Redthies' '97 F350 Thread

[redthies]

More pics... Some of the old chevs and what was once a shop, and is now his home. I did all the conversion work on the shop. Wish I could restore a truck as easily as I can a house. The faded green 4x4 I brought up from Oregon for him last summer and is used hard hauling hay and fencing. The fancy green two wheeler in the shop was his dads since new.

[Jimmeh]

Love the truck, sir! And beautiful work on that house. I know what you mean about restoring a house. I only worked in construction for the better part of my short life (my dad was a contractor prior to becoming a truck driver, and once again I am following in his footsteps now that I too drive trucks ) and find that working with materials other than vehicles comes so much easier.

[redthies]

I am finally in the process of gathering all the bits up for my shackle reversal now. I have Energy Suspension poly bushings, Sky kit in the world of Fed-Ex(Po), and Bilstein 5100s a day away.
I now am trying to sort out the rear. 5100s are the only known part at this point. I was going to use Sky's shackle flip for the rear as well, but have read many reports of lost towing and hauling capacity. Since I haul a 2500lb camper, I can't have an "issue" of this nature. I probably only need 1-2" to match the front height, and already have Firestone airbags to help with the weight. Any thoughts? A 4" block? Extra leaf or two?

I also replaced the "multi-function switch" on the column. This controls turn signals, hi/low beam and wipers. Finally everything works. I ordered a shifter and OD switch from a NOS vendor on Ebay. $250 from Ford, $85 of Ebay, and my local Ford parts dept verified all the part numbers for me. Might even be able to turn OD off on long downhills soon!

[redthies]

I found some 4" factory blocks with bump stops at my buddies off-road shop, so he is going to send me those and some new u-bolts. Hopefully the extra 1" in the rear, and the 3" or so from the shackle reversal work ok together. I would still like a bit of rake, but the real issue is not having the camper too high.

[DoMiNiC1]

That house is AWESOME!!!!

[redthies]

It has arrived! I got a Fed-Ex package today from Shiryas with the Sky kit in it I ordered 5100s as well today. The Bilstein distributor is only an hour away, so they should be here by weeks end. I have bushings in the shed, and for the rear I decided to just go with replacing the stock 3" blocks with some 4" superduty factory blocks. This will let me keep the stock springs and my air bags. I sit 4"s lower in the front vs the back right now, so the end result should be 2"s taller in the rear.

For some reason the wife said to me tonight "why don't you just order some new tires for it now?". You don't have to tell me twice. I found Toyo MTs locally for $20 more than the Hankooks, but they will mount and balance for free, which makes them the same price. I also found a killer deal on a rebuild kit for the 8274 winch I just got for free.

It all seems to be coming together... Kinda makes me nervous when it seems too easy!

[Redline]

I know everyone is against 'blocks', however they are used by many OEMs and if they are not too tall seems like an okay way to get 'a little' added height and not loose spring rate/capacity. I like a little rake too, my 'not lifted' F350 with heavy front bumper doesn't have a problem with rake.

Very interested to hear how your front shackle mods go.

[redthies]

I will take some pics during the install this time. My 4" blocks showed up today, and I learned something, (I try to learn at least one thing each day). Today's lesson? 97 F350s COME with 4" blocks... Stay tuned for plan C!

[Redline]

I will take some pics during the install this time. My 4" blocks showed up today, and I learned something, (I try to learn at least one thing each day). Today's lesson? 97 F350s COME with 4" blocks... Stay tuned for plan C!

Darn. But you are helping jog my old memory... I think Pre-99 F250s came with shorter, 3-inch (or so) blocks, as they were a bit lower overall. No that that helps you at all.

Waiting to hear about "C".

[Shiryas]

Redthies,

I'll be a huckleberry, I always thought the blocks on our trucks were 3" also. The tape measure says otherwise, 4 1/4".

I know you are trying to keep this on a budget, but you also do not want to do it twice or be unhappy with it. My suggestion would be to call Cary Towery. He runs a small independent shop called CT Performance and knows just about everything with regards to the OBS trucks and all the different swaps that will work on them. A lot of RSK's with Sky, he works real close with them so he will know. His website only has a couple of pictures but he posts on some of the popular diesel forums frequently. I have tied up a fair bit of the mans time just in advice, he has always been courteous. Prices are reasonable too, he prefers checks to keep the cc fee's down and usually quotes with shipping. (I have no association with him, just good experience)

http://www.ctperformanceinc.com/index.html

My gut instinct is to go with a newer set of SD springs. The only thing you will need to do is drill out the shackle and front perch for a slightly larger bolt, Ford's OEM metric ones are expensive, most guys end up going with a grade 8. If you really want to bling them out, you could get a local machine shop to drill them for zerc fittings. Here is a link to some basic SD spring part numbers.

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/99-...ml#post2182522

A lot of guys like "B" codes for the rear, but . . . they do not have a camper like you will.

I hate hiccups, but thats part of a project. I am also having some right now with my parts accumulation.

Cheers, Chris