Im very new to my 1985 f150 with a 4.9 Ltr I6 (I300) engine and the T19 manual transmission.When i got it I instantly fell in love. What i want to do is lower my truck about one or two inches. i dont want it to look like a lowrider just a little lower. what are good parts and ways to do this cheaply.

 

I was in your same place when it came to "cheaply". There are Dream Beams and other similar Twin I-Beams that replace the stock parts. But here's what I did.

I jacked the front of the truck up, pulled out the front coil springs, and cut the spring with an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Took about a coil or a coil and a quarter out, replaced the spring and lowered the truck. I have too much camber on the front wheels, but one of these days I'll pull the upper ball joint and put in an adjustable cam piece to correct some of that. I have new I-Beam rubber bushings and trailing arm bushings to do first though.

In the back I put in a set of lowering shackles. I had these left over from a prior truck project. It lowered the rear a bit, but not as much as I wanted, so I pulled the bed loose and drilled the rivets out of the front spring hangers and flipped the hangers. Then I redrilled the holes in the frame and replaced the rivets with some grade 8 1/2" bolts from Home Depot.

So, all told I have maybe $15 into the project and I'm quite happy with it.

I have probably 5K miles on it as lowered and haven't had any issues with the increased camber up front. No perceptible wear on the tires.

As I said, at some point I'll replace the front suspension bushings and then replace the camber adjusters and it'll correct a lot of the front wheel camber without spending much money.

OK, let the flaming begin...

Tracy

 

I think springs from a Ford Lightning will lower it an inch or so. They're supposed to be stiffer also.

 

cutting the stock springs will make them stiffer also

TR

 

these are great ideas im going to try them and inform on progress. and eventualy post pictures but my truck is very multi-colored i have frame parts from a 350 custom side quarter pannels and hood white, a 250 matte black bed, and with a cab thats grey with outline only pinstriping

 

just remember to cut less the first time and check for the desired height. It's kinda hard to put back material on the spring if you cut too much. You also need to back the truck up and roll it forward after you reinstall the spring in order to get the accurate ride height.

Tracy

 

Cutting springs is an art form that cannot be taught, only learned. cut less, and reinstall multiple times until you get the hang of it.

Best of luck, sir. i've cut springs before, but decided to go drop I beams on my last project. much happier with the lowness of it all.

 

my plan was to cut small amounts off till i got it. but thank you advice is always appreciated.

 

It's all in the way you want to do it and the final result. I personally think the tires flared out at the bottom look terrible, but if you don't mind it, go for it. I am not mentioning it for flaming purposes, just educational purposes. That's what he means by "camber". Jack the truck up higher and the front tires point out at the top and look pigeon toed. Cut the springs to lower it and the top goes inward. Much like how they animated the vehicles in the "Cars" movie.

 

The flared out front tires do look tacky. i have a friend that wants to show me how to use a full kit to drop it 1.5 - 3 inches. so no flare out.

 

That's what they were talking about in the previous posts. There is a company or two that make special suspension beams for these trucks that will lower it, and still keep the wheel straight. But they cost money.

 

I dropped mine a couple or three inches up front with cutting the springs and the wheels do tip in a titch, but it's no where near "goofy"

Pretty sure that I can install the offset camber bushings and bring it back into spec. Just need to find the time to install the new axle and trailing arm bushings before I take it for an alignment

TR

 

The offset bushings aren't hard to install, however, getting the right ones can be a bit... tedious.