Leveling Kits, Suspension Lifts and more

[jcbell1007]

So now that I have my new truck, I'm in need of some new tires. Well, to put on the bigger tires that I want, I need to get a lift of some kind.

Because I'm not ready to hack into the frame right now, I've found a pretty popular option that people are doing with F-150's now called leveling kits. For my truck, its a spacer that goes between the front coil-over shock and the shock tower, bringing the front up level with the rear. Supposedly doesn't cause any problems with the suspension and from what I've read, you don't need to do an alignment or anything. Seems to be a quick process, 2 hours max and I'm pretty handy with mechanical stuff. Here's what I'm looking at, found that a lot of people on the f150.net site are using this company:

http://www.roughcountry.com/ford_f150_leveling.html

Anyone had any experience or reviews with these leveling kits? Supposedly it will allow me to put up to a 35" tire on my stock rims with little or no rubbing. I'm looking at going to a 33" tire right now, LT285/70R17 in this tire:

http://www.coopertire.com/html/produ...discoverer_stt

looking to some other off-roaders to see what their thoughts are, reviews on tires, leveling kits etc....

[mikeb]

i read about the latest kits for f150's when i had my 07. those are the cheap easy way to go for sure. remember you will loose power the bigger the tire you go. mine had the 4.6 and was gutless. you will have to re-gear to get your power back.

[Kurlon]

Sounds like ye olde hockey puck lifts...

[jcbell1007]

I do have the 4.6 but don't plan on going with a huge tire just yet. It's got 31" 265's on it right now and its seems to be decent. I'm not looking for blazing 1/4 times out of a pick-up. I do plan on opening it up with a cat back system from flowmaster and looking into an intake. should bump up the throttle response and boost the power a little.

I'm looking at the leveling kit until I can spend the time and money on a real lift kit.

[LaRNZ]

sweet site, thanx ive been lookin into this myself for my F-150

[Doc]

Congrats on the real truck! But you should have go a Yota.

[gus310]

if you are looking at a real lift kit later id save your gas mileage and money for the real kit. seems like a waste of time and money to do it now and then again later. that said ive never heard a bad thing about the leveling kits.

[jcbell1007]

Just bought the spacers. Should be here before t-day.

Reason I'm going this route now is for a couple of reasons. I need to buy new tires right now so it doesn't matter what I get, if I do a lift next year, these tires will have to go to make room for bigger ones. I can't go bigger on my stock 17x7.5 rims than the 285/70r17 which are a 33" tire. If I want to go 35" or larger, I would need new rims anyways so total invested by the time I get the lift kit, rims and tires done, i'm looking at probably 2.5k or so. which, is probably going to be too rich for me now that i've priced it out.

This year, I can put the spacers in for $99 and get the 33" tires and may decide thats enough for me at this point. I'm gonna give it a shot and put some before and after pics. See how it drives on the road because it's still going to be a commuter truck during the winter and suck.

[Teez]

I did the 2" leveling kit in my 08 F350 to accommodate the new Toyo Open Country MT's I got. It worked great and there is plenty of clearance. A tiny bit of rub when the wheel is turned all the way, but you can either live with the noise of trim the plastic back. The tires are 35X12.50

[catch2otwo]

also worth a note, getting bigger tires to clear and not rub is also due in part to having the correct backspacing on your wheels. I can clear 35s on my chevy 2500 with no lift. its all about doing your hw

[Half Squid]

I have an 05 F150 & I have 35's on my truck but did a Skyjacker 3" suspension lift. The leveling kit for the front was barely enough for complete clearance with these tires.

The kit and installation ran me about $800 total. If you can install it yourself than it would be $400 plus your time. & you will need access to a suspension compression machine to do the springs on the coil over in the front.. The rear is no problem. Just replacing the rear shocks and adding two brackets and a leaf kit.

I love the look of the lift, makes my truck just stand out a little bit. Everyone thinks it's a 250.

Need any more info about the aftermarket stuff on the 150's I put a lot into my truck! Only downside is I lost MPG's.... Oh well...

[jcbell1007]

Awesome man, I vaguely remember your truck from last year, got any picks of your setup?

I'd like to do some seat covers and I saw a video on youtube where a guy put the FX4 gauges in his stx which looked awesome.

[Half Squid]

These were the first wheels I had on the truck which are 20's with 35" terra grapplers. The new Pics with the new 18" wheels and 35" terra are on my facebook page which I cant get to from work..


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/DSCF2041.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/DSC00003.jpg

[Half Squid]

Thes are the new wheels

[Half Squid]

Theses are the new wheels

[LaRNZ]

wut kinds of wheels are those, and where did u snag em from?

[Half Squid]

They are actually american racing wheels. My buddy traded his 04 in and upgraded to an 08. I pretty much stole them from him! I guess he didn't think they would go with the new ride or didn't want to invest in the lift in order to use these? Tires had like 3K on them and came with the wheels!

Just to list a few mods:
K&N air induction,
Hypertech computer mod (immition/gearing/shift point adjustments, speed limiter govenor removed)
3" Skyjacker lift
35' Nitto Terra graplers (1 set on 20's, 1 set on 18's)
Borla SST Cat back Dual exhuast
Westin push bar with Piaa 6" off roads
3X4 Hella off roads with H3 Silverstars mounted behind the grill
Alpine DVD Double din Deck with Alpine powered Subs and Infinity Speakers all around.
MTX Thunderfoam box under the rear deck.
Automate remote start/alarm system with two way alarm.
Custom polished aluminum grill.
Stock form deflectors all around
Extang Tanuea cover
Line X bed spry in liner
Slotted Baer Disk rotors all alround with ceramic hawk pads

Originally Posted by LaRNZ

wut kinds of wheels are those, and where did u snag em from?

[jcbell1007]

Well, just ordered my tires today. Talking with my tire guru uncle, with my 7.5" wide, 17" rims on my f-150, i can't get a 35x12.50 tire. Wouldn't be safe for highway, cornering, etc...

After looking at prices etc...I've order the Bridgestone Dueler Revo 2 in a 285/70r17. After talking with my uncle about this being a commuter truck with the occasional off roading and everything, he told me these would be good for noise and still give me decent traction in mild offroading and winter driving. Plus, I got them for well under $200 a tire (family discount) VS the $230 and above that I would pay for BF's, Coopers, or others that i was originally looking at.

Leveling kit will be here monday, tires on next weekend.

[jcbell1007]

Put the leveling kit and tires on the truck this past saturday. Its subtle, but i can tell the different getting in and out of it right now. Makes a big different in the front, I should have taken a better picture.

The tires I got will be great for winter, 285/70R17 Bridgestone Dueler Revo 2's. Like I said above, I spoke with my uncle and the other mud tires I was looking at would be really stiff, hard rubber for the VT winter.

Now for the exhaust, and shopping for some wider rims over the winter because I really want to put 35" tires on it this next summer, and keep the 33's for winter driving.

[FAST GSXR750]

I've got the Revo's on my Dodge and love em. Had em for over a year and they still look like new. Thinking of doing the leveling kit myself. Truck looks good.

[LaRNZ]

looks good !

[jcbell1007]

BTW halfsquid, did you want to get rid of your old set of 20's? Closer to spring I might be in the market for them if you do.

[Half Squid]

Yes I want to unload the 20" wheels! Well I dont, but I am selling them. They need to be finished. I started repolishing them, but just dont have the time. So far they are coming out great. When complete they will need to be clear coated to keep then from oxidizing again. I also have some tires I can throw into the deal until you can afford the tires you want.

$700 for everything. I will even give you the compounds to finish polishing the wheels with the instructions.
$500 if you swap your old 17" tires. I can put those on my stock rims for the winters!!!

Originally Posted by jcbell1007

BTW halfsquid, did you want to get rid of your old set of 20's? Closer to spring I might be in the market for them if you do.

[Half Squid]

Go with BORLA!!! It sounds mint! Quite at stand still with a little grumble, then if you take off hard it is a nice roar, or if you take off easy like when a cop is around it will not grab his attention!!! I think it's perfect!

Originally Posted by jcbell1007

Now for the exhaust, and shopping for some wider rims over the winter because I really want to put 35" tires on it this next summer, and keep the 33's for winter driving.

[jcbell1007]

Sending you a PM...

Borla is nice but a little pricey for me. I want to keep it simple which is why I'm going with the flowmaster. I had a flowmaster 40 series on my Dakota with the 4.7l V8 and loved the sound. From the clips that I've heard on the web, I'm gonna stick with Flowmaster. The one that I would really like is the Roush system but that system is hella expensive.