that note here are my questions.

1 what size lift would i need to clear 35s with no rub (maybe a little at full turn if i run wider tires)

2 spinning 35s would i see any change in fuel economy (i.e. over the long term would it be worth all the money i would end up spinning)

3 i know if i did air ride front and rear the ride quality would be WAY better but would i see any loss in ability to tow (i dont know how high load ratings go on taller bags that would fit my application)

3a would stability be an issue when towing (not talking massive loads mostly 3-5k lb on a bumper pull)

thanks

jeremy

 

air bags would actually improve your towing abilities, as for height you will just have to build higher brackets. would you still keep the springs or run bags all the way around? if you do bags, you could do 2 or 4 bags on the rear end and then do a 5 link. check out kelderman air ride. they have air lif kits and you could probably get some ideas off there.

 

kelderman is what really gave me the idea for it.

i would be ditching the leaf springs all the way around and running bags in all 4 corners (alrdy want a belt driven compressor and a 20 gallon tank so i can work out of my truck so this will be the push to make me get it.)

now i know im gunna sound like an idiot but ive never heard or or seen a 5 link. assuming its a standard 4 link with an extra point of attachment.

also dont the 6.0s have traction bars running to the front since they r coil springs. would it be possible to get the traction bar for the front of a 6.0 and mount it to my 7.3 to get the up front 4 link that im looking for without having to do a ton of fab work

 

a 5 link; 4 bars going forward to hold the axle front to back, then the 5th to keep the axle centered side to side. for the compressor, look at international trucks with the T444E so you can see how the compressor is mounted. i think the frames area little different on the 05's. if you're going thru all this work to do full air ride then why skimp on the trailing arms? there will be fab ork anyways... make sure you keep the sway bars on too.

 

was actually about to ask a question about the sway bars. was wondering if i could run limiting straps in all 4 corners and use them as a way to keep the body from rolling. thinking if this is possible it would be really helpful bc i could easily take the limiting straps off the front and rear to get full play in the suspension where as to do sway bars i would have to slide under the truck to remove them.

 

Might be a dumb question, but what sort of cost are you looking at for redoing the suspension and how does that compared to the projected fuel savings? Would you gain enough mpg and travel enough miles to recoop the costs associated with this change?

Or is the main driver ride comfort?

 

in truth its for 3 major reasons. well kinda 4.

1- fuel economy. i drive on avgerage 30-50k miles a year so getting 14-16 v getting 16+ the majority of the time would make a large difference.
2-fuel economy 2.0. lets face it for the most part its all a mental game. i have an a gps that i keep on the "trip" monitor that tells me miles driven and seeing how far i drive between fill ups doesnt make me happy so even if i gain say 1 mpg thats 30 miles over a tank 2-4 tanks a week and thats 60-120 miles extra. simply put it just makes me feel better even though there is little to no change
3 ride quality is a huge factor. i used to live in houston where the roads where a little nicer and ride quality wasnt a huge factor. now that im in huntsville (particularly out in the county) roads are terrible and ride quality is becoming an issue.
4 just like everyone theres a little piece of me that does mods to my truck just because i think it would be cool

 

^ i agree with all of that. as much as you drive i would want a smooth ride regardless of the road condition. you could do limiting straps as well, but say you make a right turn, the body will naturally roll to the left. so the right side will only pick up so much but the left side will still continue to drop. so think about that. i have seen quick disconnect sway bars for jeeps so maybe you could get some ideas off that. i would love to bag the rear on my 99 and maybe even the front. eventually i will but it would be more for towing.

 

ya. i see what your saying. didnt really think of that. ive looked around for someone that makes quick disconnect swaybars for out truck and i only found ones that work for jeeps. so it might be something that i would have to make or have made.

right now im still debating on what exactly i wanna do. thinking the first step will be to do the rear end since its much easier and use that to gauge what exactly it will take to do the front.

the big issue im having now is what compressor to run. trans does NOT have a pto but i could swap the housing and that would give me a ton of air. or i could go with the engine driven compressor and that would supply me with more than enough air. or i could run 2 viairs (probly the 480s) and that with a 20 gallon tank would give me a lot of air.

the big problem that i see is if a compressor from the first two options failed im sitting on the air in the tank and lets face it over the sound of the engine and tires at freeway speed i wont be able to hear the compressor or if i did hear it i would assume the tank is full and thats y its off. however if i run the viair compressors i know that i have a back up if something happens to one.

if and when i end up getting it done ill be sure to let you know and get you some pics and tips incase you do decide to do it. lord knows im going to run into some issue somewhere along the line

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think i may have just found an easy way to do the front. fabtech makes a coil over conversion for our trucks. going to call them tomorrow and see if they will be willing to break the kit apart and sell me just the 4link bars and mounts. if so then that would cover the really tough stuff

 

why not coilovers? buddy of mine sells a kit you might be interested in. this is it on his truck



just kidding .

on another note, i would certainly run limit straps and sway bars. unless you do coilovers!!