Larry said so

 

Do they go inplace of the old ones?

What do you have planed for that motor?

 

I found a hack artist

 

ok. And for the bed, they just sit on the frame?

 

And said here we go.

Done with this goofy tread.

 

I'm probably gonna get that body lift kit.

But in case the body lift isn't high enough for me.
I wanna know from the people that have done a shackle flip and lowered the coil buckets.
What did it affect ride wise?

 

As much as I like the way some lifted trucks look, this is why I'm never gonna lift mine lol. Mine is stock and sits on 33''s, I can practically sit up under the bed and sits up plenty high enough for any off roading I will ever do. 3-4'' is tempting but over that and the geometry goes south. I purposely looked for one that hadnt been lifted as so many are hack jobs, plus it often means somebody has been thrashing the truck in the mud.

 

Do you have a highboy?

 

No, its a '76 F-100.
ps I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I just dont want to go through the hassle of lifting it plus while some lift looks great I have always liked the look of these trucks with just a little lift(stock in the case of 70s Fords) and slightly over sized tires. I remember back in high schools guys would lift these as high as they could using all kinds of jerry rig methods, drivelines would be all messed up; busted u joints and driveshafts if they could even get the front shaft in etc, handled like crap, rode like crap, bounced around etc basically unreliable

 

Could you post some pics of you're truck?

 

You should be able to fit 33s. You might have to level the front end though. I personally hate body lifts, I think they look cheap. They look even worse if you don't get bumper relocation brackets or gap guards. For a few dollars more than a properly done body lift, you could get a 2.5" or 4" suspension lift.

 

Ok I know all about the kits.
What I want to know is the Pros and Cons of shackle flip and lowering coil buckets.
This truck isn't gonna be my dd just a mud/trail rig.

 

If that's the case then my vote would be a 4" suspension lift. If your going to ride trails the articulation you would get is far better with a suspension lift. If will perform much better off road and I think you will be much happier with it in the end. That's just my $.02 so take it or leave it

 

I seriously think that for your application, getting a 2" spring and 2" lift blocks would be the best way to go.

Cutting the coil buckets and dropping them will work, but it's a lot more work. On top of that, a new spring will give you 2" on top of a "fresh" factory height, as well as additional flex/ride quality. Your existing springs have probably sagged 1/2-1" - so you'll actually net a little more than 2" of lift.

As for the rears - check to make sure that you don't already have factory blocks - if you do, measure them, and add 2" to the height. You may need to go up to a 4" block if the rear came equipped with factory blocks (my '78 F250 had factory blocks).

Look here:
Leaf Spring Blocks - Search Results for lift block - SummitRacing.com

Choose how wide your current rear leafs are (the F250 I have may be different than your F100), and then how tall you want the blocks. Most blocks cost less than $50.

Also on Summit, I found that you can get a set of 2" (or 4") coil lift springs for around $160-170. (Skyjacker 182 or 184 for 2" of 4" lift, respectively)

For just around $200 in parts, you can have a lifted suspension without modifying and cutting up the frame/coil buckets. The install will be easier, and the ride will be better!

-Brad

 

My lord this is FUNNY! All this to sell a body lift????

I've run a body lift in the past & like many who have I never will again. You talk about lowering the buckets being scary, yet you're pushing a body lift. Something is a bit backwards here...


Ok I won't tear this (or a couple other posts I've chuckled at while reading) entire thing to shreds as it would take way too long, but I will touch on a few key points.

I'm all for doing things right & not rigging stuff as well, but you have to realize what is "rigged" & what is not.
Just a heads up - the geometry as it sits is a compromise and a track bar is a band aid fix to begin with. Even if he didn't get the geometry dead on, close enough definitely works here. We're not talking a-arms here...
As for the weld braking & you loosing control of the vehicle - you seem to not have a clear understanding of the procedure being discussed here. The weld on what we were talking about is not the primary connection procedure for the bucket to the truck - or anything close to it. My guess is that weld could fail & he could drive daily on the thing for months & have no clue the weld broke.

Please go back & explain this one again. Pretty lost as to your point, or even what you are saying.
There are 2 types of shackle setups - compression or tension. Both function in similar ways but have different benefits. A shackle flip is taking a tension shackle & putting it in a compression setup or vice versa. Both setups were offered in stock forms on many vehicles, so I am lost as to how one is so bad.
As to why "the engineer's put it that way" - it's typically because that's what the bean counters said they could afford to do.


"Hacked up" is a point of perspective. Most of the lift kits I see offered are hack compared to what I'd want to run or can build. As was said earlier "why buy it if you can build it" - I'll just add "correctly" at the end of that

4x4's don't have a bad rap or people wouldn't be buying them new every day. Hack job, redneck engineered 4x4's do to some degree, but that is when inferior parts or fabrication is used. Lowering a coil bucket, or flipping a shackle is not hacked if done right.


On a side note since I'm on my soap box - any given vehicle, even a purpose built race vehicle the suspension (and many other parts) are a compromise of budget limitations & space/layout limitations. You just have to work within these constraints to come



Now that all that nonsense is out of the way. Read the post above this, save some pennies & go that way. He makes a good point.
While blocks aren't the best way to do it IMO they do work. As for the front coil springs - they will save you a bunch of time. If you really don't have any $$ though then we go back to the original debacle.....