man, it's been over 2 weeks now, and i dropped the back 2' with belltech shackles, then a day later i dropped the front 1', when i measured i only got 1' back and 1' front (front was fine) and you might remember me posting about the back drop isn't enough, and you guys said give it a week, and it will settle at least 1/2', well it's been over 2 weeks, and now it looks like the back end raised up farther......

is it just me since i lowered the front? but the back is starting to look exremely high...... man, im looking at it right now, front looks awesome, back i dont like.

 

Stupid question......did you put the bolts through the top holes in the shackles??

--Joe

 

yeah, and after i put it down off the jack, i measured and got a 1' right off the bat, and then you know, i went on here and then you guys told me give it time to drop more, etc. etc.

im thinking that the lightnings are 1' lower then reg f150's allready right? is that all the way around or just in the front? cause i bought it from a place that said 97-02 f150 2' rear drop, and in italics it says "also 2' drop for lightings",,,,,, ???????

 

I have the same thing going on with my truck. I have the Hotchkis in the front and have 2in shackles in the back and its just too tall in the back. I had the Hotchkis rear 2 inch springs before and it was perfect from a height standpoint. I am considering removing leafs from the spring to get it down a bit more.

 

Cobra-

Take one of your stock shackles and hold it up close to one of the installed 2" drop shackles...

The 2" drop shackle SHOULD be 2" or more LONGER... VERY noticeable difference in length...

Also... Maybe try loosening all 4 bolts in the shackles... While the truck is sitting on all 4 wheels... (Maybe you tightened the bolts up so much that they are not "hanging" such that you get the entire drop...!?)

 

I smell the welder and torch in the air

 

Cobra97snake.

What you are experiencing is static weight transfer. When you lower the rear, you transfer static weight to the rear. This will cause the front to raise slightly.

The same will happen in reverse. When you lower the front, you transfer weight off of the rear, which will cause it to raise.

The physicists on this board can probably explain it better than me, but what you are doing is changing the center of gravity. Because you are changing the height, but not the actual weight or the position of the weight, the CG has to change. This will cause a slight change in ride height.

 

I just used the 2" shackels on my 02' and measured it before and after I put about 50 miles on them. The front stayed exactlly the same and the back only dropped 1" on each side(at the wheels). The trailer hitch dropped about 1 1/4" It is almost level; does this seem correct?