I need some answers here.
I have a '97 F-150 xlt ext. cab v-8

1) Im looking to buy super swamper Radial SSR tires (16x35x15) and Black Powder Rock Crawler (bead-loc look style) (15x10) for a total of $1489. I need to know if they will fit my truck.

2) I got a quote from Attitude Performance (dont remember price) for a 6" suspension lift and a 3" body lift. Their total (including labor) was a bit much. So i figured ill buy the kits and have them install them (just paying for labor) the only problem is that the 6" lift for the truck is around $1500 (give or take a few). Now that seems to be a lot too but searching around they are all the same, so i guess i have no choice. What i want to know is, if i buy the kit, will it come with all the parts plus shocks? or will i have to purchase them seperately?

3) I keep hearing that if i get tires over 31" i need to get new gears. If this is true what is a good gear ratio (i hear 4.11 is good) and how much would those gears cost?

if you can help me pls e-mail me at Coozone@aol.com
thanks


(just for fun )

 

I can answer your gear questions. Basically use this calculator first and then pick the gearing closest or taller (larger number) than the answer you get.

http://www.4lo.com/4LoCalc.htm
http://www.4lo.com/geartable.html

Gears for my 2001 F150 4x4 are about $1,250 front and back parts and labor. It isn't going to be much cheaper than that.

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Still not sure how this fits in the offroad forum instead of in a tech forum.

First off forget all the parts you picked out, most of them don't even work on 97+ F150s :rolleyes
Ok first question is what do you have 4x4 or 4x2? HUGE difference there. With a 4x4 you are able to fit 35/12.5 with a 3" body lift only, but you'll have rubbing issues with 16" wide tires. Also you can't really fit 16" wide tires on 10" wide wheels, its too narrow a wheel for too wide a tire, you need to step up to 12" wide wheels. Best advice I can give you on the tires is to forget that tire size and get some 35/12.5/16s. Its preferable that you get a 4" suspension lift but you're still looking at $1000 or better just for the kits. Remember IFS lift kits are expensive. As far as gears go you will need 4.56 or deeper gears depending on the engine you have. If you have the 4.2L might wanna consider 5.13 gears, 4.6L maybe 4.88, and 5.4L 4.56 gears. But you will be fine with 4.56 gears with any of those, just you'll get more low end power with the deeper gears on the smaller engines. The problem when you get down to the 5.13 gears is the pinion gets so small breakage becomes an issue. If you have a 4x4 you gotta gear both the front and rear axles, and 4x2 you only have to do the rear since the front doesn't have gears. As far as what comes with what kits just look at the companies website to see. Different kits come with different stuff. Its a little hard to tell you what comes in a kit when you don't even say what brand you're looking at Then as far as the bead locks I don't know if they even make them for 97+ F150s. If you find a set they have to be 5 on 135mm bolt pattern to fit. Nothing else will fit and ONLY Ford has ever used this bolt pattern.

Oh yeah, just noticed something you CAN'T run 15" wheels on 97+ F150s. You run into clearance issues with brakes. It is possible to fit them if you run a VERY low backspacing on the wheels, but then you have issues with wearing out bearings, steering, suspension, etc. Basically you gotta run 16" wheels unless you like taking your suspension apart and replacing parts every few thousand miles.