The truck is so smooth in the front end now. Sure, new ball joints, tie rods and coilovers helped, but even when I lifted the front 2" (I used brand new longer coilovers) the ride was very stiff and it took bumps hard. My uca's never touched the coils in the three years it was lifted, but I didn't realize how much better the truck would ride going back close to stock. I'm still about 1" higher than stock, but my angles are near perfect and I'm really happy about how the truck rides. Could be in my head, but my scanguage shows an increase in mpgs too.

I now have the rake of an 04-05 4x4, but it doesn't bother me too much.

Just something to think about. Looks vs feel.

 

Lowering my 4x4 netted me a 2-3mpg average increase. Along with the ease of loading the bed and not looking like every other truck on the road with a lift.

 

From the pic, I honestly had no idea you were 4wd. The lower stance really looks good on your truck, to be honest.

Like raising, did lowering affect your suspension angles or did you replace with parts that were meant for that application?

 

Thank you very much! It changed my cv angles a bit, but cv's can take a wide variety of angles. Only thing I changed was torsion keys up front, cut the bumpstops and the rear is just removed lift block, 2" hangers, 2" shackles, lowered 2wd shocks, shock extenders, pinion shims and helper bags. 4wd still works just the same as stock and I can haul just as much weight as stock too.

 

Those angles don't look bad at all. Glad to hear it still functions the same and looks exactly how you want it!

 

Geometry is key when altering suspension.

Cheap lifts or drops alter the ride height without correcting geometry. Think of it this way. Ford spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in designing that suspension and you thunk a 100 part will be enough to keep it setup the same perfected geometry?

Gotta pay to play

 

You're right and I agree with you completely. However, there are way too many people out there that believe a 1.5" - 2.5" spacer, billstien shock, rancho quick lift, ect. will ride the same. None of those fix the geometry and give you stock-like angles.

Like you said, pay to play, meaning replacing many more parts that are meant to work with a lifted/lowered truck.

Anyway, I'm glad I lowered the front a little. The ride is so much better and I'll take that over the extra inch or so.

 

I'm looking to replace my stock UCA with Camburg ones. How's everyone's Camburg UCA holding up so far? I'm looking online for them and they seem to not as popular anymore. Any thoughts?

 

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any of the lift kits or lower kits claiming to offer a nicer, smoother ride. But I guess that anyone who alters their suspension, in any car, knows that the ride will be a little rougher. Unless you install a bunch of airbags. Airbags might be the key.

 

The Rancho quicklifts have different ride settings to adjust for desired feel. I was able to adjust them to my preference which is just slightly stiffer than stock. I bought the Ranchos over the Bilsteins specifically for the ride quality adjustment.

Did you previously have spacers?

 

Dunno.. I did the Bilstein 5100's and did the 1.5" "level" on the front struts and it is a lot smoother ride than the OEM setup ever was?? Maybe just a fluke on my end, but I go over the same bumps before and after and the after part is much better...

Mitch