F-150 Online Members Debate Best 10th Gen Lowering Kits
If you’re looking to lower your 1997-2003 Ford F-150, we found a thread packed with valuable information.
These days, most F-150 (and other truck) owners prefer to lift their trucks. But this wasn’t always the case, of course. It wasn’t that long ago when lowering pickups was the cool thing to do. And there are still plenty of folks who like the look of a sporty, slammed F-150. That includes quite a few F-150 Online forum members, of course. So we found this recent thread started by member z168 to be particularly interesting, as they were seeking a good lowering kit option for their 10th gen F-150.
“I’m looking for a 2”/4” drop for a ’99 F-150 regular cab, Flareside, 2wd. It looks like the two good brands I can find are the DJM and American Trucks kits. Both kits have front springs, rear hangers and shackles, and shorter front and rear shocks. The only difference is DJM includes a shim kit in case I need to change the pinion angle. The DJM kit is over $600, while the American Trucks one is only $458 delivered. Has anyone tried these kits and can provide feedback? I’d like to support DJM because they took the time to do a DIY guide, but $150 is a pretty big price jump.”
Fellow member winsteads immediately chimes in with an even cheaper option. Though it’s one that’ll also require a bit more work.
“I looked at all the name brand lowering kits and went with a Chassis Tech FBSS-6284 kit. They are on eBay for $144 shipped. You will have to throw away the bolts, however, and go to Fastenal to get some good grade #8 7/16” hardware with bolts long enough to have a decent unthreaded shank to go through the frame and hangers. You won’t have to worry with pinion angle if you drop the shackles to the longest position.
The other thing I would recommend is to get 2″ front and 4″ rear drop shocks. I got KYB Monomax 565004 and 565010 respectively. I tried everywhere and $50/each is the best I could do at Rock Auto. I cut one full coil off the top of the front springs and used the isolators. You will also need to cut the lower snubber between the frame and lower control arms. Lastly, on the front, you will need adjustable cams for the upper control arms. I used MOOG K8740.”
Jaygyver found that DJM’s kit was much more plug and play, however, which sometimes makes the extra cost worth it.
“On my ’98 Flareside I went with the 2”/4” DJM drop kit, shocks, camber bolts, etc., but not the lowered springs. Just because of the lowered a-arms, and everything is greaseable. All plug and play. I did not get the lowered front springs as it’s my daily driver. I didn’t want to keep having to crawl over every little bump and I wanted to see how low it was going to get first. I have one more notch in the rear hanger that’ll lower it another inch, but I kinda like the rake the way it is now. Maybe when I get more time one of these months I’ll drop it just to see.”
Ultimately, the OP went the eBay route and things seem to have worked out well. Thus, if you’re looking to lower your 10th gen F-150, this thread is full of great advice on how to do so. But we’re still curious to know – have you used one of these lift kits to lower your F-150? If so, head over here and tell us about your experience!
Photos: F-150 Online forums
Join the F-150 Online forums now!
