been lookin at a lot of the trucks on local craigslist, and noticed lots of these old fords lifted 6+ inches all suspension, and considering the small town im from, i know these people havent went and spent 1.5k on a lift kit. I saw one that said they used some sort of chevy 1/2 ton leaf spring to lift it, but he wasnt specific. So whats the cheap way of lifting these trucks? Im already considering shackle flip with a reinforced front leaf spring hanger, but i have no idea about coils up front. Or leaf springs that would lift it in the rear? Anybody have any ideas?

Also my truck has 3" factory blocks in the rear, and im confused if i do a shackle flip, do i remove these? if i do will i still get lift from the flip?

-And please dont waste your time telling me i need to go spend 2k on some superflex kit thats gonna let my axles twirl like the propellers on an airplane.

Any yes ive tried searching, but havent found any really useful information..
Any suggestions is greatly appreciated!

 

Well, you "could" lift it for cheap by spacing down the front coil buckets and doing a shackle flip in the rear. That being said, the suspension is 30+ years old, so replacing it isn't really that bad of an idea.

If it were me, I would piece it together using deaver coils and chevy rear leaves with a shackle flip. Both of these are noted for their plush ride. This still will cost a fair amount.

One of the biggest problems with these old trucks is that this sort of thing exaggerates other problems like worn bushings, bad brakes, sloppy steering, etc. You should really evaluate all this stuff on your truck. Sometimes cheap is actually more expensive.

 

Well, I'm sure you'll get all kinds of answers here. There are a few ways to go up an inch or two here and there. The most efficient way is an add a leaf in the rear. That's good for about 2". Then the shackle flip is good for another 3 or 4 inches. Viole. 6" in the rear. This however, is the easy part. Now you have to deal with the aftermath of getting you truck taller. Things like the driveshaft isn't long enough. You will need a longer shaft. Your brake hose won't reach anymore, you'll need an aftermarket one of those. Your shocks will also be too short. You'll need to find longer ones there, too.

See, there's more to it than just getting your truck to sit up higher. I'm not saying it can't be done, but you'll have to do a lot of thinking and junk yarding to see what parts will work.

The front is a bit more complicated. You can move the spring buckets down on the frame. That will give you two inches. From there, maybe a set of used 4" lift coils off of Craigslist? However you get the front end up, keep in mind, the most I would lift a truck without lowering the radius arm brackets is 4". After that, they get a weird angle on them and you start hurting parts. The same stuff applies up front as in the rear. Brake hose, shocks, driveshaft, .....and now steering and a steering stabilizer become a problem. Since I'm sure you plan on driving the truck, you want to be able to steer it. A drop pitman arm or custom drag link will be necessary.

All of these little problems I point out are why kits were created to begin with. It leaves out all the engineering problems and makes it easy, and most importantly, SAFE to lift your truck as high as you want it.

I'll bet if you go around to all those back yard lifted trucks you'll see all kinds of interesting engineering you wouldn't want to drive.

Can it be done without a $2K lift kit? Of course! You'll just be spending a LOT of time figuring stuff out instead of bolting parts on and be finished in an afternoon.

 

Here's another thing that comes to mind. Why the 6" lift? What size tires are you shooting for? Here's my old truck with rancho 3" coils and 36s:

 

Yea on these old trucks its not hard to clear a big tire so figure out what size tire you want to run and then you should figure your lift because you don't want it to look retarded because youce got 9 in lift n 35s I've got 10 1/2 inches of lift in my truck and I clear 44s by 6or7 inches so it doesn't take a lot of lift to clear a big tire

 

If you piece it together you can do it fairly cheap. The little stuff is where like drive lines, brake lines, drop brackets, and bushings is where it gets costly.

 

Thanks for all the responses! The tires ive been looking at are 37 x 12.50 x 16.5" used military tires (HERE), so ive got to find some 16.5" 5 lug wheels, or make an adapter somehow. I only want to lift it 4" suspension wise, and probably 2" - 3" body lift.

In the rough country 4" lift for these trucks, it comes with 4" lift coils, trac bar drop bracket, and blocks/ubolts for the rear. This is why i dont want a kit as im paying for blocks/u-bolts that i wont even be using. A set of 4" rough country lift coils alone is $150 on ebay. (1) Are they any good?

I noticed some of the 4" kits come with 7 degree C-bushings for the front, the RC doesnt. (2) Are these 100% necessary with 4" lift, or would OEM replacements work? BTW the Dana 44 is high pinion, which in my mind would be more lift-friendly, but i dont know for sure.

And i hope to do the shackle flip in the rear. I have a 77 f100 i can take the front spring hanger off the rear, and i want to reinforce the stock bracket and stock shackles by welding in some plating. (3) When doing the shackle flip, do i leave the factory blocks or remove them? I read somewhere to turn them backwards to correct the pinion angle?

Also i plan on replacing the track-bar bushings, Radius arm bushings, C-bushings, all U-joints. A set of Rough country 3-4" lift shocks are $140 on ebay, but a set of 5-6" skyjacker lift shocks are $15 more so i may choose them instead. (4) Any opinions?

$150 new shocks, $150 front coils, $150 3-inch body lift, $30-$45 welding wire for shackle flip, $65 (Radius arm bushings, 7 degree C-bushings, trac bar bushings) $545 give or take for 7" total. Not including the track-bar bracket if i need it, or brake lines.

Theres so many questions here that i numbered them. Thanks for any and all responses!

 

1) Opinions vary, but we put them on a buddy's truck. They are fine, but a little stiffer than stock.
2) I used 4* with my 3" lift, but regardless, I think you should replace them just because they are old.
3) I haven't done a shackle flip, but as I understand it, yes, leave the block.
4) I think all those lower end shocks are manufactured by the same company. They all seem to perform similarly. I would save the $$ and just get the cheapest hydraulic (not gas) shock you can.

 

I think that u should lift the front and set the rear to that height I really don't think u need to do a shackle lift with a 4in lift you will only need to go up with the rear about 2 1/2 in because most fords are 2 I. Taller in the rear from the factory a friend of mine did a shackle flip on his truck and we had to take out all the block and it still sits to high in the rear but the rough country lifts are pretty good stuff and they are reasonably priced that's what I run in my trucks

 

I have The same 37x12.5x16.5 tires on 16.5 5 lug wheels. on my 79 bronco. As far as I know there is no left other than the cheap coil spacers I stuck in!


I'm collecting the parts for a 3/4 ton swap And at that time I plain to go with 4inches of lift!

 

This is why I love these trucks there eazy to lift and it doesn't take a ton of lift to clear a big tire I had a 79 f150 with 35s on it with no lift but I've also found that no 2 trucks lift alike I've taken the lift out of 1 truck and put it in another and it would either be bigger or a lil smaller

 

are you happy with these tires? and where did you get yours from? also where did u find 16.5 5 lug wheels, i cant find any for less than $500

 

I love the tires for the price $50 each! As for the wheels I and friends watch craigslist non stop! Only ever seen two sets.

I plain on switching to 3/4 axles done broke my 9in with the 37s!

 

woaa where did you get them for $50 a piece???? that website i posted is wanting $450 for the set, + shipping?

 

Got 15 70% tread in OKC For $750 last month, when we were going after 80% treads for $900