Ive got a '77 F-150. Its got 33's on it, which I understand they can run without a lift. HOWEVER, it has newer looking red springs on the front, rancho shocks, and the radius arms were cut, angled, and re-welded, apparently to serve the same purpose as radius arm drop brackets. This leads me to believe the truck has a lift. It does have a lot of clearance for those 33's. So there's the situation, here's my question.....


How tall, is a STOCK rear block for this truck?

I bought new radius arms so the modified ones wouldn't play a factor in the front end geometry, so now I need to know if I need to buy some stock blocks for the rear.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

It should have a 3" block with an arm sticking out for the bump stop. The idea to buy new radius arms is a good one, as you have no idea what they were thinking and the quality of their work. There are plenty of quality lift kits out there, so to rig something up is kind of questionable. Ted

 

I agree with ted on the replacing the radius arms, I wouldn't trust welded arms as that metal doesn't weld very good, and having one break going down the road would definatly be a bad idea, besides it is way to easy to correct steering geometry with a C-bushing kit which even if you are going stock I would put one in since you are replacing the arms anyway, and the stock rubber ones are junk.
On the rear ted's description of the blocks is correct, and should be easy to find origanal ones in any junk yard, heck I have several set laying around from rears I have pulled from one truck or another, but watch out for other things such as add-a-leaves or rearched springs or modified shackles that might have been used to lift the rear.
Also if you are lowering it back to stock you need to check you shock length, since they are aftermarket they may have been bought for a lift, and if you are going back stock they will bottom out possibly even just sitting still.

 

Thanks guys. When I bought the truck, the owner said it had a 6" Rancho lift. Well, Im not aware that Rancho makes a 6" kit for that truck, and even if they did, this truck isnt lifted that much.
Im thinking he lifted the front to level the truck, or its a 2.5" or 4" kit. I can't tell.

So what Im doing is putting a lift on it myself. I bought a 9" kit from Skyjacker. I don't want to put lift kit parts on top of lift kit parts and get everything out of whack, and I want to make sure everything is done right; thus the replacement of the radius arms. Now that I know the size of the blocks in the rear, thats another variable I can eliminate. I figured in the front Im okay, because everything that determines lift is replaced; springs, pitman arm, etc.
Now, on the rear, Im still not sure about the leafs. I dont know how many are supposed to be there, if they've been re-arched, or if a leaf has been added.
As far as being re-arched, I dont see why the previous owner wouldn't have just bought a block kit since they are so cheap. Which blocks would probably be cheaper than adding an extra leaf as well. The problem is I don't know for sure.

So thanks for the input so far, and any other help on the rear spring situation would be greatlty appreciated.

How tall should a stock half ton 4x4 be from the ground up to the truck? Maybe I could measure that to determine if its lifted

 

well what type of rear lift are you using if you are using blocks to achieve 9in of lift I would suggest change your mind you will break thinks, use rearched springs is the best, and then what he did to the springs is irrelevant because you would be replacing them.
The add-a-leave spring will be a short spring about the thickness of the overload spring but it will contact the the regular spring pack to create more lift, and is usually between the overload spring, and the main spring pack. but like i said just replace them with new springs is the best
also most 150s either have 4 or 5 leafs, not sure about the stock height, and can't even measure mine anymore.

 

The title of this thread has been changed
Why ?

Please read the very first sentence in this thread (the Red Part)


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=102632

 

Skyjacker offers either new rear spings or the rear block kit with their 9" kit. I went with the block kit because the rear springs alone are $500.
On the 9" block kit, they give you blocks AND an add-a-leaf.
I would like to go with springs someday, but for now I had to go the other way so it wasnt too much of a financial hit all at once.
I dont do a lot of trail rides or rock climbing, mostly mud, so hopefully it will hold up until I can get some new springs.

I really appreciate all your help. I've spent hours searching the net only to find less than what you have explained to me in 2 replies!

Sorry about the vague title mil1ion. Didn't know it was THAT big of a deal. Ill try not to be "cute" anymore. Sheesh.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BigGreen'77
[B]Skyjacker offers either new rear spings or the rear block kit with their 9" kit. I went with the block kit because the rear springs alone are $500.
On the 9" block kit, they give you blocks AND an add-a-leaf.
I would like to go with springs someday, but for now I had to go the other way so it wasnt too much of a financial hit all at once.
I dont do a lot of trail rides or rock climbing, mostly mud, so hopefully it will hold up until I can get some new springs.



well if you are going with 9in of lift I assume you are going with some pretty big tires, and big tires equal lots of force applied to the axles, and blocks severly amplify this, you are going to end up with some serious axle wrap problems, and broken parts are a very real possiblilty. I understand the financle hit issue but it could cost you even more, if it was me I would just save a little longer, and do it right the first time expecially in mud with large tires, you start spinning them and suddenly grab traction with that much lift you can actually twist the rearend clear out of the truck break the axle, springs and or driveshafts, let alone the wheel hop issues
I actually removed the factory blocks in my 86 f150 race truck, and found I had alot more traction with no other mod at that time, it allowed me to run 8psi more in my tires, and still not spin comming off the line with a 400hp small block in low range

 

For the rear, one thing you may want to consider is a shackle flip. If you search, you will find several threads on it. They give about 5" and are pretty cheap, and (I think) a good idea. In theory, you could use an add-a-leaf, shackle flip, and extended shackles(like the ones for lowriding) and get your 9" without buying new leaves. I will be doing a flip to get rid of the factory and aftermarket blocks. Also, like Monsterbaby said, even removing the factory block will increase traction. Just a few thoughts. Ted