Propickup Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/150744
STANDING TALL Air bags, leveling kits, helper springs, and suspension lifts can make hauling heavy cargo easier while making room for taller tires and more ground clearance. SUSPENSION: LIFT & LEVELING KITS By Peter D. duPre & Bruce W. Smith Some taller lift kits require modifications to the frame or other OE components. If that's done, it's difficult to return the truck back to stock. P ickups are the workhorses of the contractor. Their beds carry heavy loads of gravel, lumber, pipe, fuel drums, welding equipment, equipment parts, tools and supplies to jobsites near and far while the work crew piles inside. Pickups are also tasked with towing trailers loaded down with everything from landscaping equipment and carpentry tools to skid steers and compact excavators. Oft times the loads are heavy and the terrain these types of pickups are working in are rutted and rugged. Over time our work truck's suspensions start to lose their load-carrying muscle – or taller tires are needed for better ground clearance in and around the jobsites and the stock suspension doesn't provide enough clearance under the wheel wells to run the taller treads. It's in those instances where suspension lift and leveling kits are a contractor's go-to solution. SUSPENSION MODIFICATIONS Such was the situation in which Bill Turo found himself. Turo runs a landscaping business in western Washington, operating a small three-pickup fleet to handle all his job needs. Usually, extra-heavy loads aren't much of a problem for him, as he mainly carries mulch and landscape bark in the cargo box, towing a trailer to carry the usual tools and equipment of his trade. Recently, however, he has bid on a couple larger jobs that require hauling gravel – not so much that a dump truck delivery is needed, but just enough so that his three trucks are often fully laden. "These gravel loads are killing me," remarks Turo. "My trucks sag at the rear, the tires rub on the 90 PROPICKUP Big Book 2013 ProPickup_2013BB_Suspension Lift Level.indd 90 8/6/13 10:26 AM