Lowering Kits

• Many companies specialize in aftermarket lowering kits. These offer a wide range in quality and completeness. Most provide, at a minimum, drop spindles, control arms and front and rear coil springs. The better kits include air bags which provide additional support, leaf springs and front torsion bar adjusters. When making a change, it is important to look at how many leaf springs are included, and what their weight rating and expected life are.
  
  

Weight Considerations

• Modifying your Dodge 3500 can have significant consequences with your weight rating capacity. If you normally use the truck to carry heavy loads, lowering it can create ongoing maintenance problems, such as the need to frequently replace suspension components like springs and shocks. You should check with a certified Dodge Service Department to find how the change you plan to make will affect your weight rating. Exceeding specified weight ratings can cause both maintenance and insurance problems.
  
  

Towing Considerations

• Many owners of the Dual Rear Wheel 3500 use it to tow a large trailer. Lowering the truck can change your rated towing capacity. This can be a significant problem if you regularly tow a fifth-wheel trailer. Your Dodge 3500 suspension is built not only to carry the load, but to minimize trailer sway and equalize weight distribution so that the truck pulls at maximum efficiency. Changing the suspension can disrupt that design.
  
  

Ride Considerations

• Changing your suspension will always change the ride characteristics of your truck. Lowering the truck usually results in a much rougher ride. You can also create an imbalance in the weight ratio of the front to back of the truck. This can result in excessive wear on both suspension and non-suspension related components, as well as unusual ride characteristics. This is magnified in trucks that have the heavier diesel engine, which is common in 3500 dual rear wheel configurations.
  
  

Warranty Considerations

• If your truck is still under a factory extended warranty or you have a diesel engine with a standard 10-year warranty, modifying the suspension without following factory guidelines could void your warranty. Changing the suspension can add stress to non suspension-related components if not done to manufacturer's specifications. People often make modifications that work, but do not conform to manufacturer's specifications and are dismayed to later discover that they have voided their warranty. Before making any operating modification, check with a certified Dodge Service Department to make sure it meets those specifications if you have any warranty remaining.
  
  

Warnings

• The idea of lowering a 3500 Duallie is particularly risky, as it will invariably have profoundly negative consequences on any work-related or heavy trailer towing uses the truck is put to. It can be especially upsetting to a truck owner when a dealership or authorized service center has to tell them that their improperly or inappropriately modified heavy truck that cost $40-60,000 has been made functionally and monetarily worthless.