My local Ford dealer (non SVT) is a Rousch distributor. They are going to quote me a price for lowering my '01L using the Rousch kit. I have a feeling they will job it out to a suspension company locally, however, if I buy it thru the Ford dealership (at a higher price), it is covered under warranty. My question: what is the avg. price for the Rousch parts, and avg. price for labor? Is it worth it letting the dealer "install" it, and have a warranty, or just take the parts to a qualified suspension shop and save a few dollars (but no warranty).

 

If you just want to lower your L then there's a lot cheaper ways to do it than a Rousch lowering kit. Do a search and just get a drop kit ~$200 to ~$300.

If you want to lower your L and handle a bit better for $1400 to ~$1700 go with the Rousch kit. There have been mixed reviews on the kit, again do a search.

I think the next step up from the Rousch is the SoCal kit, I think parts alone where ~$1500, do a search and you'll find a guy in FL. that ordered the kit. I remember that he quoted prices also.

I feel the highest kit for handling qualities is the Hothkis kit, even thou it hasn't been released yet. I know that I like their work from past experiences and waiting for the release. Just a guess but maybe in the $1500 range with low end shocks, one kit was mentioned with $3000 in shocks alone total ?~$5000 ? . Guess what, do a search for more info.

 

Guys, its spelled ROUSH.

But yeah, a ROUSH kit runs about $1300-1500 for parts only. Installs are usually somewhere around $200.

The SoCal kit I thought was $800?

Daniel

 

We're not talking about the Roush lowering kit, we're talking about the Rousch kit.

Your right SoCal $810 plus $400 local install, that was posted here, but on their site it says:
Prices:
F-150 kit $715.00 installed $1,345.00 (plus sales tax on parts)
Lightning kit: $754.04 installed $1,399.00 (plus sales tax on parts)



[This message has been edited by lgogether (edited 04-05-2001).]

 

Help me I'm confused, the rousch kit is the roush lowering kit only spelled wrong, Correct?

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PSP filter kit
4.10's

 

https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/010244.html

 

Does anybody care to discuss the following:

Assume you spend about $31,000 on a Lighting, a performance vehicle.
There are endless posts about ET's from a $300 chip. Not that I have a problem with it, it's just a statement of fact.

Yet, some spend $300 on lowering kits that can be purchase through JC Whitney, with complete disregard to how it affects the performance.

On the other hand, some spend $1,300 on a lowering kit (or should it be called a handling upgrade) and most buyers have no data how it affects slalom speed improvement or increase in lateral G's, other than the usual "seat of the pants" post.

If a chip cost $1,300, wouldn't you want to see timeslips or Dyno's to justify the cost?

Why not the same question for a suspension upgrade?

------------------
Regards,
George
george@spikeengineering.com
http://www.spikeengineering.com
---------
Red 2000 Lightning, #4033
White 1996 Whippet (1/2 mile course, 6 turns: 40 Seconds)
Red Wheaton 1995 Ridgeback (1/2 loaf of bread, 6 bites, 4 seconds)
New addition:
2001 RR Puppy: 0 to stumble - next two months

Next route(s): North Face Grand and Mt. Moran (any route)


[This message has been edited by Spike Engineering (edited 04-05-2001).]

 

Igogether, you on crack? His dealer is a ROUSH dealer, ROUSH is the people that make modified cars, engineered the Gen2 lightning and make the suspension in question. http://www.roushperf.com/

Spike, at issue here is part reputation, part parts. The kits all differ slightly in what then change and how. Roush engineered the Gen2 lightning, and there for it is trusted they would know alot about it in their products. Its also what parts the systems change, and the quality trusted to those parts. SoCal has a good rep, and I would trust those parts as well... for me, the difference is I know I can get a ROUSH suspension installed by a dealer near me (no SoCal dealers around me), and since its an authorized ROUSH dealer, its even covered under my warranty.

Also, unfortunately, the equipment to measure lateral G's and the ability to get slalom measurements are also beyond most regular folk, where as it is much easier to track down a dyno and hit a track for chip numbers. The few people that have done the different kits and left feedback on them, and thats about all you can base it off of right now besides that and the brands of parts your getting. ROUSH does post their numbers for their kit though: .87G skidpad and 62.1mph on the 600ft slalom.

Daniel


[This message has been edited by thepawn (edited 04-05-2001).]

 

The lightning (stock) is rated by Ford 0.85g, ROUSH's is 0.87. The 80 ft slolam speed is 63.6. Maybe over 600 ft, it would drop to Roush's ave. speed of 62.1.
Since the ROUSH kit is an upgrade to the 150 and not the Lighting, and the posted performance is about the same, I have a hard time justifing the cost.

To use another topic's line "show me a time slip."

How about the other part of the question: would you spend $300 to lower your Lighting and not care how it affects performance?

Just wondering...

spike

 

theprawn,

Dam dude, you are so gullible!

It’s just a spelling mistake, who cares? You don’t see me jumping on meiwah98 case over it, but then again the Mary Jane makes me more mellow then the crack. BTW you’re posting edgy.

The conversation is about how much this POS is going to cost. I feel that if this owner doesn’t even know that, then he probably doesn’t know some of his other handling options either! So IMO this is a good time to introduce some of them, I guess that you feel that it’s an optimum time to do a spell check, whatever!

Back to reality now.

Spike Engineering,

I like your analogy about chips and lowering kits, really good introduction. For just a reply, there are too many issues to address on this issue. I’m sure that you could get the L to handle somewhat decent but then again could you actually survive the bucking on the way to work everyday in exchange of optimum weekend slalom times? The solution to this subject is going to be a compromise at best.

It seems by your post that I’m suggesting a drop kit, but I’m not. I’m suggesting that if your going to drop your L for that kind of $$ then meiwah98 should be informed that Rouch isn’t the only game in town. Then again maybe meiwah98 enjoys slamming his suspension into his stops everyday, what do I know?

Now back to the crack, theprawn it seems as of lately from your reply posts that you’re cutting into your profits some!

 

Igogether, not going to even bother to reply to you.

In regards to the suspension, the main difference in the Roush suspension is the new shocks, springs and leaf springs. A large amount of the cost of the Roush kit is the shocks as well... The drop in the front is similar in style to the SolCal drop... Roush uses Billstein shocks with a specific valving. I'm not sure what shocks the SoCal kit uses.

The Bilsteins will be better then the stock 1999/2000 shocks, but the 2001 has new Bilsteins on them. I'm not sure how the Roush ones compare to it. I know they have improved dampening and jounce ratings. Unfortunately, I don't think you can really compare Roush's numbers to Fords, because they're also dependant on the tires. Roush's STAGE2 F150 dosn't use Goodyear F1's.

For a daily driver, other then appearence, I don't know why (short of warranty coverage) one would drop their Bolt. The SoCal and Roush kits both have a new set of smaller stops so that you do not hit them on a constant basis after the drop.

I want to drop my to lessen the body roll and lower the center of gravity for when I autocross...Would I trust Roush and SoCal parts to stand up to racing stresses? Yes... would I trust AIM drop shackles and a pair of BellTech springs? No...

Daniel

[This message has been edited by thepawn (edited 04-06-2001).]