guaranteed its not aluminum, if it helps, the tears in the metal would be different, and its a superlift setup or copy of one. we modified one for a second gen fit, and to be honest, the shocks are the problem in all likelihood. the pressure from the better shocks is entirely dependant on the valving. just because you went to a good shock doesnt necessarily mean its a better fit for the truck, especially when running duals, i know the kit you have, and if you look at get verts truck you will see its the same one but modified and reinforced to fit a 2md gen. the problem is the valving and lenght, always.
in order for the steel to tear apart like that the valves either froze or the shocks bottomed out too many times. id call the company and ask about it, otherwise youve got a fun time ahead trying to fnd the correct valving and doin alot of math. its actually a ommon problem with the new fords as well. most companies offer a dual shock setup without actually specifically giving shock part numbers for the kits, or just selling them with two of the same shocks that would be used alone.
