Okay so I am about to redo all of my hangers and shackles and brackets for my shocks, and springs. At the same time I want to level my truck.

EVENTUALLY... I plan on putting larger rims and tires on the truck. I am thinking 20s or 22s with REAL meat on them... none of that rubber bands for tires crap. I just want nice sporty tires that will still give a comfortable ride. My current outside diameter of my wheels is 28.9 inches I THINK... They are the stock 10 hole rims. So.... I want to know.. Will I be able to fit a 31-32 inch tire under the wheel wells up front without rubbing if I use the 2 inch drop shackles in the rear? IF not.... what do you have to do to bring the front of the truck up the 2 inches to level it out. I am kinda into the idea of doing the rear drop because I am going for a sporty street truck, not so much of a off road truck.

I have already found the rear shackles, and they are pretty cheap so.... seems like a EASY and cheap solution to what I am looking to do.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

If you want it level and want to run 31 or 32 inch tires then get front leveling coils. If you want more a sporty street truck then lower the rear with the shackles and get some 255 70 15 or 275 60 15 BFG Radial TA or Cooper Cobra tires.

I don't see how you will be able to fit those rediculously oversized wheels on the truck with meaty tires. The tires will have to be thin ones.

By the way, the wheels you have are awesome. Don't waste your cash on some lame wheels.

 

Well, the thing is... these wheels are in pretty bad shape, I would have to have them blasted/stripped and resurfaced. AND They are not what I want size wise. I am looking for a sporty perfomance look... like for an example....

http://minitruckzone.tenmagazines.co...ages/26215.jpg

I want sporty tires, but I don't want to go down to rubber bands and lose ALL of my ride quality. I could even stand to have a LITTLE bit more sidewall than what is on those right there.

Like these are nice... BUT, I don't want my truck that low.... and I also don't want my wheel wells to look like I'm throwing a tennis ball through a basketball hoop...

Lightning wheel image by tbonemcniel on Photobucket

And I have already found some SICK *** rims that I really really want...

http://www.1010tires.com/images/whee...r_lg_super.jpg

So that is where I stand as of right now, I don't have to go to a 20 but at LEAST an 18 to get the look that I want but 20-22 is more likely to give me what I want from what I can figure...

Like I just found this... If you scroll down to the THIRD picture you can see this truck on 22s with stock suspension height, and the FOURTH is with it lowered... I am TOTALLY fine with keeping the stock front height, but his sidewalls are about an inch or so too short for my taste.... And if you look in that 4th pic you can see that he put EVEN skinnier meat on the front to avoid rubbing, that is what I want to avoid.

http://olderfseries.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2230

Short of the long, VERY soon now I will be replacing all of my springs and hangers and brackets and all that. Some time down the road I will be replacing my rims and tires. I would like to just go ahead and get what I need now so I don't have to do it again later. I am guessing from these pics that I can go ahead and do the rear level. I just hope that I won't have rubbing issues up front with that big of a rim and that much sidewall.

On another note, how wide is it feasible to go in the rear without problems... I DO NOT want my tires to stick out from under my fenders more than 0.5 - 1 inch. And I also don't want to mess anything up by having too much tire on the ground behind the centerline. I remember reading somewhere that when you put wider tires on and don't try to keep the offset fairly close to what it was it throws off the whole system. I wasn't able to follow the link to the information so I couldn't see exactly what he was talking about. He coulda just been talkin for the sake of talking.

Anywho, I'll be watchin my email for a response! Man I wish there was a live chat room on here.....

 

Hmmm, so sad I get no response on basically the same question as this.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rear-drop.html

 

Well its kinda hard to tell exactly what your question is...

Your just saying alot of things. Not really questions..

You posted pics of 2 Lightnings and a "bagged mini truck" style truck. Not really picking up what your wanting..

You don't want your tires to stick out.. Okay then get the right offset wheels.

If your not going to run Drop beams in the front you shouldnt worry about "rubbing" Thats a problem with running 3" front drop. Been there done that.

If you want meaty tires then really big wheels arnt for you.

Just look at pics of other peoples trucks on here and see what you like best.

 

Well I will try and reformulate what I was saying into actual questions.

Well, I was using the pics of the lightnings as a reference of KINDA what I want for a tire profile.

Okay thats easy enough, but I was wondering how wide of a tire I can actually put in the back without running into clearance issues... I would like to go to 12 inches in the rear... in order to get 12 inches under there and make it look natural what kinda offset am I looking at?

Thanks that is kinda what I was asking... I mean... I guess you have to understand the second quote and the one that follows this to really understand what I mean by that tho...

When I say meaty tires... I mean... meaty sports tires... NOT meaty as in off road meaty or AT meaty.. I mean.. I want a lower profile but not like the rubber bands on the "Mini" truck. The front tires on the "lowered" picture of that truck is disgusting... I HATE that look... I spent several hours last week punching tire sizes into one of those "wheel comparison" programs on some sites, only to get irritated as hell when I would find something that looks along the lines of what I want, but "not a recognized tire size". More or less I am having a hard time figuring out what size tires will really give me what I want...

Also, my initial question was about raise the front or lower the rear... And I have officially decided to go with lower the rear... as I am not even remotely interested in dealing with what seems to be a hassle at least as far as one member is concerned.

 

I am also now having a problem figuring out which of these replacement front springs I need!!!! >.< Autozone seems to have at least 3 different springs for my truck... I have no idea what I am looking at as far as actual differences...

Coil Spring - Front | 1996 Ford F150 1/2 ton P/U 2WD 8 Cylinders H 5.8L EFI | AutoZone.com

I have a 96 with the ext cab... and I have a trailer brake package... but I think its aftermarket... I don't know if I actually have the towing package or not... I don't think I have sway bars if that is of any concern... Also it is 2wd...

 

I agree with 86, its kinda hard to give you an answer when its really an open question.

The only wheels I see that I would get are the Lightning wheels. Those others are just bling and look way too modern. They belong on an Escalade. LOL...

Why are you looking at A'zone for springs? Those would be stock replacements.