What does all this crap mean
"Note: any 80-96 Ford F150 or Bronco to be lifted 1.5-2" will have alignment problems unless the factory shims are at or near zero degrees. Verify what's on your truck prior to purchase. Otherwise, a minimum of 4" of lift will be required in order to achieve correct alignment. No lift will be achieved on vehicles with big block engines."

And how do I check if I can level my truck without problems?

 

It means you have to buy a complete lift "system"; not a kit, and don't just put in longer springs. The whole front suspension has to be moved away from the frame equally at all points, and the steering has to be matched to that lift. And the rear suspension also has to be matched.

 

So I can't just use the daystar coil spacers up front?

 

Sure you can. But the tires & wheel bearings will wear out quickly, steering will be problematic, and handling will be unpredictable. Some people don't mind that, and use spacers alone. I don't recommend it.

 

The handling is already ridiculously bad, I was going to ask you what all to check.
It doesn't seem like there is any play in the linkage but there is a good bit of play in the wheel itself.
It's getting new shocks all around when i level or lift and i may get a steering stabilizer as well.

 

Steering stabilizers are among the most over-used gadgets on 4WDs. They aren't intended to hide steering problems - they exist to protect your wrists & maybe the steering box if one front tire encounters a BIG obstacle at high speed. That's it - no other purpose.

So if your handling is bad, and you can't find the problem, take it to a pro. Most alignment shops do free inspections, with the assumption you'll buy the repairs before the alignment. (And they're not supposed to begin the alignment if there's anything wrong.) So take it in, let them tell you what's up, and on your way out, slip the tech who did the inspection a $20.

 

I may have to do that. I'm really not surprised that the steering is all crazy though, it's got 243,xxx on the original parts.

 

That is nothing but a sales gimmick to make you think that you need a full lift kit if you just want to level your truck.

Using spacers or springs 2" or under will be fine by themselves. All that other junk in that add is hokus pokus.

 

Hahahaha hokus pokus. I'm getting leveling spacers and maybe down the road a 4 or 6 inch lift.

 

Alignment for the TTB/TIB suspension is VERY sensitive to ride height changes (front OR rear) - much moreso than any other type of IFS. That's why you need a system.

 

Well even the rough country 2.5" lift comes with front i beams and whatnot.
But i'm not sure if that levels the truck or if it lifts it 2.5 all around and leaves the stock rake.

 

Skip the spacers. You can get coils for probably the same price. Coils spacers on a TTB are stupid.

Steve, we both know you do not need a full system to get a good alignment out of a TTB with just a leveling kit. People do it all the time and come out fine. I am one of those people.

 

I posted what I know - you post what you know. He can decide which way he goes with his truck.

And coil spacers aren't stupid - people who install them for the wrong reasons are stupid. The ones on my truck do exactly what it needs.

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This is kind of an interesting subject because I've always tossed around the idea of doin this to mine as well. I don't see how it DOESN'T mess everything up...I look at it in a very basic way, from the looks of it, what kills the alignment is the fact the the closest things to lower control arms we have goes from the knuckle to the opposite frame rail (passenger side frame rail connects to the driver side knucke, etc.) When you put spacer\bigger coils\something to make the truck higher, you make those outer edges that connect to the knuckle get closer together, since the truck is going up. That makes the tires look like this: \ /, there's no adjustment so make those arms longer, so what other options would we have to bring the tires back out to this: | | ?

 

The camber cams in later axles will correct SMALL camber/caster problems, but a small change in ride height creates a LARGE caster/camber change. It's not just the axle beams - the suspension pivots along a line from the axle pivots to the radius arm bushings, so it swings diagonally - not just vertically.