What to look for in a truck that's been lifted?

Howdy y'all!

I hope to be joining the idi club soon! I'm going to look at a '90 f-350 (single, not dually) 4x4 with a zf5. I've been cruising the forum, and I think I have I good idea of what to pay attention to when looking at an idi truck. But I was thrown a curve ball when I was told it has a 3" lift. I ain't got no experience with lifted trucks.

It has 35s on stock wheels, so I'm assuming that's why it was lifted. But as I understand it, the 350 will fit 35s with stock suspension if the bumper is shimmed. Would I be able to shim the bumper and just remove the lift kit? Would I need to find replacement stock parts to do that?

What should I look for or ask about in a truck that's been lifted? What problems could this cause me down the road?

I had planned to put a flat bed on it, will I have any extra trouble with that cause of the lift? I'll mostly be using it for hauling, but do occasionally tow.

I asked for more pictures, but right now I only have one that shows anything of the suspension.

As long as they didn't modify the frame or something like that to change the height you should be able to reset it to stock height. Depending on the kit and who installed it it may be easy to lower it, but if stock parts were replaced and then misplaced you may have to do a bit of junk yard searching to get it back to stock height. It would depend on the kit. See if they still have all the stock parts.

I don't have experience with 35s on stock height. Not yet anyway.

If you remove the lift then you should have no problems with a flat bed, but I do not know about heavy use on a lifted kit. It would depend on how strong the lift kit is.

See if you can get the specs on the lift kit and find out what it was designed for.

Depending on the lift it can cause steering issues and ride quality. Driveline angles can also be messed up, but 3" may not make a huge difference. Hard to know without seeing it.

Kinda just gotta drive it and see if it has already caused any problems. It would help to know how long the lift has been on there and what they have successfully done with the truck while it was lifted. Might give you an idea of what it is capable of.

Im sure someone else with more/other experience will chime in. Just my two cents.

BTW welcome to the forum!
-CalIDI

Here's the one picture I have right now. I didn't attach it properly to the first post. And looks like the wheels are aftermarket bullet hole copies. Maybe he meant stock size...

Stock rims are too narrow for 35x12.5.

3 inches seems like a odd lift, I thought they were usually 4 inches or 6 inches? Anyway, that truck would be simpler to lift since it has a straight front axle. Just lift springs in the front and blocks in the back and longer shocks all around. You will have to check about the brake lines and if they have been modified or needed any modification.

It should also have a dropped pitman arm. If it doesn't, it may have some bumpsteer to it. And they would need to drop the track bar if it has one in the front. The driveline is probably ok, I have a 4 inch lift on a f250 and the rear driveline was fine, the front was giving me trouble but as soon as I converted to a f350 front driveline like that truck has, the problems went away.

Black truck in my sig has stock F350 suspension + 2.5" front leveling kit with factory aluminum wheels and 35" bfg tires. Many miles, no issues. The 3" lift might be a body lift?

Not enough information to make a good recommendation.
So
.02
Flatbeds care not about lift.
35" most likley wont love stock suspension.
3" lift ain't no big deal towing.
Build quality is more of an issue.
Add some usage parameters, equipment and other information for us to be useful in assisting you.

These guys all have better information than I do. When I read the title and saw that you're from Alabama, the first thing that came to my mind was "a mud cricket". I'll also readily admit that my sense of humor is warped.

Mountain havoc crew.
I'm 2 lazy to find the idi obs bodies

franklin2 said:

It should also have a dropped pitman arm. If it doesn't, it may have some bumpsteer to it. And they would need to drop the track bar if it has one in the front. The driveline is probably ok, I have a 4 inch lift on a f250 and the rear driveline was fine, the front was giving me trouble but as soon as I converted to a f350 front driveline like that truck has, the problems went away.

Click to expand...

Yes this, they should have same ark for track bar and pitman. This is mine with a 3in drop for both those, I have f-super springs tho. Dont know how much lift is on the truck and has a stiff ride.





This mine and show how my linkage is at ride hight, , tire are 315/75/16.

bumblebeer said:

Howdy y'all!

I hope to be joining the idi club soon! I'm going to look at a '90 f-350 (single, not dually) 4x4 with a zf5. I've been cruising the forum, and I think I have I good idea of what to pay attention to when looking at an idi truck. But I was thrown a curve ball when I was told it has a 3" lift. I ain't got no experience with lifted trucks.

It has 35s on stock wheels, so I'm assuming that's why it was lifted. But as I understand it, the 350 will fit 35s with stock suspension if the bumper is shimmed. Would I be able to shim the bumper and just remove the lift kit? Would I need to find replacement stock parts to do that?

What should I look for or ask about in a truck that's been lifted? What problems could this cause me down the road?

I had planned to put a flat bed on it, will I have any extra trouble with that cause of the lift? I'll mostly be using it for hauling, but do occasionally tow.

I asked for more pictures, but right now I only have one that shows anything of the suspension.

Click to expand...

A 1990 F350 4x4 should start off with 4" lift blocks on top of rear axle, right? These were from the factory, and accounted for the amount of lift you got from the solid axle D60 up front. If so, how did he get the additional 3" in the back? Hopefully not by adding taller lift blocks.

FYI - I did the wrong thing and installed 6" blocks from PMF suspension on my F350; will likely lead to axle wrap. Plan to change them as soon as time and budget allow, but got to get the rebuild 7.3 IDI turbo installed first. Video here:

My truck has a 4 inch lift like I mentioned. There is a 4 inch lift block stacked on top of the factory lift block. Never has given me any trouble but I do have some axle wrap when pulling a heavy load. You are going to have to do some finagling if you do not want to stack blocks. Most factory 4x4 trucks, f150's included, came with a rear spring block. For instance if my truck came with a factory 2 inch block, and I wanted a 4 inch lift, then I would have to special order a 6 inch block if I did not want to stack blocks.

Blocks have the axle wrap problem, that is about it. Shackle reversals have pinion angle problems that have to be addressed. And lift springs give a harsh ride.

I can get away with just a 4in block, a stock one would be nice with the anti roll tab. These are the rear f-super springs I have, I reordered them to match and cut some shorter so not as harsh.






This is the stance with only a gen set in the bed.




I can get it level with just grave, so I think its worth the trade off for I do with the truck.

IDIBRONCO said:

These guys all have better information than I do. When I read the title and saw that you're from Alabama, the first thing that came to my mind was "a mud cricket". I'll also readily admit that my sense of humor is warped.

Click to expand...

I better put on some bug spray then. Lol. Otherwise the misses will put me in the doghouse.

Clb said:

Not enough information to make a good recommendation.
So
.02
Flatbeds care not about lift.
35" most likley wont love stock suspension.
3" lift ain't no big deal towing.
Build quality is more of an issue.
Add some usage parameters, equipment and other information for us to be useful in assisting you.

Click to expand...

It would be used as a farm truck. Mostly for hauling equipment, produce, etc. Usually 4,000lbs or less in the bed. Occasionally towing tractor or skid steer. Maybe 10-12k with trailer.

I was able to get some more info from the seller. He's a young guy and only had the truck about a year. Bought it lifted... There were also some other issues with the truck. The power steering pump leaks, and he's been running it without any of the factory gauges working without installing any aftermarket ones. Coolant is green. Had no idea what an SCA was. With all that and the added unknowns from the lift as well as still needing to find a flatbed for it. I'm gonna pass on this one.

Thank y'all for all the great info!

1mouse3 said:

I can get away with just a 4in block, a stock one would be nice with the anti roll tab. These are the rear f-super springs I have, I reordered them to match and cut some shorter so not as harsh.

You must be registered for see images attach

This is the stance with only a gen set in the bed.

You must be registered for see images attach

I can get it level with just grave, so I think its worth the trade off for I do with the truck.

You must be registered for see images attach

Click to expand...

It might just be the angle of the picture, but the U bolts dont look to be 90 degrees to the u bolt plate, meaning that if the bottom of that u bolt moves to where it is 90 to the plate, it will be loose.

Black dawg said:

It might just be the angle of the picture, but the U bolts dont look to be 90 degrees to the u bolt plate, meaning that if the bottom of that u bolt moves to where it is 90 to the plate, it will be loose.

Click to expand...

That is just the photo palying thricks.