85 F350 Dually lowering questions

First off I'm a newbie here & this is my first post. I just ordered a DJM lowering kit (DJM no longer make this I found a guy on the internet that had a new one that hadn't been used)for the front & rear for my 85 Ford F350 Dually. It's supposed to lower it 3 in the front & I believe 5 in the rear. I have a few questions about this. First has anybody on here lowered a Ford dually in the 80's range? Do you have any pictures you can post of one?

I'm going to be using this to haul my Race car to the track so I need to keep my hauling compacity. What shocks should I use Front & Rear for this ? What size tires can I run? Will I be able to use the overload springs & will I have to move them?

This will be the first Dually I've lowered so any help I would really appreciate!

I don't think anyone on here has one. But I will throw out what little I know.

There was pictures floating around of an 80's early 90's floating around the web, but it was bagged, and very sweet.

I would think you could run stock shocks, I would just run a quality set. Looks like that kit uses hanger shackles in the rear, that shouldn't effect your towing capacity at all, or your overload springs, unless they hit the stops. How much does your trailer sag the back of your truck now? If you have a problem with it bottoming out against the frame when towing you could add a set of helper bags, they aren't to expensive. Don't know on the tire size, but that's a pretty mild drop so you probably could get away with what you got on there now.

These are fairly generic answers, but like I said, I don't think anyone on here has one.

It doesn't sag it to bad now but I do have equalizer bars on it to even it out as well. What are a good set of shocks to put on there for a lowered vehicle that will be towing?

Personally I don't like "lowered" shocks, they are just stiff as all get out it seems to me. On my burb I ran monroe reflex shocks and really liked them.

I wouldn't worry about replacing the shocks right away, I would see how your current ones work first, they may be fine, if anything you would need a slightly shorter shock. You can go to most auto parts stores and just look in there catalogs and it will give the dimensions of the shocks, and I would find one that fits your size and is for a vehicle of similar size.


The shocks varied a little from one brand to another but to give you an idea.


Front shock

Extended Length: 15.35 in.
Collapsed Length: 10.32 in.
Stroke: 5.03 in.

Rear shock

Extended Length: 21.73 In.
Collapsed Length: 13.12 In.
Stroke: 8.61 In.

Welcome to the site.

You should be able to use the stock shocks in the front as most Fords are able to when installing I-beams. In the rear the kit should come with a pair of shock mount extensions, but if it doesn't then just measure the height you need and buy a good set of heavy duty or RV shocks. We prefer to use the Monroe RV shocks as long as they have the lengths we need.

This is the only truck/picture that we have of this style truck. It is a 97 and all stock except the wheels.

Here's another question as well. I found a website where a guy lowered one of these trucks & he did a page where he showed how to do it. He though used a Belltech kit. In this kit it used a 1/2" spacer under the trans where it bolts to the crossmember. I haven't received my DJM kit so I don't know if it has this. If it doesn't do I need to do this to mine?

The piece you are talking about just adjust the transmission to correct the slight change in the pinion angle. The DJM kit should have either a carrier bearing relocator or a pinion shim that goes on the rear end.

Can I get new alignment bushings for this when I put the lowering beams in? Where do I get them at? NAPA?

i lowered my 89 with the exact same kit, i do not have any photos of it tho sorry, i had to remove my over load springs cause they hit the overload stoppers on the frame. I put the overload bags from air ride tech on it and never had a issue at all with them, in fact it rode better after i lowered it. My kit had the cross member spacer with it, as i remember it was only a 1/2" thick solid metal block with 2 holes in it for the bolts, i also put 3 degree shims on top of the springs to correct the drive line angle. as for the alignment bushings mine were just fine, i had it aligned several times and it always was right in spec, i just had it checked every time i got new rubber in the front. as for installin the beams up front the only problem i had was the bolts that hold the coils on top of the beams, i ended up having to cut them out and buyin new ones cause they were so rusted in there and they are not cheap so be forewarned, you may want to buy some and have them there before you start, you could always take them back if you dont use them. hope this helps man. O by the way i towed my 36' toy trailer all over the west coast full of race cars and parts for about 7 years with it and never had a issue one with it lowered.

Thanks for the help here shpaint1. I will be using my truck to haul my race car to the track as well. Do you have any pictures you can post of the truck as to what it looks like now?
I guess what I can do is fabricate a 1/2" shim to mount between the trans & the mount, What do you'll think? Where can I get the shims for the pinion angle?
What shocks did you use? Because I was wandering this since I will be lowering it & using it to haul my race car.
What size tires do you run on your truck? Right now I'm running 235/85r16. I was thinking about going with 225/75r16 since I won't be switching wheels.
I wander if I can move the overload fame contacts up on the frame so that I can still use them because I won't have the money to buy a set of bags for a while?