I read the rear leaf springs are 6" longer. I can't find any info on the front suspension. Is the front suspension the same as the 04-08?

 

It's been tweaked a little also. Plenty of info on Fords site.

 

Lower control arm now stamped steel vs cast aluminum. Funny Mike Rowe used to mock GMs for that?

 

Is the front the same as in the same level kits will work?

 

I don't know. I suspect they are the same dimensions

 

Anyone know the correct or logical reason for that change? Is it weaker, lighter or just cheaper to build?

Tim

 

I guess it's a strength and weight saving issue. The cost is prob very minimal. Alloy is great but has it's flaws. It is soft, Is heavy in certain circumstances (example alloy wheels compared to steals). Also i guess they were just cast alloy and not billet alloy so they prob not as strong as the steal either. I had some Cast alloy Mountain bike components and they would always crack under hard use. Ended up changing to CNC machined billet. No breaks so far.

 

I would guess its cheaper to build.....cast aluminum is much more expensive to make than stamped steel.....

those aluminum ones are very light, i'd have a hard time believing that the steel ones are lighter....

 

You can certainly create a steel stamping to be stronger than an aluminum casting. I am sure that Ford found a way to reduce cost by going to the stamping, but also increase the rigidity of the product. While Ford is looking to reduce costs wherever possible, I do not think they will compromise on quality.... of the product that has kept them in front for all these years.

 

I certainly hope your right. It makes us look pretty silly when we advertise the size and strenght of a suspension component vs the competition and then adopt thier method in a later model.

If this is actually better then my hat is off to FMC for doing whatever it takes to make the F-150 better.

Tim

 

I have a hard time believing its for strength, as the raptor has extended aluminum ones.....if they needed more strength in a stock vehicle, they surly would not have made a longer (more leverage=more stress) one out of aluminum on a truck thats expected to take more punishment than a stock truck...

 

I saw on fordf150.net that the leveling kits for the 04 - 08 are the same as the 09. Ford F150 Photos - 2004-'08 & 2009 F150 2.5" Leveling Kit Billet Strut Extension RIZE - Powered by PhotoPost

 

Alloy is strong when testing weight for weight but no where near as strong as steal for doing the same job. The extra weight that is gained from the small arms on the 09's is marginal but if they were steal on the raptor it would be a massive weight increase over alloy. There is no alloy that is stronger than steal and thats why most car frames and roll cages and suspension parts in cars/trucks are made from steal.

 

Steel and aluminum have almost equal strength, pound for pound......however since aluminum is a lighter material, roll cages would have to be made out of like 3 inch tubing, and since most people can't weld aluminum...thats why roll cages aren't made out of it....also they have a lower threshold for strength loss after bending.....still...ford isn't going to put a weaker a-arm on the raptor than on the stock models.....i still maintain they're equally as strong

 

Roll cages with never be made from Alloy. It just cant take damage well. What would be the point in making an alloy roll cage the same weight as a steal one so that they could get the strength of a steel one! There would be No weight saving and no strength gain. This goes for anything alloy. It's great for some jobs but on components that take a beating and need to be tuff it's not really the best material of choice. There's no doubting that steal is a lot stronger than alloy but alloy does look cool when polished lol