How high did you lift your Crew Cab?

[DaytonaBill]

Hey all!

I'm getting around to doing a complete overhaul of the suspension system, complete with new brakes, bushings, u-bolts and ball joints.

Then it dawned on me that this could be the perfect time to do a lift job.

How high did you raise yours and what did you do to raise your truck?

I've looked around abit and all I can find is 3", 4" and some kind of procedure involving Super duty springs for 7 inches of lift.

I was hoping for 12 inches of lift, but it remains hidden...

I look forward to hearing about your trucks...

 

[fordf350man]

if you have welding and fabrication skills you can go as high as you want. most people with these older fords switch to the super duty springs for a smoother ride and also by doing this it will lift the front of the truck just because the nature of the super duty spring. there are plenty lift kits out there for these trucks from 2 inch leveling kits to 6 inch lifts. keep in mind though 6 inch lift on these trucks makes them really tall. to get the 12 inches you are going to have to find lift springs and make them work, i don't think they sell a kit for that tall but i might be wrong. i have seen one crew cab with what he claimed was 14 inches of lift but i have no idea how it was lifted, i was young and just was amazed by the truck

 

[tbrumm]

If you are really set on lifting the truck, you may want to consider achieving the lift with a reverse shackle kit in front (moving shackles from front of spring to rear of spring) and a rear shackle reversal kit on the rear springs. You could then convert to the better riding '99 up Superduty springs too. This still would not get you to 12 inches of lift (maybe 5 or 6), but you would have a tall truck that would still ride pretty well. I shudder to think how a truck with 12" of lift would ride - I can't imagine the suspension would flex very much. If do decide to install a lift, please take lots of pictures during the install and share with us You may want to check out the reverse shackle kits at Sky Off Road and Design or Precision Metal Fab.

 

[Dieselcrawler]

ok, why so high? with 6 inches of lift these trucks will clear 40-42 inch tires.

 

[IDIoit]

reguarding the 99-04 springs,
I just measured my 01 PSD, with 4" lift
and compared them to my 87 F350, stock height.
the front springs are 4" longer
and the rear are 2" longer.
I did not measure the locater pin.
but guaranteed some welding is required.
are these springs that much better to use?

I am wanting to lift my 87, about 4" for now.
with a 12" lift, id think you would do away with leaf springs all together and run a coil set up and a triangulated 4 link front and rear.

on a 4" lift, is a new pitman arm required?

I found a 4" suspension lift kit on e-bay with everything, however they use blocks for the rear.
I don't like using blocks.
new springs are the way to go.

IMO. body lifts are too much work and look rather fugly.

 

[fordf350man]

reguarding the 99-04 springs,
I just measured my 01 PSD, with 4" lift
and compared them to my 87 F350, stock height.
the front springs are 4" longer
and the rear are 2" longer.
I did not measure the locater pin.
but guaranteed some welding is required.
are these springs that much better to use?

I am wanting to lift my 87, about 4" for now.
with a 12" lift, id think you would do away with leaf springs all together and run a coil set up and a triangulated 4 link front and rear.

on a 4" lift, is a new pitman arm required?

I found a 4" suspension lift kit on e-bay with everything, however they use blocks for the rear.
I don't like using blocks.
new springs are the way to go.

IMO. body lifts are too much work and look rather fugly.

PMF suspension and Sky suspension both sell bolt on kits to use the super duty front springs to get the better ride so there isn't any welding required. They are nice set ups and the people who have it love it. Yes you should definitely get a drop pitman arm to keep the steering angles correct. If you are going to ditch the leaf springs and go coil with 12 inches and a 4 link just go all the way and put some rockwell axles and 54 boggers lol. That is a allot of work. Many trucks lifted that high use leaf springs but im sure they don't ride well at all, but then again i dont think that is what they are going for. You also would be surprised how well some leaf spring set-ups can flex to

I agree that body lifts look horrible. I wont ever have one on my truck

 

[IDIoit]

rockwells, hahaha I think everyone has those on their wish list!
I am not against fab work, that stuff is fun!
im totally against spending a lot of money, for a direct bolt in kit.
ill most likely stick with the 87 style leafs until I do a monster lift.
one day. just not twoday

 

[crashnzuk]

Agree with the "why so high" question. My 86 is stock and fits 35"s no problem, I hear the later trucks fit 37"s due to larger wheel openings. So, why so high? What tire do you plan to run? What are you planning to do with the truck? You need to answer these to determine the best route to take.
Travis..

 

[fordf350man]

the PMF kit isnt bad in price actually just have to get the leaf springs seperate and it will give you up to 5 to 6 inches of lift in the front and then you get a nice ride with good lift. When you do this get some pics up. I have to ask though is this for hitting the mud hole or for looks? that will help determine the cost as well

 

[DaytonaBill]

Thanks guys, I sure do appreciate all of the responses so far...

Ok, why do I want 12" of lift?

Because fat chicks can't jump!

No, really!!!

Just kidding...

This is my second 4 wheel drive and I'm getting older... If I don't go all out and try (not totally decided yet) to own a real man's truck where I can drive through water that would make cars just float away, then I might end up regretting it for the remainder of my life...

It's the same thing when I built up a 351 Cleveland engine with Australian heads (spent 15,000 bucks on the motor...) I put it in a '84 F100 short bed and that thing did run like a ***** ape!!! I had lots of fun with it and traveled around the country with it (Built Dillard's stores for a living)...

Now, I kinda got the lift bug and for now, I'm just mentally counting the cost with the options available, versus just going high enough that fat chi... Never mind...

On another note, I might just overhaul the suspension and keep it stock.

The rear suspension bushings threw me a curve ball... I didn't know about the common shackle bushing versus the 'molded' bushing in the shackle. The front suspension was easy, but now I have to find out which kind of shackle bushing I have before I can order those.

How many of you had the molded bushing setup with the rear shackle? I want to get an idea just how prevalent this molded bushing thing is, maybe I'll just take a chance and get the common shackle bushing if none of you guys have never encountered them... But there is a difference between the two types...

About 1/8" worth...

As for the amount of lift, when these kits advertise the lift, is that the total amount of lift you end up with, or is that in addition to the factory lift (3"?) What is the factory lift anyway?

Well, I'm going to go check out PMF and SKY suspension...

 

[dizdak]

just to add to the thoughts, what are your states bumper laws? going that high will surely put your bumpers way up there... then do you really want to build ugly drop bumpers that defeat the purpose of going high? also if you are kinda sorta wanting the truck as a toy / street truck, they don't mix well together... keep the diesel as a good pull truck and build a cheap toy... but if you want height on the diesel go to a local spring shop they can build you a set of arched leafs that will put you where ever you want... then again it will probably ride like a dump truck... my 4 linked mud truck ride 100x better than the diesel i pull it to the mud hole with, so if you want to drop the cash consider a 4 link set up... its worth every penny!

 

[laserjock]

My truck had the molded bushings. You can press them out. I did it and didn't really hurt them either which was a good thing because I ended up pressing them back in because my bushing kit had the standard ones.

That goes for the ones I pulled off the 90 F350 donor and the replacements I bought were the same thing. You are correct. The bushings need to loose between a 1/16th and an 1/8th inch to fit. If I still had ready access to a lathe, it would not be an issue and I would be able to tell you exactly what the difference was. I may put the poly bushings in eventually because I have 2 good sets of shackles but for now I just pressed the new rubber ones back in and moved on.

 

[dunk]

4" on 35" tires is what I've always done on these. The truck will go through anything I've come across, still tows well, and is not too much of a pain to load/unload the bed. The key is lockers front and rear, and if you can't swing lockers and lift at the same time just do lockers first unless your tires and bald and it's lift now or buy tires twice.

I typically do lift springs in front and shackle flip in rear. New shocks with middle of travel being where the truck sits at rest, bend brake line mount/tabs down, shim the rear axle for proper pinion angle (or as close as you can reasonably get), spacer in the carrier bearing, drop pitman arm, drop track bar bracket ensuring angle matches drag link, done deal... Fairly cheap and easy. If you can get spendy lift springs in the rear is better, if you don't but have a welder, box the shackles as the load capacity is decreased in compression vs tension.

Next lift I do I'd like to do a front shackle reversal and Superduty springs (or whichever longer/softer spring gets me 4" or so) as the ride should be tremendously better than a front shackle and flex easier as well. Standard replacement front springs I'd had some that ride like a brick and others that reasonably soft. Forget which brands rode well but for similar cost shackle reversal will outperform, it's just more work and research.

IMO 12" is ridiculous. 4" is plenty and 6" is the most I'd find reasonable. Anything more and you need a boat, not a truck. If you're building a truck primarily for off road where 12" of lift seems justifiable (perhaps frame or body clearance), you're doing it wrong if you're using a CCLB. Build a RCSB or a Bronco and you won't have those issues. What exactly are you intending to do with this truck? I've fit 38.5"x15" Ground Hawgs on my 4" lift with just very minor rub at full tuck while turning. How big of tire are you wanting to run?

 

[whitehorse]

Check skyjacker...my buddy from Florida had a 93 crew cab idi on 44s

 

[DaytonaBill]

Hey guys!

After some thinking, I've decided not to go for 12" lift...

In fact, I've decided to just over haul my suspension, including bearings, seals and the brake system... Oh yeah, I forgot about the drag link, that's getting replaced too...

Got all of the seals and bearings today and will be ordering Bilstiens, rear bushings (as soon as I check for molded shackles), center carrier bearing, new intermediate parking brake cable and change the fluids in both pumpkins...

Already got the brake pads and shoes, front bushings and XRF ball joint uppers and lowers...

Anyway, after I'm done, I expect a real tight steering response with the knowledge that my powertrain will be good for a good while...

Thanks you guys, I did check out all of the places that offer suspension upgrades and now I realize that a flipped shackle kit for front with the '99 and up Superduty leaf springs and reversing the shackle on the rear is the best way to go...