Hello I own a 2002 F150 XLT Supercab. She has 96k on the clock and is completely stock. It is my daily driver and I tow a 25ft boat with her. She is also the beach cruiser for the family. The suspension is tired. I have done all the routine maint myself. I am at the point now where I either sell her or retask her. I have been lurking here and other sites for a few weeks doing what research I can, I have seen thejake1989's rig and I am really impressed. As well as pizzaman711's truck. I would really prefer to keep the truck (I have driven coast to coast taken the babies home all sentimental reasons) plus its paid for. My question is would the prerunner set up be ok for the boat towing? I am certain that I want the truck lifted, curious as to the best route. Forgive me if this is in the wrong section. Any advise is welcome.

 

Thanks for the kind words man! So are you just going for the look of a prerunner setup or are you going for the performance too? Because the look is definitely achievable and still be able to maintain towing, but performance wise I think your going to run into some issues getting the rest suspension right for when the boat is there and when it isn't there.

 

I guess it would have to be more of the look and some performance, due to the boat. I thought that may dictate what I could do. I take it to the beach now so getting stuck is really not a big concern although it us always in the back of my mind. So what options do I have? Money is not that big a deal, it's either this or a Raptor ha ha, so I'll save there. Thanks for the reply.

KD

 

I'm assuming your 4wd since you do beach driving ha. For the front you can really do about anything but the Dixon bros 4wd kit is pretty nice, as is the jd fab kit. Those will give you good performance up front. There is a build thread over in the suspension section where a member used the Dixon bros kit.

For the rear it gets a little tricky. I'd definitely recommend a full leaf pack over a block to lift the rear. Either National, Atlas, or Alcan spring (don't remember off the top of my head) will custom build leaf packs for your application. So you could drop them an email and see what they'd recommend for the rear springs.

If you wanna maintain your bed space and not cut it up you can go with a set of fox or king 2.0 shocks, they'll give you a lot better off road ride and they're completely adjustable. Otherwise you can go with the bed cage route for the shocks and a set of 2.5" shocks, Dixon bros makes a bolt/weld in bed cage.

Then for bumpers you can get them custom made to your preference or again Dixon bros makes those too.

Then there's fiberglass, for the front you can go with the standard bulge fenders or depending how wide the truck ends up after you get different wheels and tires on there you can go with a fiberglass once peice front clip. Then for bedsides you can decide the bulge you need depending on how wide the rear track width is.

Expect to pay a bit to get the fiberglass mounted if you can't do it yourself because since it comes out of a mold it requires a little trimming and stuff. Same for paint because it'll need to be prepped first.

I think this covers all the basics ha.

 

No mine is a 2wd. Going to the beach with it is no biggie. Just no going in the 4 wheeling area. I usually have the kids with me so getting stuck is not really an option. Well I try not to. The lift would give me the clearance I need not to worry to much. The boat tends to weigh the back of the truck down. So I am hoping to keep that from happening also. Thanks again.

 

For the front then Dixon bros, Camburg, HM, and Blitzkreig all make good kits.

 

Just gonna ask another dumb question...with the fabtech kit I was told that the stick wheels wouldn't work. Now this is not a problem I was just curious as to why...especially since the guy said the tires I have now may work.

 

The stock wheels have a different backspacing so they tuck in to close. That's why you need a wheel with 4.5" of backspacing.

 

Yeah, I hadn't even considered that. Thanks though.