I used to have a 97 2500 gasser, it had an aftermarket add-a-leaf in back and 2 in coil spacers in front and it was still jacked in the back, and you could feel every pebble in the road

 

airbags will work fine. i can lift mine a couple inches with just the bags, but it still gets stiffer. what's the priority?
cost? add-a-leaf
ride? new leaf spring pack with no block or a shorter block
load capability? air bags
The leaf springs that come in the Skyjacker 4.5" lift kit give you 2.5" +/- to be level with the front 4.5" lift. They also ride better than stock (IMO). I dislike overloads in general, so that's why i went to the air bags.

 

if you are anywhere around a spring shop they can set the arch to what ever you want, in fact if you have an anvil and a hammer you can add the arch you need and not change the rate noticeably. it is too cold for me to go look but there are shackle reversal kits for some trucks that have the spring above the hanger.

it is pretty tough to add any leaves to a stock pack w/o changing the rate enough to kill the ride. you could build some ladder bars.

 

I've had a good look at my 2500 w/ camper pkg springs and a SRW 3500 w/ standard pak. The 2500 has 4 main leaves and one auxiliary overload. The bottom of the 4 was thicker and shorter than the other 3. The 3500 had one more in the main leaf pack and 2 in the overload pack. They looked heavier than the 2500 springs.
Unloaded, my rearend is up pretty high vis-a-vis the front and is about level with a 2200 lb camper on the bed.
You might look for a camper pkg. spring pack for your 2500.
regards, as always, jefe

 

I believe that the Dana 80 is on all Cummins manual tranny trucks as well....the autos get the 70

 

My (early build) 2001 2500 has 4 in the main pack and TWO in the overload pack above it and it's a shortbed - 5 speed. Go figure. I think the assembly line workers put in whatever was handy (or they were just screwin' off) for our trucks so you can't make any generalizations. My dads 01.5 2500 has 4 in the main pack but only 1 in the overload and it's a longbed with an auto.

I just lower my rear tire pressures when not towing down to 50psi and it rides much nicer then. But you can see from my sig that I replaced my stock front coils with some custom ones from CSS along with Bilstein 5100s... THAT made a huge difference.

Steve

 

Doesn't it depend more on the packages the truck came with? towing package, camper package, etc.