I am finally getting my grandpaws old 87 f150 4x4. I have been after him for years and now its mine. It is a 4x4 with 302 and 4 speed trans, I am wanting to lift it and just make it a clean old truck to enjoy. I have been reading on here constantly and have some idease, but would like some other input. I know the motor has some oil leaks like any old 302, need some insight on rebuilding the motor, also i want to lift it to atleast accomidate 37 to 39.5. Any suggestions and input will be very appreciated. Pics and updates to come. Also any pics of this body style.

 

with tires it boils down to do u want to stuff the biggest u can get or do u want to be able to steer and flex the truck off road?

how many miles are on the motor n wares the oil leak at?

personally if u want a good street truck that can be used for some afternoon wheelin id get a 4 inch kit and a set of 35x13.50

its not to high but it will have an awsome stance. and you woulnt have to change ur ring and pinions. if ur going to lift id advise going over ur front end ball joints tie rods drag link bearing bigger tires will find bad parts quick.

if ur engine dont have many miles on it id just fix the leaks if it got major leaks and or alot of miles id pull it get all new gaskets oil pump and pick up tube. also good time to swap in a cam.

if ur lookin for a places for parts check out
www.broncograveyard.com
www.lmctruck.com

also if u dont already get a haynes or chilton manual they come in handy

 

Thanks for the input, i am going get the truck this week, i believe it has around 130,000 on it. Not for sure where the oil is leaking from but will look at it whe i get it. I was thinking about the motor and i know i want to at least put a cam in it when i do rebuild. It is going to be a weekend toy, as far as the offroading a little mud we dont have to many place i would go with the truck having to flex a whole lot. I looked at the bronco grave yard, they have some good looking lifts. Would it be worth to go with the one witht the extended radius arms, or is it ok to go with just a straight up six in lift.

 

also check www.roughcountry.com they have good cheap lifts.

as far as extended radius arms it will flex better offroad and in my opinion look a hell of alot better then the radius arm drop brakets

 

Thanks for your advice hopefully going get the truck friday will post pics as soon as i can and start having fun with it, does anyone have pics they can share

 

There is a thread with lifted obs trucks and just plain obs trucks, but a lot are lifted.
You aren't gonna fit a 35 13.50 very well with only a 4" lift
For 39's you would need like 9" which would be a 6 inch suspension and 3" body. Might even need cut out flares which look horrible on these trucks.
Solid axle swap would be the best way to go being that you want huge tires that would eat up the ttb. You will definitely want to regear for anything over a 33 or mileage will greatly suffer and so will your trans (if automatic) If it's an old 4 speed with the granny gear you can get away with 35' and 3.55 gears, but you will actually use first gear.
Also I wouldn't do a lift without extended radius arms if you plan to offroad a lot. It just performs and handles better. Street truck you could get away with the drop brackets, but they don't look near as good.

 

Thanks for the advice, i am just having trouble with searches for pics. I did get the truck and had about a 150 mile drive home. It runs real well for an old truck that has 203000 miles on it. I have got to get pics loaded up, the body is in great shape a few paint chips here and there i will patch to help with the rust till i can paint it. It does have the 4 speed granny trans in it. And to go along with my first post it has some oil leaks, looks to be the rear main seal and the rear end. My grandpa said tehy replace the rear main seal about 2 years ago but it is still leaking thinking the cam may be worn out from what he said.

 

I do have another question, what about 2 in lifts kits, i found some one ebay that included the front and rear but it said not for xl models. How do you know on these obs what they are. The badge doesnt have anything. The kit looks to have only two shock extenders with it, i have four shocks in the front. Just a quicka nd cheaper route till i can get some funds to really start playing.

 

2 inch is a waste of time. Run stuffed 33s to save your money till you can get a real lift. Trim level has nothing to do with it either, and '87's low end trim line was Custom anyway.

Adrianspeeder

 

Leveling kits like that won't do anything but fidge up your axles and alignment.
Rough country sells a 2.5" lift system if you want a small lift, but it's not much more to get a full 6" over the 2.5"
I don't know about your engine without looking, but for the rear end I would get the seals and bearings (just in case) and reseal the whole thing. Couple hour job all together. If you don't need the bearings return them. But it's always easier to have them before hand if they are needed.