Suspension advice for F250 6.7

[CoreyTrevor]

Another thing that's not really obvious that can make a huge difference in ride quality offroad is being able to disconnect swaybars. It makes a big difference in my 3rd gen 4runner in reducing the side-to-side neck-snapping flop when crossing a diagonal rut or driving in rocks, where tires are hitting rocks at different times.

It also lets the tires follow the terrain, rather than being prevented from articulating by the swaybar, and can get the truck through situations it won't make it through with the bar hooked up. It doesn't really help much on graded dirt roads, and can cost some stability at higher speeds.

My 3/4 ton Dodge has a huge front swaybar and it's brutal in rocks and uneven terrain. I haven't figured a disconnect for it yet, but it's obvious how much it will help.

 

[SuperDutyFWC]

Most "camper" packages add a sway bar, at least to the rear. Almost all vehicles have some sort of sway bar in the front. I'm actually considering removing the rear sway bar. The camper isn't very heavy.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

With the low COG of the FWC, I bet you wouldn't miss the rear bar at all. I removed the rear from my 4runner and couldn't really tell the difference when cornering hard.

My Dodge has only the front bar, and as stiff as it is I'm sure it will be fine with the camper without adding a rear bar.

 

[Vic Harder]

I'd be careful about disconnecting the sway bars permanently. Your on pavement handling will definitely be affected.

 

[CougarCouple]

I’d like to share my experience here. Our f250 6.2 gas is the extended cab 8 foot bed, it is the Lariat model and has a tow package. Our truck loaded is 9300 lbs. (gvwr is 10,000) we used it like that for a year and only when towing did the sagging become and issue. Mainly with the headlamps blinding oncoming traffic.
I installed the Helwig air bags. Usually run about 30psi.
What I noticed was the ride was nicer, handling was improved. We never had a rear sway bar on the truck. When I do tow I can level everything out, eliminating the headlamp issues. Maybe run around 40 psi depending on the load with the trailer.
I think the air suspension compliments the factory suspension. When you start lifting and changing wheels and tires, which will enhance off road travel. Pavement traveling is going to suffer hard to have it all.
I’d be willing to bet that manufacturers find a compromise to give people a ride they can tolerate and still be able to carry the load.
We have been happy with the air suspension and I do take the camper off at times so I like being able to lower the psi to 5.

Russ

 

[ntsqd]

I too would be very careful about permanently disconnecting an OEM sway-bar. With a heavy load in the bed I would welcome a rear bar, like with our Chucara XL.

Most of the serious rock crawlers actually have sway-bars. They are a low roll spring rate, but they are there and are typically a version of Currie's "Anti-Rock". The point of them is to resist the side to side flop or 'rock', not increase cornering traction.

 

[bwag]

I’ll be leaving the sway bar in place. No doubt a compromise cougarcouple. Im putting in a quality 2.5” suspension lift but going from an 18” wheel /33” tire to a 20” wheel / 35” tire. Not too big of a change but I’ll suffer a little I’m sure. Good to hear your report of air bags.

 

[CougarCouple]

Evening all
Not advocating the removal of any sway bar, or any OEM part for that matter,( except for maybe the running boards) my wife is barely five foot and ain’t getting no how without some sort of assistance. She did the Jeep thing with me and I fabed up a stirrup for her.

Sorry I digress, I was just sharing our rig and trying to provide my perspective on how it is to drive.
Factory front sway bar, rear never had rear one. Been on some rocky roads in Colorado ( the one to Animas forks from Silverton ) and was surprised at how well the truck did.

I don’t do enough hard trails to warrant a lift and bigger tires and all that goes along with that stuff. Not against them just not for me.

Hope this helps.

Russ

 

[bwag]

Evening all
Not advocating the removal of any sway bar, or any OEM part for that matter,( except for maybe the running boards) my wife is barely five foot and ain’t getting no how without some sort of assistance. She did the Jeep thing with me and I fabed up a stirrup for her.
Sorry I digress, I was just sharing our rig and trying to provide my perspective on how it is to drive.
Factory front sway bar, rear never had rear one. Been on some rocky roads in Colorado ( the one to Animas forks from Silverton ) and was surprised at how well the truck did.
I don’t do enough hard trails to warrant a lift and bigger tires and all that goes along with that stuff. Not against them just not for me.
Hope this helps.
Russ

I took it just how you wrote it, I got the camper package so I guess it has a rear “stabilizer bar” along with a few other things. I don’t have much room to shame anyone on what they do to thier truck or how far they push it. I’d hate to see the numbers when my Tacoma was loaded with the camper and towing my jet sled....

 

[ntsqd]

Be careful of too short of a sidewall off-road. Makes for sharper handling on-road, but that they're stiff means that they don't work as well off-road. We're currently running 315R17's on our CTD/Chucara XL and previously we ran 315R16's. When those tires wore out I changed the wheels to get a better offset only, was not specifically looking for a larger wheel diameter.

 

[SuperDutyFWC]

Yep, if you want a firmer, or maybe more planted, ride, a larger wheel can help. If you want a slightly more plush ride, especially off road, a smaller wheel will help. When I say this I really mean taller sidewall, so same overall diameter tire (35"/17" vs 35"/20"), with a variety of wheel heights. Changes the air'd down characteristics too. The 20" wheels look nice, and will provide a firmer ride with less sidewall. I prefer my 17" wheels, most of the time, especially off road. I'll probably go against the grain here too, but I prefer a narrower tire too, so a 35" x 11.5" would be a perfect tire for me, but they aren't made in the pattern I want.

For a truck that does mostly highway miles, I'd put in air bags and taller wheels, if I was changing wheels at all. I think you'll find that combo works really well. For a truck that sees more gravel, rocks, washboard, I'd put in springs and smaller wheels/taller tires for more flex, combined with good quality shocks.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

Another important thing to me about bigger wheels/shorter sidewall is that shorter sidewalls put the rims closer to the rocks, where I find myself a lot of the time.

I would actually prefer that my 06 Dodge had 16" rims with 32s like my 4runner, rather than the 17s and 32s it has stock. Not going to happen though, with the big brakes it has.

 

[SuperDutyFWC]

Yeah, as brakes get bigger, you have to put a bigger wheel on it. I found the same thing for my truck. Then again, as the tire gets taller, I want a little more wheel so it has some more lateral stability. I'd like 37" tires and a 17" or 18" wheel, but I can't find the narrower width I want in the tire I want. I guess if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

I would like taller tires for a few reasons, but the truck is plenty tall now, as far as climbing into the cab. If it was taller my wife wouldn't be able to go with me anymore.

I'm also going for good MPG, and big tires go the opposite direction. I may go up to 33s but stay the same width, to get the highway RPM down a bit. The 5.9 Cummins with the 6-speed in these years have a really low OD ratio.

 

[smlobx]

My 2016 F-350 came with 20” wheels and 34” tires stock. It also didn’t have any step bars which was a problem for my wife as well.

When the original tires wore out I upgraded to 295/65 R20 Toyo AT2’s which are 35” tires. I also have air bags in the rear and inflate them back to the near normal height (that is that the helper spring is about an inch for engaging).
‘I also installed AMP research folding steps that work great. They are not rock guards but I don’t do any serious rock crawling with a rig this big...

‘Anyway, there’s plenty of clearance for my needs. Here’s a picture of my truck with the step deployed.

 

[WASURF63]

For reference...
2019 F250 CC 4WD 6.2 gas, no lift, LT285/75/18 Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT tires, 0 offset wheels, and Fox/BDS 2.0 shocks.
2020 FWC Hawk Front Dinette fully optioned, full water and fuel tanks, and approx 500 lbs gear/food.

Door sticker listed payload: 3380
Truck squatted approx 1.5" in the rear with total added camper weight, and is still slightly higher in the rear.
No tire rubbing whatsoever, even at full lock. Recent 4500 mile trip incl hwy and off-hwy miles. Excellent handling with no noticeable sway on hwy and very minimal off hwy sway on trails. Have done numerous different suspensions / lifts on full size trucks, vans, and Toyota trucks and SUV's. I decided to keep this one 99% stock as to not change the vehicle's geometry too much. Very impressed with it's overall performance in mostly stock form.....BTW been over on ExPo for years, but not very recently active on that site or this one for quite some time, so, Hello Again!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Welcome back! Nice truck and camper!

 

[WASURF63]

Thanks!

 

[bwag]

Picked up the camper last Thursday, headed to the coast for the weekend.

Prior to install I got the Carli commuter lift and told the installer to leave the rear springs alone. I had Firestone airbags installed as well.

When I picked up my camper, I noticed a slight dip in the rear suspension so I had a little air added and it was level. As far as the ride, to me it’s great, feels great suspension soaks up the road bumps but isn’t too soft, handles great and power wise it’s barely any different. Camper came in at 1470lbs without propane tanks or 26 gallons of water on board.

Compared to my previous experience with my Tacoma and swift camper, fox suspension and Firestone airbags it’s night and day.