Looking at possibly adding a front level kit only on my 2wd 7.3. What is the best kit to install? On top of that what is the largest tire I can run without rubbing? Right now it is all on factory tires.

 

How old is the truck and how many miles on it? How much does the front end currently sag? The best bet for increased height and ride quality, if you currently have worn springs, will be new custom springs to give you the added height.

Otherwise get you some spacer blocks that come with a stud extender. When I did mine, I used one that was milled out of aluminum instead of trusting the plastic ones. You might have to trim the end of the bolt that the extender goes on, but only sometimes. Plan on an alignment afterwards and checking shock travel either way you go.

I replaced my front springs, the front still sagged so I did the leveling kit. I wish I would have just gone with custom springs (local spring shop can get them built). Ride quality suffered a bit with the spacers, and I had some shock issues.

 

Have had this on the burner for over a year. Not sure if wanting 250 or a 450 spring...

1999-2016 Ford Pickup F250/350 Super Duty 2wd - Heavy Duty Front Coil Spring Kit [TTC-2814] | $189.95 | SD Truck Springs | Leaf Springs, Helper Springs and Suspension Parts

 

Unless you have a 450 or a snow plow, you don't want a 450 spring.

 

It is a 2003 with only 81k miles on it. I am not a fan of the lower front end. I do not tow anything either. It is my everyday driver. Only drive it probably 20 miles a day during the week.

So going with a longer shock/spring may be a better idea and would help with ride quality? Also going with a wider tire it will stick out passed the fender, right? If so I do like that look on trucks. Not too far out. Maybe an inch or so passed the fender. What is the largest tire I can put on these stockers?

 

The longer spring helps with ride quality by not compressing the existing spring with a block. Adding the leveling kit seems to compress the spring a bit, which causes a slightly harsher ride. The longer spring makes it more like it was designed to be from the factory.

If you custom order springs, you can order the spring rate you want that might give you an even better ride if you never tow or plow.

 

So I would need both the level kit and the springs? If so what kit is the most popular around here?

 

No. The custom replacement springs are "instead of" the spacer block.

Know, too, though, that you'll need to adapt your front shocks for a longer travel length regardless of whether you use the spacer block OR longer springs. Otherwise, you'll max out the shocks on their max extension length when going over large bumps. Both Chris and I have used some KYB replacement shocks with better travel distance and at the same time extended the length of the top mounting stud to place the shocks back in the middle of their travel range once installed. We only did this after killing the stock size front shocks with the spacer leveling kits we installed. My extended KYB's have been running for a little over 3 years now and probably have about 60K miles on them without a hitch.

 

Chris, my top mounting "stud" is a hole. What did you shaky extend? I can see adding/welding trailer leaf shackle plates onto the bottom mount, for "extended" reasoning IF, one was to still use their stock shock..

 

On our 2WD trucks, the top of the shock itself has a bolt stud which protrudes upwards through a hole in the shock/spring top plate, and the mounting nut attaches to this stud on top of the plate in the engine bay.

What Chris and I did was to purchase a bolt extender, cut down the length of the shock mounting bolt, and then re-thread the shock mounting bolt to match the thread available on the bolt extender, JB Weld the extender onto the shock mounting bolt, and then install the shock.

Below is a link to the long thread where this was discussed in detail and a picture of my install for reference.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ck-travel.html
In the linked thread, the best details about extending the shock mounting bolt are addressed near the end.

 

Resurrecting an old thread. Haven't got around to getting anything done yet. Would it just be better to purchase the ebay 2" leveling kit for like $50 and installing that? I would then need to get an alignment and new camber bolts, yea? Now I did notice something last night going over a large speed bump was I got the suspension sound from the shocks when they fully extended. This a bad sign of failing shocks? Truck now has 87k miles.

 

Can't help on the kit, but the clunk might be something else, I'm thinking it could be swaybar links.

 

If you do the spacer kit, you'll definitely need to extend your shocks or get new ones with a wider range of travel, as I described above.

 

I did a 2" spacer kit without changing from stock shocks. Not saying it isn't a good idea, but I didn't notice any ill-effects for the 10 years I had it. Only 4wheel parts could get the alignment true for mine. The run-of-the-mill alignment shops that only adjust toe in/out could not get it perfect.

 

I didn't extend my shocks at first and rode that way for about 5 years or more. Then, once Chris went the route of extending his due to a broken shock, I replaced my stock length shocks with some with longer travel and the bolt extenders in the same way that Chris did, and my ride is significantly improved!!