Has anyone had any experience with lowering a '79 F-100 2wd? I'm not talking a complete slam just 3" in front and 4" in back. I'm not sure if my current tires will clear the fenders. I have 15" american racing chrome wheels with 275-60-15 tires. Will I need to buy a different wheel with different backspacing to accomadate the wide tires? I've measured it and it seems like the tires would come awfully close to the fenders. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

have you looked into air ride suspensions?

 

Sorry I can't help you with the lowering question but I was wondering about your tires.

I was thinking of putting the same size tires on my truck. Do they clear the radius arms on the front ok when you turn the wheels?

 

I am also planning to lower my 79 ford 3" in the front a 4" in the back (only mine is a f-150) I am also curious about how those tires will clear.. as i am purchassing the same tires as mentioned (for the rear.. front will get smaller tires)

 

Hello, I have a 79' F100 shortbed that i have recently lowered. I used a DJM kit to do the job. It includes a set of dropped I beams for the front, and lowered the truck 3". The back uses a longer rear spring shackle, and the front spring mount is changed. You will also need shorter shocks in the rear. The rear of the truck is lowered 4". The front shocks do not necessarily have to be replaced. Due to the design of the dropped i beam, the shock still mounts in the same location as before. The kit also includes a set of tie rod end relocators. This is the only part of the kit that can cause some grief in installation as they are not well engineered, but with some persistance, it does work. As for the tires, I think the 275/60/15 is going to be too wide in the front. This tire will work OK in the rear with the correct backspacing on your wheel, but I think you will have problems up front regardless of backspace. My truck has 17x10 rear wheels with a 5" backspace and a 275/60/17 tire. The front has a 17x8" wheel also with a 5" backspace. I run a 235/60/17 tire on the front. This tire and wheel combo clears everything well, and both tires fill the wheel wells nicely. The truck has a slight rake to it due to the taller tire out back, but i think it looks cool. A company called AIM makes the stuff mentioned above also, but i would stay away from them, I had trouble with their stuff on a different project. Overall I was happy with the DJM equipment, and the whole thing ran me about $600.00 not counting the tires and wheels of course. Good luck FOMOGO

 

The tires are perfect on the truck. Nothing even comes close to rubbing anywhere. The only problem I had was with the wider tires on the front it seemed to wander on the road more, but that was taken care of almost completely when I installed a new steering box. The truck also handles incredibly well even without sway bars, tires don't even screech when hard cornering.

 

Thanks for the response FOMOGO. I'm still undecided as to what I want to do. I guess i'll think it out a bit more.

 

>The tires are perfect on the truck.

Thanks. The 3-4 lowering is a long-range goal for me too.