Buddy of mine just got a 95 F-150. 2wd. We want to lift it a couple inches and put 31x10.50 tires on it. Just because it sits very low as it is. And we like to go bashing around in the desert from time to time. Haha

Anyway, we figure the back will be real easy, just get some 2" lift blocks and some longer U-bolts. But what about the front? Spacers or taller springs?
We found these spacers on eBay for only $40, but I'm not quite sure how they work? Do they go under or on top of the spring? (And what does the extended cab have to do with it?)
http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/261689340662

And yes, i know it will need different caster/camber bushings to be realigned properly.

 

Spacers or springs will work, just limited to the amount of camber correction available in the bushings. My f150 lowered 6" in the front, 3" with springs, so I'd guess you could go up 3" and still be able to align it. 4 degree adj bushings in mine.

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I ran 31-10..50R15's on my 95 SCSB 2wd with no problems at stock height. I wasn't bashing around the desert at speed though.


Robert

 

Agreed. Fine for normal driving but not anything at high speed

 

The tires will clear ok at stock height, but the truck overall sits very low. Very low. We want to lift it for added ground clearance. Especially since it's a extended cab with a long bed.

 

The standard drop bracket lifts are the same 2wd/4wd. Extended radius arm kits are available, but they are specific.
There are all kinds of options like cut and turned beams, the aftermarket for lifted and long travel twin I beam stuff is pretty huge.
You could even put a ttb front in it from a 4wd, that would gain you probably 2" in itself.

 

A 4wd lift kit with drop brackets will achieve the same affect. I just put one on my bronco. I went with a 2.5 inch lift from rough country. The pivot beam brackets and radius arm brackets are seemingly identical 4wd TTB vs 2WD. I think it was $400 shipped to my door for the 2.5 inch lift which came with new coil springs, lift shocks, lift blocks, drop brackets, and all needed hardware.

the other option is to have the i beams cold bent by a local semi truck alignment shop (they cold bend some beams for 18 wheelers i guess). This is what I had a local shop do on my f350 to keep the load capacity at stock. - this is not the cheaper option of the two.

 

No need to bend the beams when you have adjustable ball joints...

 

I am not sure what you mean by adjustable ball joints. - I put in the most negative camber sleeves they make and my truck was still \ / since I had put lift springs up front that brought it up close to 3 inches of lift (was supposed to be 2 inches but I think the springs were for a 460 or diesel since it brought it up a bunch more).

Also keep in mind yes you can do up to a 2 inch lift and get by with just adjustable camber sleeves set at the most negative camber but it will never align completely right.

 

You ask about the "best" way to lift a truck, and then you suggest you're going to use blocks for the rear and spacers for the front. Neither one of those methods can be considered "best" unless you really meant "absolute cheapest and I don't even care if it's safe to drive or not".

I would still argue that the best way to lift a 2wd truck is to sell it and buy a 4wd truck...

 

Everyone hating on the 2wd. I am down in Texas so not much snow but I have a few friends including myself that have taken 2wd vehicles and not gotten stuck the whole time mudding, trailing (nothing major of course), and just regular off-roading around the ranch. When I did my lift on my f350 I did not find much material since everyone was like why lift a 2wd? - think about the toyota pre-runner tacomas. I sure as heck like the look of the pre-runner vs non. you give a little in ride quality (and not that much if you do it right).

I never suggested coil spring spacers. On both my 350 and bronco I did full coil spring replacements since old ones are 20 years old and I would never do a coil spacer up front when lift springs can be had from anywhere from $100-$200. the problem presented is that is you have 3 choices to get aligned right. (1) camber adjustment sleeves with negative camber but can only do a couple inches of lift with this route and the alignment shop will tell you that it will never align truly right but I have not gone down this road myself and hear that tires wear ok this route. (2) buy a 4wd lift kit and it will come with all necessary drop brackets for the beams and rad arms to keep the stock alignment close to true (replace pivot beam bushings at this point if have not already recently), last option (3) since this has i beams and not a TTB have the beams bent. Your tires/wheel will sit a little closer to the back of the wheel well since no extended radius arms or drop brackets were used. Oh wait there is a (4) get a monobeam or a d44 solid axle out of an older f150/bronco!

As far as lift blocks for the rears - ford installed factory lift blocks on certain models of 4x4. I got 2 sets of factory 2 inch lift blocks off of an F-150 4x4 and an F-250 4x4 and used those on my bronco and 350. It was spend $50 for blocks and u bolts or spend a lot more on lift springs that I would lose load capacity on (what's the point of having an f-350 with no tow capacity for when the occasion arises)

To each his own.

 

I don't know what your angle is, but let me straighten a few things out.

First off, forget the "sell it and buy a 4wd" idea. This is the truck we have and this is the truck he wants. We here in the southwest can go just about everywhere in 2wd...

Second, blocks in the rear are perfectly acceptable for any installation. Many trucks come factory with 1", 2", even 3-4" rear lift blocks. Many aftermarket lift kit companies use blocks as well. There is NOTHING "unsafe" about them. Stacking blocks on the other hand, is dangerous and a bad idea.

As for my original question about what would be the "best" way, what is best for one may not be for another. In this case, the best way is the way that is going to be cheap and do what it needs to, that is lift the truck, without compromising capability/ durability/ reliability. I was mainly asking about the front end....