Hey Guys,

I was cleaning the wheels and tires on my truck today and noticed that my shocks in the front are just rusty and they just 'look' like they need to be replaced. After thinking about it for a bit I started to wonder if an idea I have will work or not. Perhaps some of you have already tried it or if it's possible and how much it would cost...

You see, what I want to do is to put a little bit smaller shocks in the front and a bit larger ones in the back so that it sits a little higher in the back and just gives it that nice stance...

Maybe I'm not even sure what I'm talking about here and it's more to do with springs then shocks but if anybody can shoot any suggestions my way that'd be great.

Thanks!

Dan

 

Shocks won't affect ride height and dirty shocks work just as good as clean shocks. Jump on the front end then release. If it bounces more than once (and maybe a short second) there's nothing wrong with the shocks. If all you want is for the rear to sit an inch or two higher than the front, you can stick in a helper spring in the rear.

Now if your shocks are leaking or the truck fails the bounce test, get some multistage valve, like Ranchos or the like. I've also had good luck with Moog Cargo springs. There's ways to get a beefy suspension without ending up with a Chevy ride.


Something else to ponder, pardner. The best way to double your money is fold it and put it back in your wallet!

Tom
Tucson, AZ

 

I did notice that when I put Ranchos on mine it sat lower than with the factory ones. This is because the factory ones are gas charged or something. They push outwards. The Ranchos do not. The Ranchos do however ride much better. I have had them for 7 years. Its about time to change them again. It was only about 1/4 inch difference. You could use a small 1 inch block in the back to make it sit higher. If there is already a block there then use one that is slightly taller. Stacking blocks is a bad idea. Most F150 s sit a little higher in the rear stock. You could use air shocks in the back, but I would not do that its a goofy setup. The shock mounts are not really designed to hold weight.

 

Right on. Thanks for the replies guys.

I'll try the bounce test and see what happens.

Dan

 

the rear was sagging on mine and I noticed one of my leafs had a broken spring so I replaced them that have 4 leafs (oem had 3) so it could handle more weight and not squat the truck. After installing the new leafs the rear is a lot higher now and I'm thinking of getting some different coils for the front to level it out some.

 

Are they brand new? If so, I would wait a little while and see how much they settle. I'm sure they will settle some. You said you got 4 instead of 3 leaf? I thought the options were 4 and 5 not 3 and 4. I just got some that have 5. Are you not counting the short overload leaf? How much higher does yours sit in the rear, and what brand springs are they?

 

sorry I just went out and counted and I do have 5 leafs, I bought them from jcwhitney when they was having a sale where over x amt. of dollars you got free shipping and that saved me a lot, the part# is ZX975256X and are rated for 2073 lbs, and I must say that I am glad that I got the ones I did. They do have quite a selection of different weight ratings in either 2-1/2 or 3" wide. I didn't know this at the time when I ordered but f250 springs will fit f150 4wd because they have 3" wide ones as well. I need to take a pic of a side view of my truck when it is sitting level but the rear sits up too high for my tastes and has too much of a rake but some people like the rear sitting up higher. The only time it squats is when I tow a 16ft cattle trailer and I do use the weight distribution hitch and it still squats. Total weight for trailer and cattle is usually around 8k-9k lbs which is realistically way too much for the truck.

But for the op, the easy ways to raise the rear is to either use air shocks or add a leaf in the rear. I choose new ones because the one was broke on the passenger side so it only made sense to replace both packs.

 

My shocks looked "dirty" and "rusty" too. So I took some WD-40 to them and boy did that freshen them up! In fact, I got a bit carried away and went through 3 cans of WD-40 and renewed the entire undercarriage -- frame, leafs, axels, cat, pipes, etc. Truck now smells good too.