Heres the deal. I bought this 92 F150 for a good price. It happened to have a 4" suspension lift with 35's... well the set up is not practical for what I am going to use the truck for.

so basically what I can see is that the front spring pirches are moved down on the frame and the brake line was re-routed through a different hole. There are lift blocks in the back... one of which is factory, so I will need another factory block which I am missing.

What about the front control arm (i think thats what it is) it appears to be replaced with an extension... is that true?

anyways I am just looking for some input on everything I need to do to put this thing back to stock.

I also have a set of 235/75/15's mounted on some 15x7 steelies

so all help is appreciated

 

That lift block w/ the little "wing" on the side of it, is the stock block. It is just a 2" block so any block will do if you can't find one (the "wing" is the bump stop though).

Picture 3 is of the radius arm Drop Bracket (see how low it is)...you'll have to remove that and re-install stock ones, use grade 8 hardware (probably can re-use what's there). You'll need to remove the coil springs and replace those with stock springs, and remove those brackets in the first picture (axle pivot brackets) with stock ones (they're shorter and dont hang down as much).

That bar in the first picture is just a steering tie rod/drag link so thats fine, those are stock, but the pitman arm (the arm on the end of the steering box) is probably a drop one, the stock version is almost straight so you'll need to replace that as well. When you drop it back down you'll need an alignment and make sure the brake lines are not going to hit anything. You don't have to move it back up to the old hole unless they are rubbing on something, otherwise it looks like you'd have to disconnect the line and re-bleed the brakes.

It's a fair amount of work, why not just put some smaller tires, like 33s? They're close to stock ride and it's really not that high.

 

Thanks for you help, that helps a lot. so basically I need

one 2" block
stock radius arm drop brackets
stock coil springs - are you sure the stock ones were replaced?
stock pitman arm

stock axle pivot brackets... I am unsure on what these are. Where are they located exactly? two of them?

Basically I don't want to leave it at that height because it is going to be a tow vehicle and a moving **** around vehicle... not really any off roading.

I wondering how retarded it will look with stock wheels and a 4" lift


do you know if any of the older F150's suspension swaps over? like 88-91?
I know there are a couple of those in the local pick-a-part. I'm sure I could get everything I need with a torch and some huge breaker bars.

what about shocks?

 

You will need new shocks all around. Be grateful it doesn't have the quad shock front end as my F-150 does.

It's not just an issue of it looking retarded (it will) with stock tires and a 4" lift, it's a safety issue. You're moving the center of gravity up, and you're not compensating with wider tires. The truck will be very prone to rolling over if you do that.

Any 1980-1996 F-150 or Bronco front end will swap with your truck.

 

andy, I'm aware of the safety issue, I didn't really plan on doing the stock wheels + lift.

Im glad to here that any 80-96 suspension will work... that makes my life easier since there is an 89 bronco sitting at the pick-a-part. I just want to make sure and get everything I need.

is the lift worth anything? as far as selling the parts on ebay or whatnot.

I posted in the IL and IA chapters to see if anyone wants to trade stock stuff for lifted stuff for free, but haven't had any biters.

I'm anxious to get this thing back on the ground, and I am sure I will have more questions as soon as the process starts

 

Hmm, I just noticed that those shocks look like the stockers...and the springs do too but, they must be just old because there is nothing else to provide your 4" of lift, so it has to be lifted springs and shocks. The shocks look like they need to be replaced anyway, so go for it.

I tow often with my truck, 6" lift and 35" tires, and it hauls great. It's perfectly safe and comfortable. I have upgraded my brakes, but if you kept the 4" lift and got some 33" tires it would look pretty cool IMO...I figured I'd mention that if you're only worry about the lift is towing. I would hit up some junk yards for the extra parts, they're all over the place and you should find them for cheap money. If you have the cash, get new replacement springs instead of used ones, and replace bushings while you're in there (unless they're new of coarse).

Keep in mind my truck is just as tall as a stock F-350 of our era, and my tires are wider than a stock F-350 so stability is actually greater for towing.

 

I see your point about going with the 33's as that would be a helluva lot easier. The thing is that I will be going long distances a lot with this truck and would love the stock tire gas mileage. I am also going to be lifting motors in the back which would be way more convernient if the tailgate were a little lower.

Do you think it is possibly to lower the truck down maybe 2 inches and leaving some of the 4" lift parts in there? The back obviously could done with blocks, but the front?

 

I might be interested in the front I-beam brackets, brake line extenders, and the radius arm drop brackets if the price is good. If you put them on ebay let me know.

 

I'll post everything on here if I put it on ebay

 

You can't advertise on the boards for parts. We have the classifieds section for that

I got 16 mpg on my last trip, but that was without a trailer. I get like 13-14 with a trailer on the highway. I honestly didn't loose much with the lift/tires. I never had it w/ 235's on, but my 2wd F-150 w/ I-6 stock only got like 1 maybe 2 more mpg's. With the right gearing and setup it'll be fine on gas mileage.

The only way to lower it would be to change the springs to the 2" lift springs, and put everything else back to stock, same process as returning to stock.

Speaking of gearing, what size gears do you have in it? If the person put in some 4.10s or something with the 35" tires, going to 235's is not an option unless you change the gears back.

 

I doubt they changed the gearing. The truck is pretty getto. Its prior salvage and a shotty rebuild, has 1988 door panels, no radio, the bed is mis-aligned from the cab...

is there any way for me to tell what gearing it has?

 

I guess I shouldn't say that I doubt they changed the gearing... I HOPE they didnt change the gearing.

what are the consequences of not changing it

 

Mustang- do you have any pics of 150's with a 4" lift and 33's? That might be a good medium. How big of a tire can I mount on the stock 15x7's?

 

I found this one... Looks pretty decent

both are 4" with 33's

http://www.tuffcountry.com/Images/ford_blue.jpg

http://www.tuffcountry.com/Images/bronco.jpg

 

They do look good with 4"/33's...you can look through the gallery of our website, and arrange by year.

The only way to tell the gearing now is to jack up the rear end, put a chalk mark on the driveshaft near the rearend, rotate the tire one revolution, and count how many times the driveshaft turns. If it turns 4 times its a 4.10, if it turns 3 and 1/2 times, its a 3.55...etc etc.

Also, if both tires turn in the same direction, it's a limited slip (unless its locked and you chirp the tires around corners, but I don't think you have a locker in there). If they turn in opposite directions, than it's an open. If it's open, you might have to put 1 tire on the ground and 1 in the air to perform this trick to find out your ratio (it would only turn the driveshaft 2 times instead of 4 times (if it was a 4.10 ratio) from the nature of an open diff (cuts in 1/2 because the other tire is spinning in the opposite direction).

You can go to howstuffworks.com for more information on differentials if you don't know much about them.