So I keep hearing about my 3" level kit and about the bad angles on the CV axle (Im not so worried about the ball joints)... well check this out:

Here is a pic of my CV axle:



Now... check out this link to Fabtech's website, and look at the CV axle's angle Fabtech

 

Its not that bad, i mean it aint perfect, but the cv angles on that truck is worst, mine look at like yours, and i have my coilovers cranked 2"

 

ya... I mean I understand that mine aren't at the best angles... but for a 2K suspension lift that most ppl say is the best on the market, that doesnt look so good for the cv axle... i mean the ball joints should be fine, b/c they've replaced that control arm thing on the fabtech lifted truck

 

anybody else have any input?

 

The angles your truck has at ride height, are probably about what a stock truck has at full droop.
Lift your truck off the ground and see what the angles of the CV joint and upper balljoint look like with no weight on the tires. That is when it gets real bad.

 

Back when I had a 2.5" leveling kit, when I lifted my truck off the ground my upper control arm would pretty much rub on the spring. It was pretty bad

 

actually ive seen it when the suspension dropped out all the way. It was a little worse than the Fabtech's is in the flash player in that link.... I don't care about my angles, I just want to know why ppl are telling me mine are bad, get a full lift, fabtech is best - and then I look at fabtech and the angles are worse than mine.

 

are you basing your judgement off of a picture? the fabtech kit is a true 6'' kit. the bolt holes for the lower control arms are dropped a full 6'' lower than stock via the two piece subframe. the differential, and the rest of the front suspension are dropped down as well. properly installed, you would have stock angles.

 

exactly!!!

you never know if they have done to it.

Every lift that ive seen for the 04+ trucks has the cv's almost perfectly straight.

 

I realize that Fabtech include new control arms... I am basing my opinion based on the fact Ive seen a fabtech in person on a chevy and on a ford from the manufacturers website - they both had the same angles.... Im NOT bashing anyone that has the lift. I want to know why people are telling me Im gonna blow my CV axle when that CV axle is at a worse angle. That is what I don't understand. I know I don't have a new control arm - so my ball joints are at a bad angle... but Im not convinced that the CV is at a bad angle.

 

yes but you arent taking in account that Fabtech does offer adjustable coilovers, so the frot MIGHT be cranked up ALITTLE. you really cant just look and tell. I cant see the pictures the site wont load for me. But if i was you id look into some f150's with lifts personally. That way you know how the cv's are gona look

If you arent worried about your cv's then keep running the 3" Leveling kit. See how long it last, The only thing you have an advatage over someone with a lift is smaller tires. IF you run those angles with a heavy tire like a 38" they will snap evetually.

Honestly my angles were as bad as yours and when i torched all the old stuff off the truck i noticed that there was infact rips in the cv boots. That little rip can cause cv failure.

 

Okay, I guess that would make sense then if they had the coilovers cranked... I completely forgot about those... that's probably what it is.

what size tire were you running? 36x1250, right? I was thinking of putting on mickey thompson rims with 35's.... I've seen it done on a f150 with a 2" AS...

So what you're telling me is that I probably will mess up my CV axle at some point if I run a big tire and use my 4wd a lot, with my current 3" level kit? Would dropping to a 2" be better, or should I just go ahead and do the body lift and take off the level kit altogher, or when i do the BL, replace it with something smaller like an AS 1.5"?

 

I guarentee that the truck on Fabtechs website is on a lift. i have never seen a truck with a fabtech lift with angles like that im almost possitive that the truck is in the air! (My opinion)

 

ok, so you do see what I was saying about the angles... That just confused me, when looking on the manufacturers website at the "best lift" avaliable, when I saw those angles... I was like, well... I have less of an angle, so I should be better off... but if its on a lift or has the coilovers cranked, that would probably account for the CV axle's angle in that flash player.

 

I'm not one of the experts on lifts, but...it seems that how much you run 4wd will play a big role here. Since the '04 up trucks have IWE (Integrated Wheel-End disconnects) which is basically a modern auto-locking hub, whenever you are running in 2wd your CVs should not be spinning. Seems like this should mean little to no wear on the CVs, or am I looking at it wrong?

Of course each driver and vehicle is different, but I'll bet you that the average modern 4wd truck is in 4wd less than 1% of the time. If that average driver keeps his truck 100,000 miles, that's less than 1000 miles in 4wd