Hey 5001craig, I've been following your build and I'm at a point in my build that it's time to start making some suspension decisions. I really like your Duff set up and wanted to get your opinion on few things. Is there anything you would do different in hindsight? Do you have any issues with the 35's rubbing? What are your thoughts on doing the 5.5 monster suspension with 4 link instead of the 3.5? I want to do 37"s on 17" wheels but don't want it top heavy and scary to drive on the street. I will have to do a BL to clear the 351w that's going in. Mine will be street and trail driven for fun-not my daily driver just a weekend toy. Do you like the shocks or would you go with a single adjustable shock by King, bilstein, Fox...if budget allowed. Thanks
Sounds like our rigs are used similarly. Sorry for the delay in getting back with you.
I do rub at full lock but that is because of my rim offset. Tires, rims and shocks are something I would like to change but just not at this time.
I like the 3.5" suspension I went with but I will say that handling changes on the street with four people in the truck as opposed to just two. At Super Cel I offered to take a guy and his son on the first ride to Bush's Beans and it was a hand-full on the way there in the twisties. His wife drove her car and they rode back with her and it was back to normal on the return.
The main reason I went with the Duff 4-link was to have zero or minimal axle deflection with the engine I was going with. If I would not have been going with a lot of HP I'm not sure I would have gone this direction for the type of terrain I run on. It does ride great on the street and when I want to lay-down two black marks I'm not thinking about axle deflection.
I'm no expert on these things but with that said, if you need a 2" BL for the 351 then I would just go with the 3.5" SL and go with Warflares located accordingly. Monster Mike would be a better person to ask about 37's and the 3.5" SL.
I'd love to upgrade the shocks. The ones that come with the kit work until you want to go beyond what these are used for. I've had my front tires off the ground and the four Duff shocks up front (along with the bump stops) worked but I would't do that on a regular basis without a lot of other mods. When I did that the dunes were really peaked from high winds and there was a fine line between making it and getting high-centered. I think removing one shock at each corner and adding bump-stops up front would be good.
With the Duff 4-link I had to go with four limiting straps as this suspension flexes more than the u-joints had travel. Also, I would personally budget for the sway bar Duff sells now unless you are prioritizing axle travel. I've done donuts on wet pavement and the sway bar helps a bunch.