Hello All,
First off, I gotta say to Anaheim Drew and Lumador .... GREAT looking trucks !! I have an 04 XLT Crew 5.4 with the factory trailer package and I really want to drop it. But .. and this is the part I am hoping you can help me with, I use my truck to haul a couple dirt bikes now and then and a camper a bit less often but mostly as a daily driver. How does the drop affect the ability to haul some weight now and then ? What compromise (if any) will I experience in ride quality ? I am thinking of a 20" to 22" wheel, are the tires used on that size compatable with the occasional camper tugging in terms of load range ? I am guessing I will need to re-calibrate the speedo, how difficult is that to do ? Based on what I use the truck for ... how low can I go ?

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?num=13362

Thanks,
Blaise

 

Thanks for the compliment
Tire and wheel size is one of the key issues that will determine how low you can go..
2/4 with quality products in the rear and 2/3 with a shackle will allow you to to whatever without major compromise is load capacity.

Very nice truck but your wheels sure look tiny

 

the longer the shackle the less load capability it has. So naturally you try to find a kit that uses less shackle, which sometimes means less physical drop

And i agree, the total wheel + tire diameter is going to be your deciding factor as to how much you need to calibrate the speedo for. And you will probably need an aftermarket tuner to do that. But most of the time in a lowered aplication you wont see a difference more then 5-10% so at 60 your speedo would show 66 etc
-Patrick

 

thanks for the kind words!

As for the drop, like Drew said you can either go mild and get just a 2 inch front coil drop, and a shackle for the rear, or even just a shackle for the rear. But given the fact what you tow seems to be pretty mild I would say even going with a 2/4 Ground Force kit. You can also get a set of air shocks from Ground Force for the rear to give it some extra height when towing (I have them).

As for wheels and tires...20s will work, but some 22s would look meaner and you should still be fine. Surprising, my speedo was MORE accurate after my 22s went on than before. It only changed it 3%~. they are a lot wider, but not taller.

 

The Roush suspension kit drops 2" in front, and 3" in back. It retains most of the payload capacity of stock. I run 285/45 X 22 Nitto NT420S with no problems at all.

Lee

 

I just dropped my '04 SCREW using the McGaughy's 2/4 drop and the rear leafs seem very soft. Any way to firm up the rear suspension? The rear was lowered w/ 4" drop leafs.

 

That was exactly the info I was looking for. Heres the plan then ... I am going to use the Ground Force 2/4 kit and a set of air shocks along with a set of KMC S/S 22's and a 40 series tire. Along with that I think the Edge Evolution tuner will be a good starting point. Then a good cold air system and a Flowmaster cat back system. And you're right Drew the stock wheels and rubber do look small ... Does any of the stuff I am going to do affect my warranty ? I've got just under 26k miles and have an extended 75k warranty, it would be a shame to mess that up.

Thanks to all of you for the help and great info, I really appreciate it !!!!

 

The lowering kit will only void things that could be directly attributed to the lowering kit itself. So, in a nutshell, nothing to worry about on a basic lowering kit.

 

Anytime
Question? How are your painted bumpers holding up?
Oh, email me for some info you asked about