Build a hypothetical 3500HD.

[skylark]

I know I'm not him, but I can tell you we had a 6.0 powered 550 at work and it rode hilariously bad. Our 450s rode like the 350s because they had the same springs, just bigger axles and 10 lug wheels. I don't recall the tires killing the ride on the 450, but those were newer 6.7 trucks. So if I had to guess, the 550 I drove rode like a 3500HD and the 450s rode nicer. Are you getting 450 axles with the good turning radius or bad? I forget which years that was.

This is the F450 good turning radius (05+) but I'm going to need fender flares. Just eyeballing across a tape measure on an F550 at work it appears that outside of the tires is about 5" wider than the 3500hd. This one has the 6.4 and of course the engine is done. It does have a 40 gallon rear mount tank that I may replace the current one with.

 

[smdk2500]

Just my 2 cents. The 19 550 I had at work before it burned up rode like crap. You could feel every bump, expansion joint and pebble on the road. Part of it could have been it was overloaded in the rear but it might not that truck went through steer tires in about 15k miles. I don't know what a 3500HD rides like so I can't compare the 2. I don't remember the weight your planning on loading it up with but a non g load rating tire might help out. Something a little lower rated might help.

 

[jus10inbrla]

Spyder headlights

Make damn sure u put silicone / rtv behind the plugs in turn signal Housing. Im dealing with spyder now On them being full of water 5 months old… oh and they dont wna honor the 1 yr warranty bc i used led bulbs.

 

[skylark]

Just my 2 cents. The 19 550 I had at work before it burned up rode like crap. You could feel every bump, expansion joint and pebble on the road. Part of it could have been it was overloaded in the rear but it might not that truck went through steer tires in about 15k miles. I don't know what a 3500HD rides like so I can't compare the 2. I don't remember the weight your planning on loading it up with but a non g load rating tire might help out. Something a little lower rated might help.

The 3500hd rides ok for what it is but part of that is because we're running 65 psi (minimum spec) in all of the tires. Fully inflated and it is another story.

 

[skylark]

Make damn sure u put silicone / rtv behind the plugs in turn signal Housing. Im dealing with spyder now On them being full of water 5 months old… oh and they dont wna honor the 1 yr warranty bc i used led bulbs.

I'm not understanding how the headlights effect the turn signals.

 

[jus10inbrla]

sorry. From the picture it looked like u had bought the complete set (headlights & bottom lights)

 

[jus10inbrla]

headlight housing working great. just wanted to give u heads up before u did an led swap tho. See last picture

 

[454cid]

Are they perhaps upside down, the the drains facing up?

 

[someotherguy]

@someotherguy
Hey Richard, how does the F450/550 ride compared to the 3500hd? I haven't taken a measurement on anything but I'm considering swapping the entire suspension from the Ford when I go 4wd.

All the 450's and 550's I've driven are not only the shortest wheelbase available (basically 60" cab-to-axle, so whatever Ford's variation of a short 3500HD's 135.5" is) - that's going to ride rough on its own, BUT, they also always have the weight of a wrecker unit out back, which is significant. How much? Not sure, as the manufacturers aren't really big on telling you how much, but trust me, it's a lot! Even so, they're sprung heavily enough to take the weight of the unit and whatever you might load on it. Lift capacity is 4K on most of these units, tow rating 7K-8K depending on model, minimum GVWR suggested for a chassis these units mount to is 14.5K

Also something to consider is we do run the tires at 85-90psi full time, and those comparing a 450 to a 550, a 450 comes with load range F tires (as does your HD), a 550 comes with load range G. I would absolutely expect a difference in ride quality there, too.

These trucks do ride like crap, but it's not really a surprise. Oh, and the overwhelming majority of trucks I've driven are 2WD; we do have two 4WD trucks that were bought only because they were available when new chassis became really scarce, but I haven't operated those trucks yet. All our trucks are gas engine but I've driven diesels at previous jobs, not a big difference in ride, but a little bit extra counterweight via the diesel helps with heavy vehicles on the hook.

Richard

 

[someotherguy]

headlight housing working great. just wanted to give u heads up before u did an led swap tho. See last picture

Not honoring the warranty because of using LED lights is 100% chickenshit. They generate so much less heat than stock bulbs it's not even a comparison.

Richard