I have an '85 Ford 1/2er with a 351 C6. My question is will 33' baja mud claw tires on 15's fit without any rub? The body is lifted 2 inches. If the tires will fit will it kill my power turning them? Any help would be HUGELY appreciated as I am a newb to the whole mud truck scene.

 

yep they will fit, i had 33' super swamper boggers on 15' inch rims and i had no problem turning except for the last 1/4 turn, then they would rub on the plastic under junk/ keep mud out deals. The only real problem i had was the driver side front fender, which, to fix, i wraped a chain around it and hooked the other end to a tree and backed er up, the smash on that fender was from the previous owner. The also only real problem i had was romping and stomping down a hill that immeadiatly went up that bottomed out the suspension w/o the tires, and slight hills on the state roads, not freeways, doing 55 going over bridges and potholes and such, which would rock the hel1 out of my truck but i changed the shocks and its all good. This is probably too long for what you were looking for but im just telling you your limitations, also, i didnt have the 2 inch body lift, and i had them on an 80 F-150

Taylor

 

Thanks for the info, got a few more ?'s for ya. My truck rides rough already, will the tall tires make it ride worse or better? How will they affect fuel mileage? And does the 351 put out enough power to get a good throttle response with the big tires? Thanks for any info.

 

I put new 33" on 15's on my F150 with a 351M and i didnt find any loss of power pushing the 33's. Old fords usually ride pretty rough but it should stay the same ride comfort, but you will be hearing the tires on the road a little more than smaller tires.

 

OK thanks for the help. I looked under my truck and noticed 2 small square tubing blocks giving the truck the 2 inch "lift" and after reading some of the things on this forums it appears that having blocks is a cardinal sin. Why so?

 

I'm assuming this is just on the rear and under the leaf springs.
Those should be the stock 2" blocks, and you should have nothing to worry about.

What is a mortal sin is to have block in the front, stacked blocks, or really tall blocks.

You will be able to clear the 33s, but you will notice a drop in fuel mileage, but it'd be around the 1-2 mpg range depending on several things.
First of all do you know the gear ratio? There is a good chance it has 3.55 gears, and if it does then 33s would be ok, but you will notice a slight lack of power for acceleration. If you only have 3.08 gears, then don't go over a 31" tire unless you plan on regearing.

 

MBBFord:
I think the OP was refering to the 2" body lift. Pretty sure he has a 2 incher under there.I could be wrong, but that was how I read it. I am sure he was asking about why we tend to rip on body lifted trucks just about every time we get the opportunity.

 

Yeah I was wondering why block lifts are so bad? I mean I am NEW to the whole off road gig (first time I could afford it) so dont be to harsh. And yes the blocks under my truck look like strait up square tubing you could buy at any hardware store. The first thing I noticed about the pickup is that it looked like it sat high. But it is only one 2" high chunk and doesnt seem to affect anything so I was wondering if they needed removed.

The truck has 31's on it now with plenty of room to spare but they are pretty plain treaded and I dont like the rims either. This is what I am wanting to get (the 2 1/2 inch lift set) is it a good deal if not where can I find better?

 

Well he didn't say which ones, so I just started assuming and I guess I read it alittle wrong, but I saw square blocks(thinking stock leaf spring type blocks).

Your rite. I'm sure that's what he was talking about.






Since the subject is up. Body lifts suck, and everyone (smart people anyway) hate them, and the only possible way we'd (smart people) would accept them would be if it is needed for clearence issues and done right with grade 8 bolts and the extensions put in correctly by someone who knows how, not someone trying to half as* it.

They create ugly gaps(between the frame and body), your steering can get in a bind(most 3"s have this problem), you have to lengthen several things, move your fan shroud(some applications your radiator), gaps between the body and bumpers, ect ect.... As I once heard from a wise man:
"IF you want to see your frame so bad, get a chevy."
When all they give you is tire clearence, and your stuck with a stock, old suspension.

A good suspension lift will give you tire clearence, better flex, smoother ride, and updated technology, with new bushings(good chance the stock ones are worn out on truck over 10 yrs old).

Not being harsh or mean to you, you bought the truck that way, you didn't want it like that.

 

Hmmmmm... I'm not having having any of the problems you spoke of. Until I do I will probly just leave them there because suspension lifts are waaaaaaayyyyy to expensive for me right now, some of them are down right assinine ($3000 are you f'n kidding me). But I dont want a pickup that touches the clouds, I like the look of the one I have (I mean body height). If you guys know of any place that has good deals on suspension lifts, tires/rims etc let me know please.

 

IF it's done right, it's done, and you shouldn't have any other problems.

I put a 6" suspension lift for $600. A body lift can run about $150 for a cheap one, and up to 300 for a better one, and it's a pain the the **** to install, so a shop will charge you anywhere from $250-400. And like I said, your still on the stock suspension.

 

A 6" lift for 600 bucks? Where is said lift kit found?

 

No ****, I'd like to see that....
As for a BL being a PITA to install, any one I've ever done took less than half the time a suspension lift I've done did, and ones for these old trucks are stupid simple... In throwing my 460 pig together for mud race trim, I put a 3" lift on the cab, and, well, the only thing required was bending the t-case shifter... The fan shroud got tossed long ago, as did the mechanical fan...

For some applications suspension travel and ride quality are non issues, as for ugly gaps, none of that is particularly expensive or hard to deal with...

Now, don't get me wrong, a suspension lift is a much better way to go, but, if the budget allows, there is nothing wrong with a properly installed, bought body lift... It's the scary redneck home fab that is the scary stuff.

 

So what of my 2" square tubing block lift? It doesnt cause any trouble and everything works mechanically (except the A/C) so should I remove them? And please ANY info on this whole off roading gig would be appreciated.

 

Lift kits suck, and I didn't say I got a lift kit for $600. I said I did a 6" lift for $600. I bought the drop pitman arm used, and got some blocks and add a leafs for free.
After that, I bought everything new: Coils, C bushings, adjustable trac bar, radius arm drop brackets, SS brake lines and a few other little things.

I could of done it cheaper, if I would of waited for more used things to come up(like the ajustable trac bar), and I could of done the extended brake lines for under $5, but got the SS ones.

And it didn't take me long to install the Suspension lift, plus I have a better ride, flex, and looks than before(something a body lift can never bring). I also didn't have to cut and weld any shift linkage, or relocate the fan shround(which I still have), or worry about haveing problems with the steering binding and leaving me FU**ed somewhere.

The only way I see a body lift being usefull (like I already said) is: if the clearance is needed for some type of engine swap or something of the sort.


You are right.
"is nothing wrong with a properly installed, bought body lift... "
But not very many are "properly" installed. I don't know how some body lifts can sell some cheap **** bolts that have the same strength as a tooth pick.... IF grade 8 bolts are used, that would be better than stock(which is needed, b/c now the body is 3" or so higher than stock, so stronger is neccessary).

"as for ugly gaps, none of that is particularly expensive or hard to deal with... "
Right, but it is one more thing that some one needs to deal with(more time, and money), that isn't needed for a suspension lift.