My F250 in my avatar has stock springs in the front. It has a 460 hanging in the engine bay.

 

Ok gents, the pace here has been incredibly slow. Slow enough that I am actually considering shifting directions.

I've been debating back and forth with myself the best way to get this old girl lowered, and it just doesn't seem like there's an easy way to do it. Too many sacrifices in terms of ride and safety without doing IFS, IFR, airbags, etc.

So, while I am replacing the front suspension, a thought occurs to me: this thing is getting lifted, whether I like it or not. The front leaves are so shot they're parallel to the ground, so pretty much any replacement is going to raise the front end. This is where the game changes. Instead of going through all the trouble to figure out how to economically/safely/ergonomically lower my truck, I have decided I am going to lift it. Yes, you heard me: LIFT IT.

Stock replacement springs in the front should raise it a solid 3-4" (maybe more) and I'm either going to talk to a local shop about fabbing up some lift blocks for the rear, or flip the helper springs from the top of the spring pack to the bottom, which should gain about 3" in the rear and soften it up a bit as well (unless someone tells me this is a TERRIBLE idea, which it certainly may be. Just thinking out loud).

Then we'll be looking into tire options. Once all the suspension is set to my liking, I'll be interested to see how tall a tire I can squeeze under there. I'm guessing 33's should be easily doable, and possibly even 35's.

Yes it's a 4x2, and no I don't care! I won't be off roading, obviously, maybe some light trails and camping etc. I've been considering the idea of a canvas camper type cover for the bed, so the new direction ought to lend itself to that.

The guy below built his truck on a late 70's frame, 4x4 with a 6.9 Powerstroke. Mine won't be quite what his is, but the stance and overall look is going to be my inspiration from here on. STAY TUNED!

 

Sounds like a good plan. The lowered trucks look great, but there are tons of them out there. Lifting it a bit will set it apart. Are you keeping the flatbed?

The truck that is your inspiration is nice.

 

Oh yeah, the flatbed's here to stay. I started thinking about what I want out of a truck, and really, a hot rod wasn't what I was after in the first place. If I want a hot rod I'll build a coupe or something, Francesca's gonna stay a workhorse.

 

If you lift it and want big tires, Use big truck fenders on the front with the larger open. Maybe F350+. My F250 had bigger wheel openings.

 

I could be wrong, but I thought F250 through F600 had the same fenders.

 

Good deal. I think a flatbed wouldn't look quite so cool lowered. Since your current springs are pretty flat, I would recommend putting fresh ones on and seeing what that looks like before you add more height. You just might really like the regular height.

Since you want to keep it a workhorse (I love it when these trucks are actually used as truck. ) you will also want to consider where the lift puts the bed. If you get it too high, it makes it harder to use.

 

Harrier, my F250 has the larger fenders but somewhere along the way I heard some had the F100 size fenders. Maybe that is a mix up with the F100's with the long bed.

 

For anyone following along, the 3.73 rear end should be going in today!!! Woohoo!

Also, I got new leaves and a drop axle from Sid in for the front. Need to track down some eye bolts/hardware for the leaf install, then the suspension, axle, and disc conversion will all go on at the same time.

Quick question: Is there a danger in running disc/drum with my stock MC? The folks over at TSM didn't seem to think it would be a problem....

 

Oh, I see I never updated this after pulling the trigger on the drop axle... Well, I opted against the lift etc. in favor of stock springs and a drop axle. All said and done, it will probably end up at about the same ride height it's at now.


C'est la vie, no?

 

The 3.73 is in! Didn't realize it, but I picked up some drum brake surface area with the new rear axle. Hooray!

Moving on!

I've got Sid's 3" drop axle and his tie rod drops, a new set of leaf springs, a new set of hardware for the leafs, and a disc conversion. Am I forgetting anything so far? Any bits or pieces I might come to that will definitely need to be replaced that I may not be thinking of or aware of? First time doing a suspension swap, so bear with me.

Also, do I need anything to adjust the caster/camber? Still kinda trying to figure out how they both relate and how best to set them.

Planning to start work on this Saturday morning, so any insight or tips are greatly appreciated. I've been through the install. tech on Sid's site, and that was pretty helpful.

 

Usually a caster wedge goes between the leaf and the axle (I think they recommend 4 degrees). Classic Haulers has them in 2 and 4 deg for the 49-52 at least.

Camber is built into the axle. I believe the only way to adjust it on a solid axle is to bend the axle.

 

Little late, but thanks for the info DMack. I think I tried to respond when you originally posted but my computer froze. It was three months ago, so who knows.

Anyhooo... shortly after the new axle was installed, my starter **** the bed. So she was down for a few weeks while I got that all sorted. Then when she was back up and running again, the new to me axle blew out the pinion seal. Turns out the guys who did the install didn't "go through it" as much as they "said they would" and the vent was all plugged up with crap. So after a few weeks I finally got around to putting in a new seal (total PITA btw), cleaned out the vent, got everything buttoned up, and she's been running just fine ever since! Been driving daily for the past two weeks to make sure everything is as it should be, and so far so good (knock on wood).

With all that out of the way, I'm hoping to find time this week/weekend/next week to get the new springs, axle, and brakes on the front.

Not much for an update, but this thread hasn't been touched in three months, I didn't want it to get lonely