Need a Recommendation....

FINKSTR

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I have a 2001 F350 7.3 long box, crew cab Dually. I bought the truck in Arizona about 2 years ago from the original owner. It had only 35,000 miles on it at the time! This is my 3rd 7.3 Ford truck and I LOVE them! I am 68 years old and, given the megabucks it takes to buy an equivalent new truck, I plan to do whatever it takes to make it last a long, long time.
To date I have added new "E" rated Michelin stock size tires, changed ALL fluids with Amsoil products, added an Amsoil bypass oil filter system, coolant filter system, Bilstein 5100 shocks and steering damper, and am in the process of installing a complete Banks PowerPack and Brake system. Since this an Arizona truck never exposed to the indignities of our Michigan winter road conditions, I have coating the entire underside, engine compartment, box rails, and door insides with POR15 products and coated the box with Herculiner. Finally thanks to my son's generosity, I will be installing Amp Research running boards, Recon taillamps, 2006 Recon headlamps and 2006 F350 towing mirrors.
WHEW!!!
My wife and I have traded in our fifth wheel camper and purchased a used Lance 1161 truck camper. This is long, very heavy camper and I want to upgrade the truck to improve overall performance and handling. Other than the above I have added Supersprings to help with the weight and tendency to "wallow" side-to-side. In the past we relied on the trailer brakes to help slow us down but don't have that luxury with this unit.
So... after all that, my questions are:
What is the best aftermarket brake system (Calipers, Pads and Rotors), Tires (I'm told that 19.5's are the way to go), Wheels and Hubs? Air bags? Any other recommendations?????

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
 

DaveBen

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You might look at frozen rotors for your brakes. frozenrotors.com Air bags are great for the rears when you have the camper on.

Dave :coffee
 

BIG JOE

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For brakes.. X2 on the Frozen Rotors.

We had a 11' Lance on a 91 (turbo'd) DRW w/camper package.. put some Ride Right air bags on.. "Camper Damper" shock/struts on the front corners of the Lance.. to the truck. Put 285, All Steel Radials on with Bilstien shocks.

There were No weather/road conditions that set-up couldn't handle.. IMO. Pulled a Metro.. all over the country.

Joe
 

WD40

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You have done a lot of work on your truck to make it a great camper hauler. X 3 on the Frozen Rotors, never had them on my truck but had a buddy who had them on his L-1999 F-350 CC DRW and still doing great after 75,000 miles on them. I am sure I sound like a broken record on here, but the next thing I would do is get a heavy duty valve body for the transmission and a 6.0 transmission cooler. The 6.0 cooler is way larger then what your truck has now. Happy Camping.
Doug
 
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f350superduty

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I just purchased the BDS 4 inch lift system and had it installed on my F350 2015. I will be pulling a 43 ft toy hauler. BDS warranties all parts on the vehicle for lift. You can't go wrong with it. I will be purchasing Hellwig big air springs for the rear. They are a little bigger then the air lift system so less air needs to be pull in the bags. You can not go wrong with BDS. They are putting them on all the new trucks down here for it doesn't void the vehicles warranty either. It sounds like you have a great rig setup so far. What do you get for fuel economy? If you don't mind me asking.
 

FINKSTR

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Many thanks to all who took the time to reply. I will be looking at all the recommendations and weighing one against the other to try and come up with the optimum setup.
In response to "F350 Superduty"s question about fuel economy, let me answer it this way...
I had a '99 F250 7.3, 4X4, extended cab long box before the dually. I put the same Banks system on that truck that I am in the process of installing on this one. It was totally stock otherwise. At the time I was pulling a 30' fifth wheel with it. Economy while pulling the fiver was in the 12-14 range. BUT - and here's where it gets interesting - without it, well just AWESOME!!! As Ricky Ricardo would say, let me "splain"... Three years ago I pulled the fiver to Phoenix in the spring. I have a friend in Tucson so we made plans to drive down. Since I had just installed the Banks system before that trip, I thought that this drive would be a good opportunity to see just what MPG I could get under "controlled" conditions. So, WITHOUT the fiver in tow, we drove from Phoenix to Tucson and back. We left around 5pm and I set the cruise control at 55 trying to ignore the impatient drivers lined up behind me. My average MPG both ways was an honest 28.5! UNbelieveable. OK... Now for the Dually. We drove to Florida with the pickup camper last winter. It was totally stock. An honest highway average MPG without the camper had been in the 15-17 range. WITH the camper It was 13-14. Not much different. Remember though that I drive S L O W meaning 55 to 60 with or without the camper. By comparison the axle on the dually is 4:11 vs 3.73 on the '99. I'm anxious to see what the dually will do under similar conditions.
I am really sold on Banks. That's not to say that other manufacturers don't have great products - they do. However, I believe that there is some advantage in buying the whole system from the same manufacturer since the parts were engineered to work together.
Stay tuned!
 

Dogman

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All I'll say is you'll get better mileage then I do with 4.30 gear...LOL
 

WD40

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All I will say is you sure do a lot better than I do. My truck is still stock other than a 4 in Ex.
Doug
 

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