hi all,

i just picked up a new 2010 FX4 on monday and have been loving every minute of it. im new to trucks as in this is my first one, but ive been around them my whole life. im actually coming to this from the Jeep community and am a well respected member of Jeepforum.com. ive taken my Jeep places my FX4 couldnt even dream of, even with its locker.

that said im really looking forward to being part of this community and learning my fair share about my truck. first mod on the list is a LineX bed liner and then after that ditching the factory airbox for a AFE Prodry.

middle of the road plans are to switch to HD headlights and tail lights, Gotts mod, a tuner and whatever else i find that is either recommended to me or i like

*very* long term plans is a minor lift, either black factory rims with spacers or soft 8's in the 18" flavor and 35" tires. that said, coming from Jeeps, and a well built low center of gravity jeep. i do not understand chrome or huge lifts. we always lived by the banter "chrome wont get'cha home" and i plan to stick by that

could anyone tell me what the Backspace is on the factory 18" rims? also who makes the best spacers if you want to reuse the factory rims

will



oh and if anyone is curious, here is my old Jeep:

 

my first mod, and to follow my adage of "chrome wont get you home" i decided id dull down these ugly lug caps and "brush" them. about 15 minutes with a scotch brite pad later:

 

beautiful truck man and welcome to the forum. you jeeps is pretty badass man.

 

thanks, she will be missed - but it doesnt fit my lifestyle anymore.

also, i really like the rancho 4" kit as that fits what i want just fine but im not satisfied that it uses blocks in the back. has anyone used a different leaf set and shackles or ordered a set of new leaf springs from Deaver?

 

theirs plenty of info on this site. Just use the search and you will be golden man. i think a 6"lift looks best on these trucks imo.

 

thanks, the 6"ers look good but i prefer to keep it lower, i think i'll stick with 4"

thanks! i'll keep searching.

 

4 or 6 will look good and you will love the way it looks. i dont know much about lifts but thier is alot of people on here with them and within their threads they have alot of info. Good luck.

 

Welcome to the site and congrats on the new truck... As a former jeeper (63 *****'s) I know what it's like not being able to take a huge truck on some trails, but the FX4 will do alright and a competent driver can make it do a lot. Kudos for not going with blingy, huge soccer mom rims and a huge lift... I too have always though anything more than about 4-5 inches is hurting offroad capability (unless you are mud bogging in a straight line). As far as the aftermarket airbox, I really wouln't waste my money as the stock box actually flows pretty damn well, just doesn't look cool.
I think the reason Rancho decided to use blocks in the rear (other than cost savings) was to keep the rear ride stock-like. Aftermarket springs always ride stiffer. Rancho always uses strong fasteners and U-bolts, so I don't think bigger blocks is too big of a deal (on a 4" lift- 6" is way too much block for me).
I have no idea what the backspacing is on the stock 18" FX4 rims, but you can easily fit 33s without any lift, 35's no problem with the Rancho. Good luck and post pics!

 

well as of right now the only companies for suspensions im familiar with are the brand names. there isnt really anyone from the jeep world that carries over to the F-series trucks

can anyone recommend suspensions to me? talk to me as if price were no object - im not into buying crap

 

rancho is a great lift and you can reuse stock wheels if you want and right now they have a $500 rebate going on

 

I like the brushed look on the center caps, what "grit" scotch bright pad did you use? Just go in a circular motion around the cap? Might do it this week.

Thanks

 

i originally started with 000 steel wool but it started to just haze it rather than scratching it so i went to S.O.S. Heavy duty scotch brite pads. id get a pack of them because it seemed to lose its roughness about half way through the second cap.

i noticed today that i have stamped steel lower control arms (or what appears to be) i know that ford was making a big deal about switching to aluminum a few years back. does anyone know why they switched back to steel? im kinda disappointed

 

i decided i still wasnt pleased with the lug caps so i took them off and painted the hubs black. much better

i also ordered a set of HD tailights today. looking forward to getting those.

 

my HD tail lights came in today, very pleased! now i need to figure out how to successfully crack open the headlights, paint them, and seal them back up. i dont feel like paying 400 for HD headlights.

 

i decided that through my progression i wanted to keep my stock wheels just because everyone else that makes a wheel doesnt fist my taste like the factory ones do - so with that i decided that spacers were in order and i contacted Fred Goeske and had him make me a set of 1.5" wide 6061-T6 Aluminum spacers.




before spacer width


mounted



after spacer width


finished product (a little dirty)