3" Front Drop using all OEM parts!
 

Here is how to do it. I copied all of the following from a post on Sportruck.com authored by Bill Dermond who designes suspensions for Air Lift Company (Easy Street) they are about to come out with a bold on F150 kit that will make them lay frame.

Alrighty, boys.....here ya go:

What you need before you start: A pair of reamers, commonly referred to as "Inch and a half" and "Two Inch" reamers: These are specialty tapered reaming tools, and the "1 1/2" and "2"" refer to how big the hole would be if you plunged the reamer in a foot....now, NO ONE reams a hole a foot deep, that is just how the taper is described for an automotive balljoint, as opposed to the more common "degree" designation of a typical reamer.

The good news? These tools can be purchased from Port City Racing for $100 each...or MOST competent machine shops have reamers that are VERY close...and the reason you need two is because the ball joints have a different taper then the tir rod ends....

Okay, the next thing you need is a pair of 1/2 ton Chevy (anything in the 70's to the early 90's will do) or Chrysler ball joint...Chevys are a press in ball joint, and Chryslers are a screw-in joint....one other consideration is that with the Chrysler joint, there is a GREATER distance between the spindle pin and the ball joint....so this arrangement limits the wheel size that you can run...with the Chryselr ball joint, I am pretty sure you are limited to 20's or larger, but with the Chevy ball joint, I am confident that you can run 18's...also, different wheels have different hoop configurations, and so how big of a wheel you can fit depends on the wheel style, as well.

Step 1: Remove the spindles, remove the opper control arms, remove the lower control arms, and remove the tie rod ends off the rack.

Step 2: Identify a competent machine shop, and provide them with your spindles, Chevy or Chrysler lower ball joints, one of the upper control arms, and one of the tie rod ends.

Instruct them to bore out both stock ball joint holes, and the steering knuckle (tie rod) hole. I usually have these drilled out to .980".

Instruct them to manufacture "reverse taper bushings", which are nothing more that pieces of 1" bar stock, bored and tapered to fit the new lower ball joint, upper ball joint, and tie rod end. This is where the reamers come in....if you DON'T have them, instruct the machine shop to ream the bushings at exactly the same angle, and to the same depth, as the OEM taper.

Also, instruct them to make the bushings as long as the ball joint "boss" on the spindle is tall.

These bushings are then pressed into the spindles from the OPPOSITE side of the OEM taper orientation....that is, from the bottom, so that the taper is now oriented towards the bottom of the spindle.

At this point, you should have two spindles, modified with reverse-taper bushings, the tapers of which match the OEM upper ball joint taper for the upper bushing, the new Chevy or Chyrsler taper for the lower bushing, and the OEM tie rod taper for the steering knuckle bushing.

Step 3: Press the original ball joint out of the lower control arm. Either source a piece of dimensionally accurate tubing, or have your machine shop machine you a piece of tubing, that has a "press-fit" or "screw-fit" diameter that is appropriate to the lower ball joint you have chosen. When you compare the Chevy and Chrysler lower ball joints, you will see that the Chevy has a press-fit (smooth) surface, and the Chrysler has a screw-in outer surface. You will also notice that the Chrysler piece is "taller" than the Chevy piece, and so the tubing that you are having machined must be of a height consistent with the ball joint you are using....the purpose of this tubing is to create a "collar" for the ball joint to be ppressed or screwed into...and its typically going to be 3/4" to 1? tall.

Step 4: Looking down on the Ford lower control arm, orient your new lower ball joint "collar" so that its INSIDE edge is equal to the INSIDE edge of the original Fors ball joint hole....what you will find is that the new collar is now offset towards the outside of the control arm. This is because the new collar has a larger i.d. than the OEM ball joint hole, and so when you line up the INSIDE edges, the new collar is naturally offset on the OUTSIDE edges.

At this point, you have two mounting options: scribe a line around the collar position, and then cut out the control arm on this scribe line, effectively creating a hole for the collar to nest in.

The alternative is to simply tack the collar on, at this point, and then cut out the excess OEM control arm material INSIDE the new collar. I prefer to do the scribe-and-cut technique because this lets me nest the collar in a clean hole, it allows me to "drop" the collar into the hole deep enough that I have a nice nesting surface for the new ball joint, and it allows me to tweak the position of the ball joint for that extra degree of camber, before I do the final welding.

Step 5: Now that you have your modified lower control arm, press (or screw) the new ball joint in...remember, the ball joint goes in from the BOTTOM now....and remount the lower control arms. Do NOT swap them side to side...leave the drivers side on the drivers side, and vice versa.

Step 6: Invert and swap the upper control arms, right to left (the drivers side is now on the passengers side.....), ensuring that the ball hoint pins are now pointing UP, as opposed to down. The reason that you have to swap them side-to-side is to maintain proper caster...if you don't, the car will NOT steer, ever!

Step 7: Mount your spindles on the "flipped" control arms.

Step 8: Depending on the year and model, you MAY have to trim 3/8" off the end of the rack, on each side, to re-mount the tie rod ends, so that you can get proper toe alignment. The reason this MAY be necessary is because this process actually NARROWS the track width of the front end....

If you do, just cut off 3/8" of the end of the rack, clean up the threads, and then screw the tie rod ends back on, and secure them to the spindles.

Get the thing aligned, and viola! You have a 3" staic drop, using all OEM parts.

And how does it look, you ask? Well, here ya go:

http://www.airliftcompany.com/easyst...pyFrntQrtr.gif

This Expy is on 255x35x20's, and Boyds. These wheels LOOK small because they have a HUGE drop center, because Boyds uses 18" centers on these 20" hoops....which is why I don't like em.....

Nevertheless...there ya go.

My fingers are cramping, so anything I forgot, you're on your own :)

Looks great, but can he even drive that thing its so low up front :eek: Or better yet, STEER the thing? :p

is it an airbag suspension? so its adjustable? Please post when they come out with this if you find out. Thanks ;)

Hey Harley356. of course it is an Air Suspension if it comes from Easy Street........give them a call....I will vouch for this though.....they manufacutre AWSOME products and back their stuf up 100%...I have no ties business wise to them and the friend I know that worked there now works for Godfather customs......

But Air Lift company is the way to go.


http://www.airliftcompany.com/easyst...indexframe.htm

Oh and just FYI...if you want to lay frame YOU WILL HAVE TO CUT YOUR BED OUT AND INNER FENDERS OUT!....since you are obciously rolling on 20's.......other wise if you choose not to, you can not do a step notch, just a regular C-Notch and lack about 3 inchels of laying but still have a great ride and the adjustabality of an Air setup.

aight thanks... i don't want to do a c-notch though, and i'm DEFINATELY not cutting the bed or fenders. I just want an airbag suspension where i can air it up all the way to stock height for driving, and then for shows drop it pretty far down. Doesn't have to lay frame or anything, cuz i don't want a c-notch and want to keep the exhaust tips, but the front should be able to drop a really good amount, and the rear has enough room to drop about 4 more inches with the 2" shackles now before it hits the frame. i don't care if i can't drive it when really really low, just was thinking about it for shows. I wonder if this would work?

I dont see why it wouldnt work...although I can somwhat understand why you dont want to cut the bed, but it would be a waste of time not to at Least C-notch the frame, Its actually stonger than the stock frame when done right and will give you another 3 inches of drop..... as fas as the font goes, it would be best to get a set of Shockwaves from Air Ride Technologies, these modular units uncorporate a 2600# bag w/ an internal shock so that you dont have to worry about shock relocation.....


they are great. For what you want to do, I would go with Shockwaes in the front and a bolt on Air Lift Company rear bag setup then.

i think i would go buy some drop spindles or a arms ...there's waaaaaaayyy too many chances for machining screwups with that deal....and with regular trucks layin' frame look's kinda stupid without a body drop or ground effects like on a L because the frame is so prominant under the cab...I like bags too i think if i had to do it all over again i would get one of the 4 links that bolt right up to the rear hangers...those are a sweet set up!!!!

thanks for all the info Lunchbox. I would do a c-notch, but with this truck, i don't like to permantly change anything that i can't put back on the way it came from the factory. Someday waaaaay down the road i plan on putting the truck back to all original, and i want to get as many HD's from the series that i can, so thats my main reason why i don't want to cut the frame. I still have every original part that i've taken off it so far (hood, shackles, intake, etc.) and 3" more isn't worth the extra work and losing my tips, but it does look really sweet when they are laying frame, if i had 2 HD's (one to mod and one to keep stock) i totally would go for it, but since i'm too poor, i have to meet in the middle :p

Thanks for the info on the bags though. any idea on about how much it would be to have a setup like i want installed? (no c-notch) and about how much for parts? Just a ball park range if you can. thanks

o yeah, ROUSHFAN, i ordered 3 sets of the 02HD headlights, so i'll let ya know when i get them, so we can work out all that other stuff. (by email)

The entire point of my first post was to educate the facts about the front spindles was because there is no company that makes aftermarket drop spindles for the F150. Air Lift Company is going to start selling everything you need, they are giong to do it like this, you send them your stock spindles, and they will send you already machined units that only have to be bolted in for 3 inches of drop....I dont think thats a bad idea at all...


This is a friends of mines truck, it lays nicely and the frame is not prominant.....

http://www.itdontstop.com/texas/john/p/john2.jpg
http://www.itdontstop.com/texas/john/p/john1.jpg


Harley356: The parallel 4 link that you are talking about is NICE....it uses Firestone F9000 bags behind the axle and makes the trucks handle like they are on rails...........That particular Kit is made my Air Ride Technologies...Talk to Tony about it and tell him that Patrick in Texas told you to call him.

aight, thanks for the info. i put this thread in my favorites so when i go to start researching more and get ready to start, i can dig it back up.

thanks :D

#356 Excellent !! can't F'in wait ...just installed my L bed/3rd brake light i scored on EBAY for $75 .......Lunchbox exactly ..so it's going to end up being an aftermarket part you buy instead of trying to explain all that to some shmo running a machine shop..pretty much what i was getting at...is that the tweed boy truck everyone was cutting on before..???