I am new to this so please bear with me. Ride is a 2000 F-150 SCab. 4x4.

What is the difference in a leveling kit like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-l...QQcmdZViewItem


Compared to one with add-a-leafs like this: ???
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-03...QQcmdZViewItem

How much will the new leaf springs help me??

The first link says I can fit 35's with the kit.
While the 2nd says 33's. -Heck I can fit 33's stock!

Any advice here and useful tips??

Thanks.

 

Depending on your rear's height, you may be able to level out your 4x4 by jacking up the torsion bars. It worked for me and, save for an alignment (needed anyway), it was free.

I wrote about it in the fifth post here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...sion-lift.html

 

Ok, so would it be beneficial to me to put the keys on there or should I just save the money??

When you are saying shake it from side to side I assume this is not done with a jack??

Anything else I need to know?? Which direction is up??

 

LOL, see that blue sky? That's 'up'. Green grass is 'down'.

Sorry...

Anyways, clockwise (laying on your back in your driveway, looking up at the bolt heads), the traditional 'tightening' direction, is 'up'. Depending ont he truck, though, you may be only able to get 1" to 1.5" of lift to the front - after that, a true leveling kit of some sort will probably be needed due to alignment issues.

Thing is, the amount of lift I got levelled out my truck just fine (not room for 35" tires, mind you, but that would not have been level anyway - I'd need some spacers for the rears to make the truck level if I lifted the front that much). I have a long-bed, extended cab, so yours may be different.

I believe you're going to need a good 18mm socket, a long bar for the socket (what the heck are those called? mind block at the moment) - i have a 22" one, some penetrating lubricant on both sides of the threads (Parts Blaster), and a tape measure.
First thing is first, though. With a full tank of gas, just go out and measure exactly how much you want that front to raise compared to the rear. Now I'm not sure about our Fords, but on some trucks the wheel fenders aren't the place to measure, as if those are the same height off of the ground, the truck ends up obviously not levelled. Might be different with ours, though.

If you truly need 2.5" of lift, or even 2", you may need to think about aftermarket lifts. I think you can get 2" out of tightening the torsion bars, but from what all I've read, here, the alignment can't adjust that far.

Try out the torsion bar lift first, though. Equal out the two front sides, then lift from there.

By shaking it side to side, I really did just lift it, with my arms and hands, from the insdies of the front fenderwells. I just rocked it around to let it settle to where it would have if I had just driven it around and parked it. I don't believe this causes as much of a difference as it used to when we first put a new set of coil springs on an older truck, then set it down and settled it in by rocking it (more parts cause 'stiction' in the coil spring systems, temporarily preventing the system of reaching the true height the springs would rest at), but it doesn't hurt to do it.

 

Gamma,
Your help has been excellent. Don't need that kind of height, just looking to level it up and improve the look a bit. Current tires are 265/70/17

If you can think of anything else, just let me know.

 

Glad to help. I've been helped on FTE before, and it meant a lot to me when I was a struggling college student. Now that I'm a struggling teacher living in the south Florida economy, it means just as much, lol.

Um, how 'bout a "cheater bar" - a pipe to put over the leverage-bar - if you're not up for some good pulling. For mine, I would pull, or push, for a total of about 1/2 turn before resetting the bar and socket for another 1/2 turn, and I was able to do both sides with one arm while holding on to some part of the frame with the other. Some people, and/or some rusty trucks (mine is rusty - all that road salt used on the roads up north), might require a cheater bar.

I did my end-measurements on both sides at some point above the front bumper, and on both sides at the bottom of the F-150 insignia. I also played with using a smaller level across the fron bumper. I guess a level could be used along the top rail of the bed for front-to-rear levelling, but I'm not sure this is a good place to expect it to be level (may not be designed that way - but there again, it sounds plausible - judge for yourself in the daylight).

I think my tires are 265/75R16's, but I'm not sure. I really shouldn't go larger without re-gearing the front and rear differentials.

Have a concrete slab you know to be level to work over, and I did not jack the truck up to adjust the height - just started cranking (after a few days of applying Part Blaster).