I put the 2 inch kit in this weekend and got it aligned. I'm a little worried about these angles, what do you think?




End result:

 

Looks about right for a 2". That's why I haven't put one on my current truck. I had one on my 04, but didn't like the extreme angles.

 

looks great man- nice truck, welcome to the forum

 

Hi ianalex10,

I have not installed the AS yet. I was seriously considering it, but I also knew that it probably put some unnecessary load on the upper/lower ball joints. Now, since I have never seen the angles after an install nor the orientation of the lower control arms either, I reserved my judgment. The longest anyone here could have had these installed would have to be 2-3 years since the new body style only arrived as an 04 model.

In an ideal world (aka, factory) the lower control arm should be parallel with the crossmember in order for the ball joints to function AND wear as designed by the engineers who spent exhaustive hours redesigning this suspension. IF (and that’s an inexperienced “IF” in terms of these front end lift kits) your pics are representative of all other installations, then anyone that puts these in can fully expect to have premature ball joint failure. That is something not covered by either the factory warranty nor an extended.

I have looked at the ball joints as installed. There are no rivets securing them to the control arms. That means they are either a.) integrated into the control arm = expensive, or b.)pressed in = not as expensive as “a.)”. I do all my own maintenance on all my vehicles, from airing up the tires to disassembling my 525hp N/A 347. I can say beyond a doubt that the last thing I would want to do is ANY major, non-covered maintenance on my F150 in the near future. With angles like those in the pics, it’s not a matter of IF they prematurely fail, it’s a matter of how soon. This is a given after seeing your pics.

It boils down to choices (as everything we do in life does). You can live with the slight rake which was designed into the suspension to facilitate pulling a load, or you can level the suspension and know that ball joint replacement is just over the horizon.

Thanks for the pics. Hopefully others with these installed can chime in and confirm if their control arms sit in a similar manner.

Robert

PS: Your trucke DOES look good though...

 

well said Robert-
you are totally correct- and it is only a matter of when- which is yet to be determined. i've had mine on for nearly 22k miles/1.5 yrs with no issues yet.
the ball joint is integral to the upper control arm, and run about $70/side

everyone who has a leveling kit has similar angles-

ianalex10- if you want to learn more about how trucks with leveling kits are doing, within the past month or two were numerous threads asking for ppl to respond with any problems-if any- with their leveling kits...so i'd suggest you search for those if you are interested in reading more...

 

If the ball joints are indeed integrated into the control arm as you stated, then $70 is much cheaper than I would have expected from Ford. Not that bad I guess. So…IF these leveling kits cause the ball joints to fail in say…30-40K miles, then perhaps that price isn’t a bad trade off. Obviously only time will tell. Now, if one were to pay to have the control arm replaced, maybe the trade off isn’t as worthwhile. But if you replace it yourself and follow that up with another alignment, perhaps it might be worth it, to some. Guess we’ll see in due time.

 

i think it will be like any other ford part... they're 70 now, but when all the arms start failing, that price will jump-alot. the harley grille used to be super cheap- then it skyrocketed when ford saw that it was popular- same with the harley heads etc...

 

So if that actually happened (Ford raising the price), then perhaps purchasing a left & right side now and storing them would be cheap insurance? ~ $140 now to avoid who know’s what in the future. Since the ball joints are very well sealed, they would probably have a very long shelf life too.

 

Looks great...

 

Looks good buddy! I am crazy about those flaresides.

 

great looking truck!!! i havent seen one like that. blue/gray flairside. those angles worry me too. i have been wanting a 2in kit for quite a while and was gonna get on to ask for those exact pics. thank

 

I was worried too thats why i went with the 1.5 " AS, truck is noticeably taller and the ball joint and the drive shafts look pretty good, just my 2 cents for what it is worth [IMG]

 

My last 2 trucks had torsion bars and I would level (somewhat) the trucks by cranking the bars. I was always worried of the angles and cranked them only an inch, never had any problems 100k 1 truck, 60k other. Others I knew cranked them as much as 3" and ended up both trucks went through 2 sets of balljoints within 2 years of use. Now mind you we wheeled these trucks moderatly every weekend, they both these trucks ran 35" tires and both trucks had around 100k when the trucks were lifted

I must say though these ford trucks leveled out sure do look good. I am eyeing the 1.5 lift. It does also seem that people with the kits really havent had any problems

 

Thanks guys, Ball joints are only $70.00 so what the hell!

 

"IF" Ford had designed this truck right in the first place none of us would have to lift the front end to make it sit level. I bought a truck, it should sit high and proud. Not all low and limp in the front. ( Lowering the back of a 4X4 is completely insane to me. )

Nice job Ford. You actaully can not figure out why you loose market share? You stress useless things like cup holders and crap catchers all over your vehiles interiors, loose them and focus on how it looks and functions. It is a TRUCK not a grocery getter.