2 inch front leveling kit - before and after
 

I thought some might be interested to see how the appearance of the truck changes after adding a 2 inch leveling kit and Toyo 315/60/20's.

Here's a picture of the just-unloaded truck through the fence at the rail yard:

http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-11101416.jpghttp://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-11101416.jpg

Here's the front fender height after adding tires but before the leveling kit was installed:

http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12051613.jpghttp://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12051613.jpg

Here's the rear fender height. Notice the 3 inch difference between front and rear. That, to me is very noticeable:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12051518.jpg

Look carefully and you can see the spacer on top of the front spring:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12075621.jpg

Here's a picture of the shock extension that was necessary to keep the shock from bottoming out with the new lift:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12075636.jpg

Here's the new front fender height. Notice it is exactly two inches higher but still one inch lower than the back fender. Perfect in my book.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12080449.jpg

Here's some pics of the finished product:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12081749.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...6-12081728.jpg

You can see that 35/12.50 tires fit just fine under the truck now. They cleared the front fender/bumper before the leveling kit but just barely. With the leveler, there is plenty of room to spare. I think the better tires and leveling kit really make the truck look nice. I'll try to get a better picture up soon as these were taken on a gray/rainy day.

Here's some better photos:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3403.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3402.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3401.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3400.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3399.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3398.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...8/IMGP3397.jpg

which kit did you use?

Autospring Corporation out of Boise, Idaho. Here's a link to the specific kit I used:

2005-2011 FORD F-250/350/450 2 Leveling kit w/shock extensions - $112.95 : Auto Spring Corp, Is your tail draggin' or your nose droopin'? Let us give you a lift!

I just ordered one....Thanks for the link Epic!!!

Epic.....did you install the kit yourself? If so, how difficult was it to install? Thanks.

Yes, I installed it. No big deal except my only problem was finding jack stands tall enough for this beast of a truck! I ended up cutting a couple of two-by-fours and stacking them so the jack stands could reach the front frame. Sheeze.

When you install, be careful when you disconnect the sway bar links. The whole front end will fall to the floor if it's not supported. So keep your jack under the front axle during the procedure and let it down slowly. Also be careful to unbolt the brake line brackets and ABS line from the steering knuckle. The axle will need to drop lower than the lines can reach unbolted. Once the front end is low enough, the springs literally pull right out. Insert the 2" lift part and re-insert. Piece of cake. It's also a simple deal to add the shock mount extension.

The instructions say you can do this install with the wheels on but why would you? Doesn't take much time to remove the wheels and access is a whole lot easier. For me, I spent about 2 hours but some of that time was cutting two-by-fours. It's a two out of five star difficulty. Easy.

Oh, one other thing I learned during the install. You do have to unbolt both sides of the sway bar links to get the axle low enough. I initially tried to install one side at a time and quickly figured that wouldn't work. That cost me about 10 minutes.

Have you already had the truck in the alinement shop?

Do you intend to tow heavy? as then you will be reversed.. front higher than the back, instead of level after weight squat..

sam

The truck looks awesome. How is the ride? On my 06' I installed a nice procomp leveling kit that came with shocks and everything... but the ride sucked! THe ride was so stiff it made it almost unbearable. Those tires fit perfect... and make that ride mean! I had the Toyo MT tires and loved the aggesive look, but they got a little too loud for me after about 10K miles.

No, I haven't taken it in for an alignment. The kit says you don't need to because it doesn't change camber or caster. Having said that, I think it is pulling a little to the right so I will take it in at the next opportunity.

Yeah, I was worried about that too. I've seen lifted trucks going down the road with their headlights pointed to the sky with a trailer attached. I did hook up my trailer (25' toy hauler about 8,500 lbs empty) and surprisingly the truck didn't squat at all. I have an Equalizer hitch so it is apparently taking up the weight on the back. We'll see how it goes after the first tow to see if I need to readjust them. If it does squat the rear end, I'll just add air bags to level the truck again.

I couldn't tell any difference in ride after the leveling kit alone. It keeps all the original suspension parts including the shocks so nothing should be affected there. I hear you on the tires though. The tire store inflated them to 80 psi and when I left the shop, I was horrified. The truck bounced and bucked like crazy. So I lowered the pressure to 65 psi on all four and the ride is back to nice again. I actually prefer this ride to the factory Michellins. It just feels more "substantial" like you would expect.

I admit that I am a little concerned about the noise. This is my first set of MT's and there is a noticeable hum. But this has to be balanced with the type of off-road driving that I do. There will be many times where I will need the extra bite so the extra noise is the price to be paid. Don't get me wrong, it's not "loud". It's just noticeable where the factory tires were silent. They sound a bit like BFG AT KO's that are about worn out. Even those make noise as at the end of life.