OK,after looking it over and driving it for the first time I have a few? . This thing has more rear springs than I have seen on a 350. It has 7-8 main and 6 on the overloads it is stiff. It has no reciever but has had a 5er hitch at one time. The next ? is in the gearing I know a 3.73 turns about 2000 rpm at 70 mph and a 4.10 about 2250 rpm at 70 but this truck turns more. can anyone give me any idea what a 4.30, 4.56, would be at 70mph. I think it falls in this catagory. I dont think a 97 F350 drw came with these ratios so I suspect it has been changed. any info would be great.
Custom springs can be ordered or usually purchased locally that would maintain load carrying ability while providing an improved ride. You can also place the rear end on rated jack stands and count the turns of the driveshaft versus tire rotation. Use chalk to ensure a good count.
may have a swapped rear axle in it. See if there is a tag on the diff. Could explain the extra leafs. Someone must have been hauling or towing very heavy.
Glen
04 Tail gator XT 34' 5th wheel garage model
99 F350 CC DRW 7.3 ais intake, adrenaline hpop, JW valve body,
cooling mist water inj, DP tunes, 4" turbo back exh sys
trucool trans cooler added
08 Arctic Cat Prowler 700XTX
My '97 F350DRW 4wd cab/chassis truck has about 11 or 12 leaves in the main packs and I think 6 in the overload packs. The springs are 2-1/2" wide, instead of 3" wide which the pickups have. The rear frame rails are 34" wide outside to outside, instead of the normal 37" frame rail width of the pickups. The outside rear tire to outside rear tire width is about 87", instead of the about 93" width of the dually pickups. My truck's weight ratings are 11,000 GVWR, 5000 FGAWR, 8250 RGAWR. The dually pickups have 10,000 GVWR, 7400 RGAWR and about 4200 FGAWR. Both the dually pickups and cab/chassis have the 10.25" Ford rear axle, but the pickup's axle is wider.
Factory gear ratios were 3.55 and 4.10 for F250/350SRW/350DRW pickups and F350DRW cab/chassis. The axle code ends in a 9 with the 3.55 ratio and ends in a 5 with the 4.10 ratio. If there is a letter in the axle code, the truck has a factory limited slip rear differential.
The F-Superduty trucks had 4.63 and 5.13 axle ratios, with 10-lug wheels, Dana 80 rear axle with disc brakes and a driveline mounted drum parking brake, with 15,000 GVWR, 11,000 RGAWR, 5000 FGAWR.
That should be enough information to properly identify the truck.
With stock size 235/85-16 tires, with the transmission in 1:1 direct gear (3rd in the automatic, 4th in the manual), at 60 mph the engine rpm's should be around 2200 with 3.55's and around 2600 with 4.10's. If the truck has 215/85-16 tires, the engine speed will about 100 rpm higher than with 235's.
215's are the stock tire size on F350DRW pickups. 235's are the stock tire size on F350DRW cab/chassis and F-Superduty cab/chassis. The door VIN/info sticker will state the stock tire size, as well as the axle code and weight ratings.
Here are the rear springs on my '97 F350DRW cab/chassis.
* This post was
edited 07/16/12 11:40pm by SoCalDesertRider *
It is a regular dually I think but I will check out the door label when he gets home. The spring pack looks like the cab chassis shown but I will investigate more. I am thinking it has been beefed up and the ratio changed or its one of those that was some kinda special order. I will look more later. Thanks will
SoCalDesertRider wrote: Is this a pickup or a cab/chassis truck?
My '97 F350DRW 4wd cab/chassis truck has about 11 or 12 leaves in the main packs and I think 6 in the overload packs. The springs are 2-1/2" wide, instead of 3" wide which the pickups have. The rear frame rails are 34" wide outside to outside, instead of the normal 37" frame rail width of the pickups. The outside rear tire to outside rear tire width is about 87", instead of the about 93" width of the dually pickups. My truck's weight ratings are 11,000 GVWR, 5000 FGAWR, 8250 RGAWR. The dually pickups have 10,000 GVWR, 7400 RGAWR and about 4200 FGAWR. Both the dually pickups and cab/chassis have the 10.25" Ford rear axle, but the pickup's axle is wider.
Factory gear ratios were 3.55 and 4.10 for F250/350SRW/350DRW pickups and F350DRW cab/chassis. The axle code ends in a 9 with the 3.55 ratio and ends in a 5 with the 4.10 ratio. If there is a letter in the axle code, the truck has a factory limited slip rear differential.
The F-Superduty trucks had 4.63 and 5.13 axle ratios, with 10-lug wheels, Dana 80 rear axle with disc brakes and a driveline mounted drum parking brake, with 15,000 GVWR, 11,000 RGAWR, 5000 FGAWR.
That should be enough information to properly identify the truck.
With stock size 235/85-16 tires, with the transmission in 1:1 direct gear (3rd in the automatic, 4th in the manual), at 60 mph the engine rpm's should be around 2200 with 3.55's and around 2600 with 4.10's. If the truck has 215/85-16 tires, the engine speed will about 100 rpm higher than with 235's.
215's are the stock tire size on F350DRW pickups. 235's are the stock tire size on F350DRW cab/chassis and F-Superduty cab/chassis. The door VIN/info sticker will state the stock tire size, as well as the axle code and weight ratings.
Here are the rear springs on my '97 F350DRW cab/chassis.
The springs are 3" wide but the number of springs looks very similar to your cab chasis. Maybe they have been reworked? I think the rearend is 4:10 from the factory but the rpm are around 2800-3000 at 70 mph this could be correct but maybe it has been lowered to a 4something not sure. I have not ever seen this many spings on any F350 with a regular bed. the door sticker says 10,000 gvwr and rear axle is 7400 and front was 4000 something cant remember now. My son has worked 3 part time jobs and gone to school to buy this truck. My step father had one just like it that he bought new in 97 and every since they sold it my son has wanted to find it and buy it back, well thats was not possible but he found one almost just like it and is very happy. Plus he hauls alot of scrap metal and hauls lots of cars to the crusher so I am sure he will put it to work very soon. He Remembers my father picking him up every friday for years in that truck and was very sad when they sold it. I am very proud of him. wills250psd
Spring packs on our older trucks had more springs but they were thinner and shorter vs newer gen truck 70" long wider/thicker springs and fewer springs.
I would drop by your local Ford truck salvage and look at a DRW rear suspension in the same era
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers
'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 gvwr two slides
Wills250psd wrote: The springs are 3" wide but the number of springs looks very similar to your cab chasis. Maybe they have been reworked? I think the rearend is 4:10 from the factory but the rpm are around 2800-3000 at 70 mph this could be correct but maybe it has been lowered to a 4something not sure. I have not ever seen this many spings on any F350 with a regular bed. the door sticker says 10,000 gvwr and rear axle is 7400 and front was 4000 something cant remember now. My son has worked 3 part time jobs and gone to school to buy this truck. My step father had one just like it that he bought new in 97 and every since they sold it my son has wanted to find it and buy it back, well thats was not possible but he found one almost just like it and is very happy. Plus he hauls alot of scrap metal and hauls lots of cars to the crusher so I am sure he will put it to work very soon. He Remembers my father picking him up every friday for years in that truck and was very sad when they sold it. I am very proud of him. wills250psd
Sounds like the truck is definitely a dually pickup, not a cab/chassis. The 3" wide rear springs and 10,000/7400/4xxx weight ratings are definitive.
F250/350SRW/350DRW pickups and F150 4wd pickups in the '80-'96/'97 era came with 3" wide rear springs with anywhere from 4 to 7 leafs total in the pack. F350SRW/DRW and F250 pickups with the camper package came with single-leaf upper aux overloads. Even some F150's got the aux upper overload leaf. The stock main packs have one thick bottom overload, then 3 to 6 main leafs, depending on the spring rate and model of truck.
I have upgraded the springs in my '92 F350SRW with 7-leaf packs that have much thicker leaves for each main leaf and a thicker bottom overload leaf as well. It originally came with 5-leaf packs. I kept the stock single-leaf overloads, but could have added more leaves to the overloads, had I wanted to. I wish I had added one or 2 leaves to each overload.
I haven't seen pre-built off-the-shelf aftermarket packs available for these years Ford pickups with 8-12 thin-leaf packs, like the cab/chassis have, and like older 70's GM trucks had. Your main packs and overload packs may likely have been custom made by a local spring shop, to mimic those that came on the cab/chassis trucks.
Here are the aftermarket heavy duty main spring packs on my F350SRW. They are 3" wide packs, with the stock single aux overload leaf visible on top. They are rated 4300 lbs/pack, not considering the upper overload leaf.
JIMNLIN wrote: Spring packs on our older trucks had more springs but they were thinner and shorter vs newer gen truck 70" long wider/thicker springs and fewer springs.
I would drop by your local Ford truck salvage and look at a DRW rear suspension in the same era
I had a 97 f350 like the one he bought but mine had a gas 460, it had about 1/2 the springs that the one my son just bought.
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