just bought a used 02 3500 diesel dually, LOVE IT!!! Quick question . How do you lower the back of the truck to better fit pulling our fifth wheel? It needs to go down about 2-3 inches.
Thanks
john fank

shackles would lower the back, but I'm not sure how close your overloads would be to bottoming out. check in the 3500 section.

I just went thru this search back a little and you will see. I actually ordred the shackles then returned them when I saw how much work it would be and also noticed how level the truck rode with the 5th wheel attached. I just flipped the axles on my 5th wheel. Now the back of my 5th is about an inch to high but that's ok.

a 3" drop shackle would put you right on the overloads. If you are not towing a ton of pin weight, Pull the contact pads off the frame and go for it. Takes about 30 minuites to pull all four of the plates. I am in the same boat right now. Pulling a 35' two slide Montana 5er with a pin weight of roughly 2700 pounds. This drop shackle should make it easier to reach in to set the hitch. If this does not do it I will go with the 3" front and 5" rear drop from DJM / Calmax.

try this link for the previous
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120755

I raised the front of the truck a little, that helped some. If I put the shakles on I will be on the helper springs. With a camper only weighing between 10,000 and 11,000 I doubt I have a lot of pin weight, so I might just take the contact points off the overloads. maybe.

I am installing the shackles on Saturday and will report back. The shackle alone might not get me where I want to be, but it is worth a try.

Is it possible to adjust the height of your hitch or pinbox to get the disired affect?

Yes, I can raise or lower the hitch height, but the problem is the backend of the truck is up higher. I don't want to get the camper too close to the bed. It would be perfect if it was lowered in the back about 3 inches. I will be interested to see if Yo-Yo is happy with his project with shakles.

Hey john frank. I grew up in Bay Village, up on the lakeshore. Still have family and farmland in the Buzzard gulch area. Older brother and his wife are in Dublin.

I sure do not miss the humidity in the summer.

I will send you a photo and let you know how much the back end drops after the shackle install, plus the amount of drop that happens after hitching up to the 5th wheel.

Used the 3" drop shackle from Belltech. dropped the back 2" total. The fifth wheel is in storage, so I will need to head over and hook up to see how much squat I get with the pin weight. Before it only dropped less than one inch. If it drops more than I am happy with, I may be able to fit the Firestone Ride Rite airbags in the back still. Might just tinker with the contact plates for the factory overload and see if I can still use those.

Very happy with the overall appearance as the truck sits pretty close to level. Just need to make sure I still have the same function that I had before...

I know it is expensive but could you install air bags.This would allow for a level stance and air them up when towing.We run them on our work trucks to level the trucks after hitching up.

Yo-Yo,
I actually grew up about 50 miles south of lake erie. My 3 older brothers still live up there. We like to go up and camp around the lake.
Details on the shakle install. Did you take off the overload pads? and how long did it take?

Total install time was probably 90 minuites. I did pull the contact pads off the frame. Probably could have left the front pads on. I am going to look into having the rear pads moved up on the frame, or have a qualified welder section and extend the rear pad upward to keep the factory overloads.

Boy the internet sure has made the world smaller. Seems I keep running into people that I have met over the years online years later...

Glad you like the level look. Sounds like what you did is pretty much what I would like to do. Like I said, all I need is about 2-3 inches lower in the back. Let me know if you play around with the overloads any further.
Yup, I agree, the world's gettin smaller.

Well the verdict is in. No need to hook up the overload leaf. With 2800 Lbs in the bed, Fender lip is 37 5/8" fron the ground, To my calibrated eye pretty darn level. Not only that the spring pack seems to hold the weight just fine without the overload leaf.

32499

Yo-Yo, That looks great. Nice combo. Even the camper looks level. Very nice looking. I'm looking at the Belltech now. Thanks. Hope to see you on the road someday.

Yo-Yo
Nice looking set up ,I need to do the same to my truck ,Do you need to change the shocks ?what about the axel angle?

Still running the factory shocks and did not need to shim the pinion as some have done. I have less rear axle shudder with the drop shackle than I did before the drop. Very pleased after taking a 2900 mile round trip to southern Utah and back...

where did you get your shackles? what part # did you use? I can only find shackles for a 2wd 3500.

wrsjorel,,YOYO

aH, hit the wrong button. YOYO used the Bell tech shackle. I'm looking at the catalog and I believe it's part number 6403. That one fits 01-06 chevy 1500, 2500, 3500. It says 3 inch drop, but it actually only drops the back 2-21/2 inches

eh, just a word of warning...

Looks good and sits great while parked, but while driving, you may have issues. Without the overload spring, if you get into some bumping road where the weight is dynamic (changing) you may stress your leaf pack since it wont have anything flat to lay on when the trailer weight loads down of your backend after a good bump...

Thanks for the info

After a 2900 mile round trip including towing over some gravel backroads, rear did not settle from original. Not only did I have the 5th wheel hooked up, but carried an Ice chest, 3500 watt generator and have added a bike rack to the pin that adds roughly 300 pounds to the pin. Rough estimate of 3,350 pounds in the bed...

I do believe that John Frank is correct on the part number forthe bell tech shackle. 3" drop shackle only drops the back just over 2".

Please keep in mind that the overload leaf that we are talking about is not the flat leaf at the bottom of the spring pack, but the heavily arched leaf on top of the spring pack that makes contact with frame mounted plates. This spring is not on the 2500 hd's and 3500 srw...

i would consider 2 options,

1 being crank the front torsion bars 1.5" to get the rack of the tailgate down, this way u can adjust your hitch/fiver closer to your desired hieight n not have to worry about hitting the bed.

2 you could take the overload springs out and do a drop shackle and then add airbags to get load capacity up, you could also just pull one of the leafs out which would drop the rear end but you wouldnt have to remove the overloads but airbags would be needed still.