ADS life adjustment help.

1.5" higher in the rear is perfectly normal even on a stock truck. My F350 is about 2.5" higher in the rear, but level when I have the 4800# slide in camper in the bed. This makes it ride perfectly with the added load. If it were to make the rear squat past level, then the front would be seeing some unloaded weight issues and could negatively affect handling. So, if your truck will never see any additional weight applied over the rear axle, then getting the rake completely level isn't a far fetched idea, not my cup of tea, but understandable for the guys that prefer that look.

If this is your plan and decide to make your rake solid flat level, don't crank the front up to the point where it is gaining negative notes on CV wear and tear, and overall handling. Instead dial in the rear leaf pack to get the rake you are looking for, and to maintain optimal handling/suspension function.

 

Yay. Something new. Lol I kid. How do I dial in the leafs? I thought it was a “it is what it is” type of thing.

 

If you're running the Dakar HDs you could remove one of the overload springs, I'm not sure which that is off the top of my head but you'd essentially be converting it from the HD pack to the MD pack by removing that single leaf.

 

It is and it isn't. There really isn't any downward adjustment available with the leaf springs themselves. Tuning height is done with adding additional leafs, or changing out all or individual leafs to get the ride/ride height you are after. Again, usually there is more options for raising the rear than lowering it.

One way to have better control of actually lowering the rear end to better match the front level, is to do a "spring under axle" conversion. You'll have to consult one of the leaf spring conversion companies to talk through your options to get it dialed in, but you can also greatly increase your rear wheel travel due to having longer leaf springs. This would actually do a couple things for you in the desert. One, obviously the additional travel, but can also soften the ride back there.

Keep in mind though, you may have to go with longer rear shocks than the mid travel ADS to take advantage of the extended droop you can get with spring under configuration. This will come into play more if you are jumping or hitting tall whoops that send the truck flying, or if you find yourself crawling through really uneven ground and the rear tires try to reach the center of the earth.

Not a bad thing!

 

OME thing I’m definitely learning. Suspension is a tinkerers dream. Lol.

 

I like how my phone autocorrects one to OME. lmao.