Howdy- I just bought a 2004 L. White one and of course I love the truck. I do notice the rear of the 2003' and 04 Lightings is higher than the 02 and earlier. I'm sure this is due to the higher load capacity of the 03/04's.

Iwant to find the best way to lower the rear 2-3 inches and if possible to improve the ride as the 04's are bouncy. I will not be racing this truck but I will do some spirited driving from time to time. I think I'd feel better replacing rear springs with something better and avoiding shackles if possible.

Thanks for the input.

 

I have an 03 and used 2" shackles. Worked perfectly and didn't effect the ride.

There is now a .5" difference from the rear to the front with the rake being ever so slight. It's the look I wanted without a lot of $.

 

Cool-any change to the handling?

 

The handling improved as well as toning down the bounce.

 

I agree with the shackles.......not expensive, easy to install and brought the *** end of my 03 down a bit.

 

the roush kit seems to ride better in my opinion , handles real nice and it levels it real nice

 

Roush and Hotchkis offer rear leaf springs, the Roush is quite a bit lower and reduces the payload to about 400lbs if I'm not mistaken. I believe that Roush also offers revalved Bilsteins to match this kit. However as far as I know Roush is no longer producing this kit, this does not necessarily mean that you can't locate one though.

The original version of the Hotchkis springs were VERY stiff and had some strange highway characteristics (read: very bouncy at speed), I've owned two of these kits, but within the last 6 months or so Hotchkis has supposedly released a "softer" lightning kit plus some specially valved bilsteins to go with the new springs. I have no info as to the ride quality of the new kit, but the old kit was fairly harsh, I upgraded to QA1s on my '03 to help control the rebound on the original style kit. also, I don't know the payload capacity of the "softer" kit, but the original kit allows you to retain an 800lb payload rating if I remember correctly. this is something to consider if you are going to use the truck as a truck at all.

good luck.

later,
chris

 

I first installed 2'' shackles on my 03 and wasnt happy.Now i just installed a pair of 2001 Lightning rear leafs along with the shackles and couldnt be more pleased with the hight.,,,,,,,,,,,These pics below are with the springs and shackles.

 

I say, if ur looking SOMEWHAT for value...ROUSH IT UP!! But if ur really really crazy about handling and dont care about money or ride...get a set of rear Roush springs, Ruslow front 1100 springs, and a set of QA1's...and ur set! OR OR OR if u just wanna drop the rear, get the 2-3inch shackles and maybe a panhard bar to stiffen things up.

 

superfords, if I read that right you have the Hotchkis kit? What QA1 part # did you use?

 

yes I have the Hotchkis kit, I'm not sure of the part numbers though. I got them from Ruslow.