Suspension and steering upgrades and maintenance
 

So, at this current time I am wanting to get all my information together to proceed on with the truck. I am wanting to do a suspension and steering overhaul (if need be) along with some other upgrades and maintenance.

My options are either stock, leveled, or lifted. At this point I wouldn't mind a leveled truck or possibly even a small lift (less than 4"). I'm thinking at this point a small lift would work better as I want to replace my front springs and the shocks on all 4 corners. From what I can tell all of my steering and suspension components are tight, so I'm not sure if it's worth pre-maturely replacing anything there. Also, I am wanting to run a bigger than stock tire as well.

I want the truck to still be able to tow heavy, so I'm not looking to do anything that will hinder that. I know that a lift and big tires will hurt that, so I figure if I stay somewhat conservative I should be fine. I'm thinking of just sticking with the stock 18" wheels and putting on some 35" tires, something with a bit more aggressive tread. I don't tow often, just that I want to keep the truck able to do it if need be.

What are your guys's thoughts?

Considering a leveling kit myself. I haul a fifth wheel so I will not lift the rear. Limits the tires that I can go with, but not wanting a monster truck anyway. I have the 18 inch rims too. Patiently waiting on what the "experts" have to say on the subject.

Do what makes you happy. As long as the suspension is tight and the modifications are done correctly, you'll probably be happy. If you lift the front, including a leveling kit, you need to consider an aftermarket track bar since the axle will move sideways a bit. The amount of lift will determine the amount of movement you need to compensate for. You both have coil spring trucks, and lift at all will reduce caster. You want caster to be around 3.5 degrees positive, and it's marginal to be able to achieve that even with a stock height truck, with a lift you may have less than 1 degree positive and the truck will want to wobble and wander more than otherwise. If you lift the front and change the track bar to compensate, expect to have to adjust the drag link to re-center the steering wheel.

Brian

I would say a 1" Icon TEI spacer up front if you're set on 35s on stock wheels. I'm running 295/70/18 (34x11.50) at stock height on stock 18s and it clears fine, but the appearance difference in 34@ stock and 35@+2" is kind of crazy, so if you want the 35s/lifted look you'll have to add in some kind of lift/leveling kit.

I'm perfectly happy with my 34s and stock height now, I didn't really loose any axle clearance by ditching the lift since the tires are close to the same size so the truck still drives through the same stuff it did with the lift just fine. Plus my MTs are E-rated to 4080#, so towing ratings are a non-issue.

Base stock (31.5" tires, 6000# coils)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=68084

34s at stock height:


2" leveling kit (solid spacers) and 34s:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=43233
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=34506

2" leveling kit ad 35s:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=23654
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=23652

I have a leveling kit i didn't use. I went with ICON 4.5" Will go get it out of the garage and post the particulars if anyone is interested in a deal.

send me an email or PM

Denny dot lindsay at verizon.net

The kit i have is the Trailmaster FL-222 offered for 120 shipped via paypal.

d

I'll probably just stick with the stock wheels. I like the looks of the 18" Amarillo wheels with 35's on them. I was thinking of just getting a leveling kit but I'm planning on replacing my shocks as well, so maybe it would be a good idea to just get a small lift kit?

Just curious how much of an impact you guys think it would make on towing if I were to lift it 4" with 35's. I'm wondering if maybe I should just use a leveling kit and F-350 blocks in the back.

I know I felt a power loss when I went from 31.5s to 35s, but considering how many trucks rolled off the line with 34s from the factory, you probably wouldn't lose much capacity at all. If you go with an F350 block + AAL in the back you might be better off than before from a load perspective seeing as how the rear should squat less. Whether or not you're nose high is a function of what you do up front; I'd keep a nice 2" rake personally. 2" leveling kit up front and 3-4ish" in the rear from blocks and a single AAL.

I would really like to level out the truck as I hate the raked look. Idk if it's just me, but the 6.4's and 6.7's don't seem to have the raked look to them. I'm thinking I might be best off with just doing a leveling kit in the front and an F-350 block out back with 35's. That way I'll probably be getting about 4" of lift between the tires and suspension, possibly even more since the front springs are sagged. I'm assuming the rear springs don't really sag, but it seems the fronts do over time.

And they look like they're dragging their hitch down the highway if you put a second case of beer in the bed :-X03 Hence the neverending stream of "my $65k truck can't even tow my blah blah blah without 2k in suspension mods".

Yea, that's kind of what I was wondering. Honestly, I'm debating adding in air springs as well so that I can level the truck and when I do tow I can use the air springs to level it back out with a load on.

So, from what I'm reading, the F-350 sits about 2" higher than an F-250 as they have a 4" block in back and the F-250 has a 2" block in back, correct?

Been doing a bit of reading on this.

Most people have said that the highest lift you want to put on a truck that will still tow a 5th wheel or gooseneck is a 4" setup. Also, 35"x12.5" is the recommended tire size for that size of a lift which is what I would like to run. I don't tow a lot, but if I do tow heavy I don't want to compromise it much by too big of a tire or lift. I figured this is a somewhat mild lift and tire setup for these trucks.

From what I've found the F-250 comes with a 2" rear block and the SRW F-350 comes with a 4" rear block. Basically that means swapping in an F-350 SRW block in the back will give me 2" of lift back there. Now, on the front I've read that using the snow plow prep springs will lift an F-250 2" in the front over the stock springs. If I were to combine these springs with a 2" leveling kit that would give me a total of 4" of lift in the front and also level the truck out front to rear. This would be a way to lift the truck to fit 35" tires onto it using stock parts. Obviously at this point I would still want some new shocks as well. It seems though by the time I'd be done buying blocks, springs, leveling kit, and shocks I would be damn near the price of a lift kit.

The other option I am looking into is the Zone 4" lift kit. It comes with everything you need from what I've read. The front coil springs are replaced and no spacers are used. The rear blocks are replaced with a 5" block meaning you'd be getting another 1" of lift over the F-350 SRW blocks. It also comes with radius arm drop brackets and a 1.5" solid steel track bar to center the front axle. This kit also comes with new shocks front and rear as well as all the hardware needed. I have seen this kit for around 800 dollars from a few places.

Just curious if anyone has thoughts on my above post.

I put 350 blocks in the back of my 250 (2" difference) and leveling springs with new locator bracket for the track bar in the front (3" difference). Got rid of the raked look, but won't run a 35" tire in the front - won't clear the front bumper. I haul a 5th wheel with 1850lb pin weight so I also put Firestone air bags on the back (even with the factory overload springs it sagged more than I like) - now it tows completely level.