Hey guys I have decided to go with a leveling kit for right now and add some tires to the stock rims, (for money purposes.) What do you guys recommend as far as the leveling kit goes and what size tires will i be able to fit. Also does anybody know where to get this installed somewhere near Raleigh NC?

*I have a 2008 F150 FX4 if you didnt read my last thread. Thanks again.

 

You have two options as i understand. One the Autospring Kit (located on ebay). You can get it in 2 or 2.5 inch leveling kit. This is the route i went. As i have understood also you can go with Bilstein's 5100 series to adjust for this leveling on the front.

With either of these kits you should be able to get 35s under it.

 

Here is a great write up on tire sizes with lifts and leveling kits:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/su...questions.html

 

Buy a leveling kit or spend around $300 more to do it right one time. Or untill you want more lift.

I say go with bilsteins and some 33's

 

do it right the first time Guiderail?

those Bilstiens must be the Cadillac of shocks. Because it'll cost you about $600 to get all 4 corners.

vice a 2.5" leveling kit that is easier to install, is only $70 shipped, and has the exact same effect as using the adjustable shocks


I vote for the 2.5" AS and some 35" tires.

 

You can get 5100's shipped to your door for under $400. Yes all 4.

It is not the same effect. The stock shocks are crap all alone even worse with the spacer. The bilstiens will provide a much better ride.

 

the OP is talking about getting stuff installed. So we're talking at least $150-200 for the install.

so yes, about $600 for new shocks that will level the truck.
people keep saying that, but I don't see what they're talking about. The truck rides like a truck. The suspension works. And it's rough. Sounds exactly as designed. I don't expect a smooth ride personally.
I really wish people would quit saying that. The AS/Hell Bent/NCD (or any other of that style) has NO EFFECT ON RIDE QUALITY. It simply isn't possible

the style that stretches out the coil-over (inside, not on top) does affect ride quality. only this type though

 

Don't get it, when I got it my ride went to crap. Just get a full suspension lift. Not saying 6'' but there is a 4''.

 

What all of you are forgeting is when you upgrade to a larger tire is that most if not all are a load range E instead of the crappy P rated tires that came from the factory. Before I put the new tires on my truck rode the same way it did before the leveling kit went under the front end. The leveling kit does not change the way the truck rides it is all in the tire that on the truck and the air pressure that you have the tires set at.

 

No problems as of yet with my AS leveing kit, plus im running a 305 size tire load range E on the stock wheels. ride quality DID NOT CHANGE. my Lariat still rides like a car. and anyone that begs to differ i say, BullChit.....oh and i run about 45 psi in the tires.

 

I went w/ the topgun leveling off ebay. Works great and easy to install. I ran 35/12.50/18's for 6 months w/ no problem. Now I have 305/70/17 (34")

 

4Wheel Parts off Glenwood Ave or Wakefield ATV will probably put the leveling kit on for you. I put my 2.5 inch on myself and put a set of 285/65/18's on. I am in the Wade Ave/Glenwod Avenue area..

 

Thanks for all of the advice. Im prob gonna go with the Auto spring leveling kit with some 33's or 35's. Is there a big difference in the 2" and the 2.5". Also how hard is it to install?

 

Well, to give a little history about the AS spacers...The original AS (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 inch) spacers were a "straight on" addition to the top of the coil over. It was found that quite a few 2.5 inch spacers caused a contact issue between the coil spring and the upper control arm (UCA). Kevin then re-designed the spacer with an offset to tip the top of the coil over inward toward the frame to return it's position closer to stock. This usually, if not always, solved the contact issues with the 2.5 inch spacer. He also found that some 150's had slightly longer suspension travel when fully off-loaded causing even some of the 2.0 inch spacers to have the coil-UCA contact issue. I had this issue with my 2.0 inch spacer, but the offset version solved the problem. I have not heard of any contact issues with any of the 2.0 inch offset spacers recently. The difference between the 2.0 and 2.5 inch spacer can be larger than one would think. Since the LCA is on a swing arch path, a more pronounced lift will be observed with little increments in spacer thickness. For instance, the 1.5 inch spacer (smallest) will produce about 1-1.5 inches of actual lift while the 2.0 can give anywhere from 2.0 to 2.75. The 2.5 inch spacer will give even a wider range of actual lift from 2.5-3.5. The 3.5 observed lift was from only one individual on this forum about 1.5 years ago, but I think that his coils must have been really stiff. One other thing to consider is the preload. Most people think that these spacers do not change the "stiffness" of the suspension, but there is some change. The physics behind this are the same as the amount of lift. With a larger lift, the load bearing point on the LCA comes closer to the frame (gets moved inward slightly). This results in a steeper angle of the LCA, which can leverage more force on the coil. Having said that, the actual difference is really only 1.0% for the 1.5 inch spacer, 3.2% for the 2.0 inch spacer, and as much as 7.0% for the 2.5 inch spacer. In real world feel for the driver, this is not even noticed. Those percentages are for the most lift per spacer and calculated based on the angle difference in degrees of the LCA compared to stock. So really, there is little difference between stock suspension feel and spacer feel. The biggest difference in suspension feel is upgrading to an E rated tire as mentioned in a previous post. A lot of the "little" bumps are cushioned by having a soft sidewall tire (C rated stock tire). When you put larger tires on your truck, you usually only find E rated tires. As load capacities from 3400-3800 pounds per tire, things will get more stiff. I had the spacer with the factory C rated tired with no difference in ride quality. Then I went from the 18 inch Wranglers (C rated 32 inch tire) to BFG all-terrains (E rated 33 inch tire) to find a slightly harsher ride. Then I installed a set of AAL in the rear (long style) to get even stiffer. The nice thing about the porky F-150 is that the weight of the vehicle (3 tons) counteracts some of the stiffness associated with changing the stock suspension. Another concern that some have is the angle of the suspension affecting the ball joints and CV joints. The ball joints will suffer with the larger spacers, but my 2.0 inch spacer has not caused any noticable wear yet (40K). I don't even worry about the CV joints. The spacer does not even cause greater angles than turning the steering wheel to full nock. They are built to handle severe angles, and the spacers don't really stress them at all, IMO. Lastly, I installed both spacers in my truck in about 2.5 hours, substracting out the beer breaks and BS sessions with friends (6 hours total). An impact wrench goes a long way in making the install easy. And there is no need for a spring compressor since they simply bolt right to the top of the coilover. If you are going to have a local shop install them, figure about one hour for each side at whatever the rate is.