2001 F350 FPS SD. The front is right at 4" lower than the rear.
I am going to put some kind of leveling kit on my truck this year. They make a truck look great, and I am planning on buying a 5th wheel camper and can immagine the level truck is better for hauling.
BUT! I'm confused as to which design I should go with. Hangers? Spacers? Tortion keys? Etc.? I mostly drive on pavement but do get off road for camping/hunting, etc. Would like to maintain a smooth ride. I am a driveway mechanic and am confident in being able to perform lift myself.
Also . . . if I go with a 4" lift in the front, will I have to change shocks? Or anything else?

I may eventually bump up the tire size. What is a nice "conservative" tire size to go with such a leveling mod? I don't want it to look like some kind of military vehicle on steroids.

 

Spacers are out of the question for lifting the front of your vehicle, they are very dangerous. Eventually, the "block" will find its way out, and that will make for one crazy ride. You also do not have the option of torsion keys, since you have no torsion bars, your truck is a leaf sprung front axle. Now you have to choose between all leaf, or leaf and hanger combo. Try to stay away from a complete hanger lift ( yes they are out there ), as these are just not the way to go. Many companies have great leveling kits for these trucks, with the proper engineering incorperated into all of the brackets, and so forth. Deaver spring is one of my favorites for the SD, they sell under the name donohoe racing. These kits ride very well, and last a very long time with minimal sag after much use. Longer shocks will be required for a 4" lift, but most manufacturers sell complete kits. You will also have to relocate the front track bar to accomplish this lift. Your brake lines will fit, but will have to be relocated as well. This can be accomplished without disconnecting any of the hoses. You can install these kits in your driveway, but you should invite a friend, those springs are "heeeeaaaaavvvvy". Good luck with your project, sounds like fun.

 

I disagree whole-heartedly with what 75F350 said!

I have the Rubicon Express RF52000 2.5" "hanger lift" and I am confident that most who have experience with leveling these trucks would agree that it is among the best available. Yes, Donahoe Racing does make a good kit as well, but with the Rubicon Express kit you get the hangers, shackles, and all the relocation hardware you can possibly even think of needing and some you probably dont need. But what they provide is stronger than the stock components so its nice to know they are down there. I did tons of research before deciding which kit to go with and I am certain that the RF52000 kit along with some upgraded shocks is one of the best, if not the best leveling kit you can do to your truck. Good luck with your decisions live2hunt. Do a good bit of research before you decide because one person's opinion is just that.....get a lot of info and decide which one is the best for you. For my money Rubicon Express was the way to go, despite the fact that it is definitely not the least expensive. Check my gallery for pics of my truck with the kit installed and F350 blocks in the rear.

Bob

 

there is nothing wrong with hanger drop kits that lift your truck, you just cant get crazy with them.

pulling a 5'er you will not want that 4" lift! your truck will sit level with the extra weight on the back trust me! your best bet is to buy a set of keldermans for the rear and dont touch the front!

but i do a lot of hauling and i could never justify lifting a hauler!

if you are really worried about the front, just get the add a leaf from superlift that adds about 2". dad had it in his 03 F350 and loved it. he said it rode better with the AAL! with the AAL on my dads truck he was running 35's. however, again if you are gonna be hauling a loaded 5'er you will not like the pullin manners 35's will dish out when compared to the stock tires. your tranny will be downshifting a lot on hills and you may toast it if you cant keep it cool! i've seen it happen time and time again!

just some stuff to think about.

-cutts-

 

Robert6401:
I am really questioning exactly which part of my last statement that you disagree with, Was it the part that blocks for the front end was a bad idea, or that getting the desired lift from a hanger kit was also as poor an idea as tha first one? I am confident that you are proud of your Rubicon Express kit (hanger kit 2.5"), and am sure that it is a quality kit. But I am also sure that I did not state anything negative along those lines. I only recommended that the new user should weigh all of the options. I also see that you did not option for the entire 4" lift yourself. Those stock springs should not go that high without replacement, (hanger only).
Fishy made a decent recomendation by using an AAL. This is also a reasonable suggestion, although, it is my belief (and experience) that this type of lift should be kept to a minimum, and not an entire 4 inches. They just work better when the entire spring pack is engineered as a unit, because the rates of all of the leaves can be matched. A far better ride, as well as performance can be achieved.
I am pretty sure that you are not recomending an entire 4" hanger lift to level out a stock SD. Those neg arch springs are just not the way to go. I can appreciate "all of the research" that you have done before you purchased your kit, but before you recommend anything, (from any kit) know that the manufacturer will never provide parts that you don't need. I.E. " all the parts that you need, and sone you don't".

 

if your going to actually se your truck...why are you going to "level" it.....the whole reason your f350 sits up in the rear is so when you actually put a load on it it will not be sagging the in but.....

if you level the truck.... then when you sit that 5th on it the headlights will be pointing at the sky.....

 

75F350:

It is possible that I misunderstood what you were alluding to because I also agree that 4" of lift should be attained by replacing the entire spring pack. My argument is that a 2.5" hanger kit is a very feasible and quality option. For the most part, the hanger kit will give you the desired effect without sacrificing ride quality. Whereas an AAL will stiffen up the ride of the front end. And of course, I would never advocate the use of blocks to raise the front end, that's a given for anyone with an ounce of knowledge on the subject. As far as the comment regarding Rubicon Express providing un-needed parts: it was not my intention to imply that the parts aren't there for a reason. However the kit that I purchased not only included the hangers and shackles, but also a track-bar relocation bracket, new spring plates, a steering stabilizer relocation bracket, a drop pitman arm, and new u-bolts. Rubicon Express themselves offer a more inexpensive kit that is only the hangers and shackles. I was simply stating that the RF52000 kit includes the aforementioned extra hardware that many will tell you are not necesary to simply level your truck, but are nice to have to complete the package. In addition to all of that, I also purchased an adjustable track bar to complete the front-end geometry and make the installation much easier.

As KubotaOrange76 said, leveling your truck does make a difference if you plan to do a lot of towing. There are solutions to these adverse effects such as air bags for the rear, etc. But, if live2hunt is correct in the fact that his rear sits 4" higher than his front, a leveling kit will most likely not hurt him in this area like it would many. It would only decrease the amount of rake and give hime the ability to run larger tires and have a more aggressive look.

In the end, I believe we are trying to relay the same message to live2hunt: Do your research, find out which kit is going to provide you with your desired effect. What worked for me may not work for you, but it was important to me to shed some light on the benefits of using a hanger kit for leveling your truck.

Bob

 

robert6401

I am considering the same mod to my 2004 V10 F250 with 3.73 gear. Was this necessary for the 285/75/16 to fit? What mods are a must with this swap? Also, if you installed the 4" block in the rear and lifted the front 2.5" , does it still have a little more height in the rear?

Mine came with 265/75/16 (31.64" tall) BFG option and I am considering going with 315/75/16. I occasionally use the truck for pulling a 1500lb trailer and 3000lb car. Most of the time it will be pulling an ATV trailer or a load of lumber. My only concern is that the 315/75/16 (34.60" tall) tires may be too much when pulling the car trailer.

If you figure the tire size change the rear gear would come out to 3.41 ratio. Maybe with the V10 it would still be ok????

 

robin1t2002:

You can most likely run the 285/75/16 without any leveling or lift kit at all, but you will definitely need at least the leveling kit and most likely some new wheels if you want to run 315/75/16. I run the 285's myself and am happy with how they look and perform. By adding the 4" block, the rear is still about a half inch taller than the front. The minimum amount of equipment that you need to do the level is the hangers, shackles, rear blocks, and probably either a track bar relocation bracket or an adjustable track bar.

I can't really speak with any certainty as to how the increase in tire size will affect your truck with the v-10. I would think that there would be some pretty significant adverse effects by going up to the 315's without a gear change, not so much with the 285's.

Good Luck,
Bob