2004 - 2008 F-150

About to Begin Front End Work...Need Tips, Tricks, Sanity

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Old 04-12-2017, 11:54 AM
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About to Begin Front End Work...Need Tips, Tricks, Sanity

Hey Guys, I am about to start a series of projects on my 06 FX4...mainly to restore, improve, and tinker.

My first job is going to be the front end. I made a post awhile back about already having the Bilstein 5100's in my garage, and I was curious as to what else I should do at the same time. I have decided to do Upper/lower control arms (Moog...or whatever else is recommend...Detroit Axle?), Sway bar end links, and I guess tie rod ends.

Can someone chime in with some advice as to what else I should do? I'm curious about things like torque specs, what parts I should lube (and with what), and common issues I should expect to run into so that I can stay sane as I do this, and hopefully be prepared.

Afterwards I know I will be taking it in for an alignment.

Lastly, I will be swapping over to 275/65/20s, and I would like your thoughts on which setting I should go with on the shocks for enough clearance and NOT having a truck that sits high in the front. Or perhaps you recommend the highest setting and adding a block in the back...I dunno...school me on this please.

Thanks Gents
 
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Old 04-12-2017, 01:28 PM
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I would get torque specs from a service manual.
 
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Old 04-12-2017, 09:36 PM
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While I never saw it, on my 2004 I found that the springs on the front struts, both sides had just about collapsed. When I replaced them with Monroe HD struts, it raised the front end up 2" and the truck sat level instead of down in the front. I replaced all of the bushings in the front end with polyurethane units. The ones on the sway bar were just about gone. Made a huge difference in how the truck drove. Being that yours is an FX4, check the rear for a sway bar. The newer ones don't have a sway bar. Don't know about an 06. Hellwig is worth it's weight in gold at my house.
 
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Old 04-13-2017, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by nu-supercrew
I would get torque specs from a service manual.
Is there one you'd recommend? I'm gonna start a thread about getting one, but figured I'd ask.
 
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Old 04-13-2017, 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Labnerd
While I never saw it, on my 2004 I found that the springs on the front struts, both sides had just about collapsed. When I replaced them with Monroe HD struts, it raised the front end up 2" and the truck sat level instead of down in the front. I replaced all of the bushings in the front end with polyurethane units. The ones on the sway bar were just about gone. Made a huge difference in how the truck drove. Being that yours is an FX4, check the rear for a sway bar. The newer ones don't have a sway bar. Don't know about an 06. Hellwig is worth it's weight in gold at my house.
Solid advice. I'll pull the wheels off and inspect things before tearing apart just to have all of the parts on hand.
 
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Old 04-21-2017, 10:34 PM
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Get replacement cam bolts for your lower control arms. When I did mine I had to cut them off to replace the LCA.
 
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Old 04-24-2017, 02:16 PM
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Originally Posted by gunrunner150
Get replacement cam bolts for your lower control arms. When I did mine I had to cut them off to replace the LCA.
Thanks for the tip. Did you have to get them through Ford? Have you since found out how to avoid having to cut them out?
 
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Old 05-01-2017, 04:03 AM
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Got two from ford $70 ea than found out that the local napa had them for way less for a pair.The ford ones were way beefer than the napa brand.I put a lot of anti seize on my new ones.You may not need to cut um off ,just in my case I had to cut off all 4.
 




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