RPG's "Stage 3 Kit": National Spring Leaf Springs

[pirate air]

Any updates of perch position.

Though I didn't measure before the RPG Stage 3 install, after about 60 or so easy miles, by your measurement method, my rears sit at 43.5" (front is 40.5").

How high will the second perch get me in the front?

I'm guessing that the rear will drop a half inch or so in a thousand miles. Is that about right?

My front on the 2nd perch sits a hair bellow 42 inches. My rear with the RPG stage 3 standard springs sits a hair over 42 1/4. Truck looks leveled to me, I can't tell the 1/4 inch difference. Might take a good romp to get your rear springs setteled. Both were measured from the ground to the bottom of the fender flare.

 

[Boss Hoss]

Very well put Big J.

The HD load capability was designed to run a consistent 500-850lbs in the bed at all times. Its still a high performance spring that is designed to handle some more of the work truck duties so to speak. In the RPG truck, we have loaded up 1500lbs of springs in the bed with the standard duty springs and she popped right back up after a 70 mile drive with no issues.

With regards to the creaking, if may be from the paint like BigJ mentioned or the springs themselves need to just warm up a bit. We did have a customer who had a very squeaky set and it was because a small bit of metal was caught in the middle of the springs. Sounded like a bird was dying in that thing...


Jarrett

I also plan on putting on a bumper that is going to weigh at least 3 times what the Ford sheetmetal does.

 

[cbs001]

Stage 3 is finished, now just have the front perch to do. I am a little concerned about my new exhaust and how close it is to the springs. Guess after a few air miles it will right it self one way or the other.

 

[M1919A2]

Hey guys. Many of you have PM'd me asking similar questions, so I figured I'd update this with my answers. Please DO NOT hesitate to ask hard or seemingly negative questions. I warned RPG right up front that I tell it like it is, and I do not sugar coat anything. If there's something negative to say, you can bet I'm going to say it. And for some crazy reason, they still wanted me as a customer

Q: With your heavy duty springs in the RPG kit you have do you feel it sacrifices unloaded ride substantially now that you have had them for a bit? Or do you always have enough cargo to offset the increased spring rate?

A: No, I have not felt that my ride has been sacrificed. But that's not a fair thing to say, necessarily. I'm 6'9" tall and I alone weigh 330lbs; a full 1/3 of the total payload capacity of my Raptor. So even when its just me driving, no passengers and zero cargo in the back, I'm still not the best judge of this characteristic since the truck really is "loaded" even with only me behind the wheel.

I hate that I still haven't got off road yet to really see what this system can do, but I'm confident that it has not adversely affected on road characteristics in any way. If anything, its helped over those rough spots; the truck just feels stuck to the ground somehow.

Q: How do you think the HD springs "feel" compared to stock?

A: That's such a hard thing to explain. I normally HATE it when someone says you just have to feel it to know; to me that's like saying you know something but you can't explain it... if you can't explain it to someone else, you don't know it.

But damn if that's not the case with these springs! Honestly I don't know how to explain the difference. Its there, and yet not. Its different, but not. The truck just rolls where before it would hop, the rear tracks where before it would wander, its soft where before it was hard... yeah, that's the best I've come up with in a few weeks of daily driven ownership. I suck

However lets be careful here; having said all that makes the on-road change sound dramatic. Its not. If you go into this mod thinking your truck will transform into a road race ready Lancia, you'll be incredibly disappointed. Instead, go into this mod with this image in mind: take your hand, lay it flat palm down and swipe it across your desk. Now picture what it would feel like with a silk glove on. You still feel everything, you're still aware of all the roughness and grain of the wood, but somehow it just feels smoother. That's kind of how this mod feels to me.

Q: Are there any drawbacks that you can think of, now that you've run them for a while?

A: The only drawback I can think of so far is that they creak. We've been getting into the 30s at night around here, and in the morning when I head off to work I can feel and hear a creaking in the spring until it warms up a bit (maybe 5 minutes)? From inside the cab, it feels like rubbing two pieces of velvet together, against their grains. When you flex over a pothole or speedbump, you can feel a kind of jutterring in the floorboard one way or another, and you can hear a low base note to accompany it. Its not a high pitched creak or anything like that.

I'm not a fan of that, and truth be told I'd be concerned if it persisted. But it doesn't. It seems that after a few minutes of driving things "free up" and the jutter/noise is gone. I almost just wonder if its the paint that needs to wear off as the system cycles.

Q: Do the HD springs allow for a heavier tongue weight for towing?

A: That I don't know. RPG?

Keep the questions coming guys. I'm happy to answer what I can, and direct you to the right source if I can't.

CorrosionX HD sprayed on those springs will eliminate that creaking sound! Go on-line and check out the CorrosionX products, last lubricates of that nature you'll ever use!