I sold my ford f-350 dually and thought I would be fine going with a srw when I bought my 95' dodge, turns out the difference is bigger than I thought. I love my dodge and dont want to sell it, its twice the truck my old stroker ever was until I hook it to a trailer or put a load on the bed then it drives like a boat down the road and makes me miss the drw ford. Dont get me wrong the cummins out pulls the powerstroke anyday of the week but the srw just isnt really satisfying me. It really squats down when I put a load of wood on it or haul feed, it has a set of air bags on it and they help but it still sags, I have 10 ply tires and they dont move a bit but the truck just seems to squat to the ground even with just 1500lbs of feed on the bed. I kinda toyed around with the idea of turning it into a drw, so heres my questions

Is it worth it to convert it?

What is the difference between a 2500 and 3500 other than the drw?

Are there heavier springs I can put on it? if so I want em

What do I need to do this?

How much $$$$$$ will it cost me?

I am not looking for a class 8 truck here I just want my dodge to handle the weight similar to how my old fords did. I used to have an f250 before my last f350 and it didnt squat near as bad as the dodge does, did dodge have weaker springs or something? If I do swap it I thought about maybe putting a set of 3rd gen factory wheels on it, would they fit? Sorry this is so long but I love my truck and dont want to sell it, if at all possible I'd rather put money into making it exactly what I need, I figure thats cheaper than buying a different truck. Thanks in advance guys

 

I'm with you.


I just ordered a set of 5000# air bags, going to try that first.

You can put 3500 rear springs but to do it right, you would have to swap your rear end with a 3500 rear end. This way you can have duals.

I guess if your tires can handle it, I would go to a salvage yard and buy the 3500 rear springs. Have them cut the rivets at the chassis so you have hangers and all, cut your rivets out and bolt the 3500 hangers to your chassis with grade 8 bolts. This way your not messing with the shackle bolts.

 

you could use helper springs or airbag helper springs. i would lean towards the airbags. i have helper springs on my truck and i could do without the ride.
http://www.arrowcraft.com/arrowcraft...ageid=products
there is a conversion place. but if your tires are holding up, i don't see a need. as i understand it, the only real need for a dually is more contact patch with more sidewall for tires. so if your tires aren't doing anything, then why?
orrr, sell your truck and buy a dually. by the time you get wheels, tires conversion parts, etc...money spent could have made up the difference and then some.

difference between your 2500 and 3500 is the DRW, rear axle width (both are dana 80s, 2500 autos came with dana 70s.), and suspension.

maybe your springs are old, or a previous owner pulled a couple out for ride quality...dunno. your are the first i have ever seen who had squat problems...

good luck.

 

Strokerace I do not want to jack you thread but Timmy22 can you let me known where you are getting your air bags from.

 

I have airbags on it already, dont know if they are the 5k# or not, they were on it when I bought it, and they help but it still squats like a 1/2 ton would. I have a 6 inch drop hitch in my reciever and it will drag the ground when I pull out of my driveway with a load of wood in the bed, i'll post up a pic of it so you all see what i mean, I just dont think it should be like this. How many springs should it have?, the previous owner might have took a couple out. I saw a wrecked 99 3500 frame, axles, 6 steel wheels and bald tires for $1200, I thought about buying it and swapping the axles and springs then trying to sell it again. Even if I sold it for $750, I would be getting the axles and wheels and springs which is exactly what I need minus the tires, then I could sell my american eagle alloys and put my 4 tires on the rear and buy two steer tires and not be out that much other than the time to do the swap. I would rather put a little into this truck than sell it and get another one. Would all my bolts line up? does anyone know how big of a job this would be? Thanks

 

I ordered them from napa. Firestones.

 

does the truck have a lift? is so they may have switched out the springs, reason for them getting the air bags to make up for losing the factory wieght capacity.

 

How many PSI are you running in the airbags?

Jack them up to 90 PSI

Don't tell me you did'nt know there was an air valve on them!

 

Whats this air valve you are talking about? The bags were on there when I bought it and have two valve stems that stick out right by the license plate to fill them, I never really checked the pressure, I just put the hose to em and filled them up till they looked stretched. I"ve never messed with airbags on a truck this size before so I dont know to much about them.

The truck has no lift on it but does have 10 ply e rated 265/75/16's on it with american eagle alloy wheels

Also it has a flatbed on it so if I swapped axles I wouldnt have to change anything about the bed

I might be hauling some feed tommorow and i'll post up a pic of it

 

Check that valve with a tire pressure gauge. You may not have enough air in there.

 

I have a 95 2500 and don't have any problems with my fifth wheel attached. It will set it down some but nothing I would call unreasonable. I'm completely satisfied with the way sets and handles.

 

I'll put 90psi in there tommorow and see if that helps any.

 

I want to say that the springs from the 2500 are the same as a 3500. Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong.
The biggest advantage to a 3500 is the 2 extra tires you get.
You need to check your springs to see if they are all there. I just put 72-60 pound bags of concrete and 15-50 pound bags of peat grvel in the back of my 2500 and it squatted but it didnt even come close to the bump stops. Thats what just a hair over 5000 pounds. Drove it to my brothers house about 30 miles and it drove fine.

 

How many springs should be there?, something is definetly not right. It sways around real bad and drives like a boat when loaded. I pull a 20ft gooseneck stock trailer and whenever I hook it up even with the trailer empty it squats it down 4 or 5 inches!!!!! My old ford didnt budge a bit. Its almost like it has 1/2 ton springs or something? Could the springs possibly be wore out? is there such a thing? I wouldnt even try to put 72 bags of concrete on it like you did on yours, I am afraid it would drag the ground

 

You're right, it shouldn't be like this. The only time my 2wd has squatted this much was when a Home Depot fork-truck operator accidentially placed a pallet of Sakrette bags onto it--that was 6000 lbs!!! We had asked for a half-pallet and he misunderstood. Fortuantely we got there right as he was dropping the load onto the truck. Scared me a bit!

I would have to think that if you are dropping this much, you have a fatigue problem with your springs. If the steel has softend this much, you may have to replace them no matter what - even with your airbags. I would wonder if the truck was overloaded on a semi-frequent basis with it's previous owner.

Also - I think what you're noticing overall is the lack of the dual wheels. They alone add lots of stability with a good size trailer. I wonder if swapping out all the componets would really be cost effective compared to just finding a 3500 to purchase. It's odd, but in recent nationwide autotrader searches, I've often found that duallies are cheaper than 2500's in many cases. Maybe as they've just lived a little tougher life?