Extremely expensive add-on suspension for 3500

[CUMMINZ]

JB, that is fantastic. I like to be able to engineer and try things that use our original equipment and not cost us a bundle. Air suspensions, chunks of rubber bumber and extra leaf springs are fine. I have seen them all. Extra engineered full length leaf springs are the best but being able to use your stock springs is great.



Glad it worked for you.



CUMMINZ

 

[BDeMartile]

What a great idea but i'd never use stihl wedges. geez.

 

[CUMMINZ]

BD,



Would you use Homelite or another brand?:-laf

 

[Dbonzi]

Cumminz

what length wedges did you get?

Where did you get them.



Thanks

Dennis

 

[CUMMINZ]

I think they are 6 inches long. I would use 8 inch to replace them. I would also take a side grinder and buff off the sharp end a little bit to make the spring transition a little better. Stihl chainsaw company makes them.

 

[donnier]

When I saw them, I was wondering if they would work on a 2500 SRW as well.

Someone already answered this for me.

 

[hilda]

Great idea!!!

I just ordered my hi-tech wedges. I have a 1000 mile trip with the 38ft Cedar Creek, and have never had it on my current truck. When I had it on my 98 2500 it sagged a few inches, I’m expecting a little less with the 3500 DRW, and the wedges should take care of that. We live in this trailer and I have never moved it over 20 miles, and except for this trip, never plan to. I purchased bags for the 98 to help with the sagging and was the worst thing I could do. Empty the truck rode awful, pulling was great. These wedges are the perfect answer for me.



One question: I have round rubber pads on my bottom overload, is it going to hurt taking them off to install the wedges?

 

[EricBu12]

Ordered my wedges too. Going to may madness and hope to have these on by next week. Will be able to show them there when we get there

 

[Dbonzi]

Where are you guys ordering these from?

Dennis

 

[CUMMINZ]

wedges

Here are wedges from stihl.



Chain Saw Accessories, Wedges - STIHL Incorporated United States -- Products -- Chain Saws -- Manufacturing and Selling The World's Number One Chain Saw



#ad

 

[EricBu12]

got mine on Ebay

 

[hilda]

Thanks CUMMINZ

Just finished my 1000 mile trip with a very loaded 38ft 5th wheel, and the shims worked great. With the stock rear suspension it saged maybe 1. 5". The truck felt solid the entire trip. Pulled the trailer into our new park, cut the wire ties remove the shims, and I'm back to the stock setup.



Jim

 

[donnier]

Wonder how well they would work on a motorhome???

 

[Coalsmoke]

Some unsolicited thoughts

You might love this. The 3500 chassis cab has a completely different set of rear springs than my 3500 DRW pickup. I have included a photo of chassis cab rear spring that shows NO bottom overload. My 3500 has top and bottom overload. This ingenius idea was on drawing board for quite a while. I came up with the idea to purchase 4 expensive solid plastic wood splitting wedges (4 bucks a piece) I slid the wedge into the spring set above the bottom overload. Before placing the wedges I drilled 2 holes completely thru the wedges for 4 heavy duty zip straps. They had to be HD because of the HD 3500. Now with load applied the 3 main springs will contact the overload sooner. I plan to tow the 5er tomorrow for a week long trip and will give it a test. This setup will not break your budget. If I don't like the ride pull out the nippers and cut 8 zip straps and pull them out. Ingenius right? Go ahead and call me an idiot:-{} It also gave me an inch of lift.

The CC trucks are sprung for a constant weight duty cycle. With a pick-up style truck, if you are constantly on overloads chances are the main spring pack is taking too much weight and will bend / sag after a while. By using a consistent spring pack like what is on the CC, as you alluded to, full spring rate is engaged. Most CC trucks have bodies / equipment on them and as such are loaded and stay loaded for the life of the truck. The trade off of not having overloads is ride quality when empty and articulation. If the dually is a pavement hound then this is not really an issue. I ran into the same problems with my old work truck, converting a pick-up into a work horse. In the end I took it to a spring shop and had a second spring pack put in to keep the OEM ones from sagging any more than they already were.



I think you came up with a great occasional use or light to medium load idea here. My 2 concerns would be if somewhere down the road you lost the wedge(s) from one side and not the other. The second concern would be that if you're loaded most of the time then you'll probably see some eventual spring sag as the different leafs have different spring rates. But, springs are relatively cheap, so if after 100,000 miles you end up having a some new leafs made and installed it would only be about $400. That said, a person could have the bottom overloads re-done so they engage sooner for about $250, but then there can be issues with spring slap. Dodge has designed the OEM pick-up system quite well, with acceptable trade-offs, generally meant to be more of a pick-up to keep the grocery getters happy.

 

[Matt400]

I used your idea for a recent 1000 mile trip with the toyhauler in tow and the extra atv's on the bed rack. Workd very well it kept the rear from sagging to bad that use to cause the headlights to be in everyones eyes. Removed them for the next trip and could see no issues with the wedges at all. . Thanks for the awesome idea, it worked very well for me!



BTW I have a 2500 SRW.

What size wedge did you use?

I was looking at mine and it looks like a wedge would not fit in there as there is not much space in that area on a 2500 or if you did the overloads would be working unloaded.

 

[Soot4Life]

WARRANTY DENIED! Too bad those wedges ruined the air conditioner and muffler bearings! :-laf

 

[Matt400]

This thread needs bump...

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Thanks for the bump Matt, as I hadn't seen this one. This meets three things I have an abundance of 1) a 3500 DRW, 2) plenty of chainsaw wedges, and 3) no money = new mod coming soon

 

[nvken]

Harbor Freight has 8 inch wedges for $3. 99. Got mine, great mod.

Thanks.

 

[Matt400]

Anyone do this on a 2500?
It doesn't look like there is room for a wedge.