I am about ready to purchase a 4" lift for my 78 Ford F-250 low-boy... A full suspension kit, including rear springs. I was thinking about Skyjacker, rough country, and perhaps a third. My brother has a Skyjacker in his bronco, and it is very smooth. Should I go with skyjacker? I would like to keep a nice smooth ride that isn't too rigid, and also one that allows good articulation.

This will be the last of many upgrades... including a recent 351M rebuild, front/rear ARB added to the Dana 60/44... and to follow will be a MM winch.. and a few other goodies..

thanks,

james

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-May-01 AT 10:36 PM (EST)[/font][p]i have a 79 low boy and i went with the skyjacker 6 inch kit, mine is a little stiffer than the stock ride, but thats to be expected with any leaf springsarched like that, the four inch springs will be very close to the stock ride, i had custom springs made for the rear by national spring to eliminate all the blocks and keep my weight carrying capcity, i work this truck hard, so my truck rides stiff, but i like it, im sure the 4 inch kit is a bit softer though. i had to put stainless steel brakelines, dropped draglink and pitman arm on which none of that came with the kit, all you should need for your 4 inch kit is the dropped draglink. i installed it myself and had no problems with anything except getting my old pitman arm off (broke multiple pullers) but the kit went on great and had everything i needed. I run my truck off road all the time and my front springs have not began to sag at all. They will settle about 1/4 an inch after you install them. i dont know about the other lifts, but i know the skyjacker gave me no problems for a good price, oh i run 36's with plenty of room to spare, i can also run 38's with no probs, the 4 inch kit should be able to fit 36's


1985 F-150/351Ho/4wd/6inch with 33's
1979 f-250 429/4spd/6inchwith 36 inch buckshot mudders

on a quiet night your can hear a chevy (lol,you can watch a dodge) rusting away

 

Excellent, that was the feedback I was looking for. From looking at other trucks, I would agree that the larger lifts naturally have stiffer springs. So I am definitley going to shoot for a 4" skyjacker then.

"85351ho".. do you by chance have any pictures of your truck I could glance at to see roughly how mine will look with a lift (granted it'll be a couple less inches)? Also, any particular reason you went with SS brake lines? When you mentioned removing the blocks, do you mean the 3-1/2" stock blocks that sit on the diff perches? So you just ask for extra curve in the rear springs and get shorter U-bolts? Did you gain much by eliminating the blocks?

Sorry about all the questions, just a man looking for some direction in future mods.. Thanks again...

 

No im sorry, i dont have any pictures =(, but you can scroll up and look to your right in the picture gallery and you can get some ideas in there, well originally i had the stock 3.5 inch blocks and a 4inch block stacked in there, and since the skyjacker rear springs were a tad too soft for my liking i got some custom made ones at national spring to eliminate all of my blocks and increase my load capacity while at the same time my flex. i wanted my blocks gone because even before the lift with stock springs if i mashed on it in first gear the torque from my 429 would cause severe wheelhop and i also do alot of towing& haulin so i wanted no axle wrap, from skyjacker there is a "kit" and a "system" the 4 inch "kit" will come with a small 2 inch block and longer u bolts for the rear, the "system" comes with rear lift spings and u bolts,(im not sure if they will eliminate the factory block) you could also put an add-a-leaf in instead of the 2 inch block, there are alot of routes you could take, it all depends on what you will be using your truck for and how much money you want to spend, and how safe you want your ride to be
oh yea, i went with the ss brakelines because i had to have extended brakelines and my rubber ones were cracked i bit (i have had one bust on m before in a chevy) so i opted for skyjacker's dot legal ones

pleasure helpin ya


1985 F-150/351Ho/4wd
1979 f-250 429(stout 460 on the way)/4spd/6in w/36's,Dana60/44hd,3.54 gears~4.11's comin soon

on a quiet night your can hear a chevy (lol,you can watch a dodge) rusting away

 

how hard were the arb's to install, how much $?? im will be changin my gears to 4.11 after i do my motor and im trying to decise on a traction devise for the rear like a L.S or detroit locker



1985 F-150/351Ho/4wd
1979 f-250 429(stout 460 on the way)/4spd/6in w/36's,Dana60/44hd,3.54 gears~4.11's comin soon

on a quiet night your can hear a chevy (lol,you can watch a dodge) rusting away

 

Well.. they aren't really cheap.. I found them through Reider Racing for about $595, which is the cheapest so far. But as far as installation, it shouldn't be too difficult (going to install it this weekend hopefully). You have to drill a hole through the housing and one bearing cap, and that is about it. They have excellent instructions, and also come with an excellent istallation kit (totally worth the cost in that manner). There are a couple precautions though, the biggest is the air seal between the collar and the diff. This has to be very well lubed and not broken or else it won't work.

But.. talking to my brother (he does some off roading and some highway driving). He said that the ARB is the way to go, someone had convinced him to use a good limited. He regrets it now, he says "a limited-slip, is limited grip". Totally true, anyway, if I run into any problems over the weekend, I'll keep you posted.

BTW.. hoping to get my rebuild 351M in too (it's no big block, but gas prices are rising)...

oh yeah.. Detroit lockers are good, just don't drive them on snow and ice. there isn't enough grip in a corner to make them "unlock" so it can get reeeeeeeeaaaaaal interesting..

 

 

>how hard were the arb's to
>install, how much $??

Well.. so far soo good.. Need to get some more shims to finish setting up the rear.. (destroyed the first set of "slim" shims).. besides that. that ARB is setting up nicely. From what everyone else is saying about airleakes etc. I am not taking my chances. The air lines are all going to be sealed and sealed again if possible. Granted, only 90psi goes through there, but... don't want them to leak either... Also, took off one cover of the ARB before I started to put it all in, looks very sweet, good quality, and extremely durable!!!!!!...