Ford's new F350 Super Duty Powerstroke Crew Cab shortbox is one of the most popular heavy duty pickups on and off the road. It is an extremely versatile vehicle equally suited to carrying the kids to soccer as it is to transporting a full crew of men to the worksite. With a solid front axle and an ultra-torquey diesel motor, this Ford has taken the truck market to a new level.

A stock F350 has a decent ride that is a compromise between load carrying ability and passenger comfort. This compromise is something that Rob, the owner of this F350, wanted to address. The vehicle wallowed badly on logging roads and on the highway it easily pulled into rain ruts. Off-road performance was also an important consideration as the owner drives to Baja every winter and would be traveling through some very rugged country. Also important was the choice of tire size and type. The new 315/75R16 Pro Comp All Terrain was chosen. This tire fits the stock Ford aluminum rim and stands 35" tall which was a drastic improvement over the stock 285/75R16 Firestone tire. Another benefit of the Pro Comp is that it's a Load Rated "D" tire which is very important on a vehicle this heavy.

To fit the tires and improve the big Ford's on- and off-road performance, Rob recently brought his truck into NSOR to have the new Pro Comp Stage II 4" lift system installed. The Pro Comp system features new front replacement springs and a complete replacement track arm bracket along with a dropped, forged pitman arm. In the rear, in order to raise ride height and increase payload ability, an add-a-leaf and a small block is used. Because the diesel is very nose-heavy a dual shock setup was chosen for the front and Pro Comp ES3000 shocks were used at all four corners.

Installation of this kit is fairly straight forward since the truck is a common configuration with solid axles front and rear and leaf springs at all four corners. In the NSOR shop it took a full day to do the complete install. A dedicated do it yourselfer could expect to do this in a weekend but all of the parts for this install are extremely large and heavy not too mention the huge weight of the vehicle itself that might preclude all but the most well equipped home mechanic from attempting this install. No cutting or welding is required for this installation.

After approximately 20,000km of driving the Pro Comp lifted Ford, the owner is extremely pleased with how the lift system improved his vehicle. As a daily driven work/commuter vehicle the on road performance has improved considerably. Handling has definitely been improved with more control, less body roll and better front-end stability when cornering. The ride is smoother over potholes and road defects and unlike the stock truck it no longer automatically steers into rain ruts on the highway. Over the winter a 9,000km road trip was taken from Vancouver to Baja, Mexico. On the very rural roads the truck performed flawlessly over miles of washboard. The addition of the much larger tires that the kit allowed, contributed to not getting stuck during the Mexico trip. The appearance of the truck is noticeably more aggressive also and definitely a head-turner on the street. Rob is pleased to report that the Pro Comp lift kit has noticeably improved an already excellent truck.

Here is the improved rear suspension with the add-a-leafs, tapered lift blocks, and ES3000 shocks.	Notice the huge size increase of the Pro Comp dropped pitman arm over the stock unit.	The lowered track bar replacement bracket is also a very stout piece.
While providing 4" of lift and having more leaves than the stock spring packs, the Pro Comp units still provide better control and comfort.	The Pro Comp kit provides replacement shock towers that allow the mounting of dual shocks and both front corners. By using two shocks at each corner, the shocks divide the work load which allows them to stay cool longer and resist fading.	The dual shocks look like they came that way from the factory.

Before

After

When you're hauling your family and a month's worth of gear down to Baja, you need a suspension and tires that will handle the abuse.