Bought a Beltech 3/5 drop kit with Street Shocks all the way around for my 2010 Screw and it seems the rearend is lower than I wanted and the front end is higher than I wanted.....I know my way around a shop and have done drops before

I installed myself and followed the instructions and even called a Beltech rep to make sure about the spacers on the front struts. The rep said I needed to put ONE of the thick spacers on the front end struts and after reading the instructions it seems this to be true.

Also the back seems to be TOO low....One thing that concerned me was when I installed the rear shocks I had to lift the rearend housing with a jack to reach them..They seemed to short....Does anyone have any ideas??...Sorry but dont have any pics..Will be taking it to get aligned in the morning to see if that helps...I have looked at some pics on here on some other peoples drops and it dont seem the same.....Any help would be great

 

For a 3" drop on the front, you're supposed to omit all spacers. So if you're using one thick one, you're at a 2" drop on the front.

I had the same issue with my regular cab/short bed. After the drop, my rear sat a little lower than the front. I corrected this by adding Monroe Coil-Over shocks in the rear (part #58642). They're listed as fitting the 2004-2008 2WD F-150, but the length was perfect for a flipped 2009-2011 2WD. That added support in the rear and put the rear slightly higher than the front.

Before you get an alignment, you need to redo the front and remove the spacer. If the rear is still sagging, you need to invest in either coil-over shocks, or air bags to add some support and lift. The truck needs to have some rake (rear sitting higher than front) for the steering to feel right. If it's level or the rear is sagging, the steering will feel numb and somewhat sloppy.

In the end, I wasn't happy with the 3/5 drop. I put the springs back on top of the axle and got 2" drop shackles. Then I set the Belltech struts to 1.5" of drop (one thick and one thin spacer). But that's just me.

 

for 09 and up, you use one 16mm spacer (fatter one) to achieve a 3" drop..

 

How sure are you on that? EsJayEs has a 2009 and he is saying he is not running any spacers. Mine is a 2010 and I'm pretty sure I don't have any spacers in either. I didn't install my drop though so I'm not 100% sure. Just by logic though it would seem to me that the more spacers you have the higher you would be.

OP my truck has a slight "rake" because I have helper bags. Even with no air in the bags i still have "rake" because of where the bags are mounted. I plan to relocate the mounts and go another 2-3 inches lower in the rear so I have to run air in the bags all the time just to sit level. If you look at my brothers truck on here, "b_cirilla" you will notice his is slightly lower in the rear. He is not running helper bags yet. I am trying to get him to get his measurements right now.

Go take some measurements for us so we can compare. EVERYBODY needs to measure from the bottom of the fender to the center of the axle so we can get consistent measurements. Measuring to the tire or ground is not consistent from truck to truck because of the differences in tire and wheel size.

That being said here are my measurements from bottom of fender to center of axle.

FRONT = 17"
REAR = 17 1/2"

In my sig pic I am actually at 18" in the rear because I forgot to let ALL of the air out.

 

Ok, went back to the shop with the truck and looked under it to make sure that I didnt do something wrong. Everything is is tight and looks fine. My only concern with the back is that I had to lift up the rear end housing (while the rear wheels were off the ground) to put on the shocks. I called Beltech again with the measurements of the shock and they say it is the correct rear shock. This leaves the top of the fenders allmost flush with the top of the stock Perellies. Which seems a little TOO low for me.


Now to the front. The Beltech rep said that I had the correct amount of spacers on the front struts (One fat one). But that I could either put one smaller spacer OR no spacer at all. I have a week before I can use my buddy's shop again so Im thinking about maybe lifting the back. I will try to get a pic on here tonight (when it stops raining to show everyone what Im talking about....Thanx again

 

Ok going to try to load up these pics I took. Following Milt's advice I measured from top of fender well to middle of axle and came up with...

Front= 19 1/4
Back= 17 1/4

 

Profile shot
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...4-img-0011.jpg

 

Front= 19 1/4 from wheel well to center axle


Rear= 17 1/4 from wheel well to center axle

 

Yes in sure. least thats what the directions say.

 

Well I had to read it to believe it. They've revised the instructions. The original copy I had did not mention anything unique about the 2009+. Still doesn't change the fact that I had a sagging rear even with no spacers. But it wasn't as severe as katpeeler's.

And now my OCD is commanding me to take my front struts apart and compare them with the original ones. Might bring the front up slightly while I'm in there. When I get around to the comparison I'll post.

Damn it!

http://belltech-store.com/aca_php/im...ages/25001.pdf

 

Well........After looking at my pics, and the measurements that Milt has it seems Im about 2 inches high in the front....WITH the recomended fat spacer....But after thinking of the assembly that I did on the front, there is one thing that I didnt do that was recomendded and that was install the small sleeve that goes on the TOP of the strut right below the center nut on top...But I dont think this will give me the extra lift I got on the front without it. So at this point I think I might take the front spacer out in a few days. I think this is my problem...Im too HIGH in the front and it is making my back look TOO low....After looking at my pics what do yall think???

 

well sir I can tell you that i did the same i bought a 3"x5" bell tech drop kit the directions to achieve 3" up front for a 2008 f 150 screw with 5.4 I used no spacers and 1/2 moon notch on lower control armes front and back for alignment. I have an screw 6.5 long bed with oversized fuel tank 35.7 those two options alone dropped me from 5" to 6" so to get my height back to 5" i used air lift slamed air. Part # 52910fit hope this info will help u

HLB

 

OK so I just got off a 30 min. phone call with belltech tech support and here is what I have come up with.

They have informed me that some of our trucks, 2009-2011, came with the 3pack rear leaf and some with the 4pack rear leaf. Now you would think that this is based on whether or not the truck is equiped with the tow package. That is obviously not the case though because I have the tow pkg and I have a 3pack leaf, that's including the overload leaf. This has been a big issue at belltech because the difference in leaf packs is giving people different drops with the flip kit. Perhaps the 4pack leafs came on the 4x4. That would explain why some people are lower in the rear than others but in this particular instance our rears seem to be measuring the same and it is the front that is off. Granted all of us are 2wd.

What they explained to me about the front adjustable struts is as follows. To achieve maximum lift from the strut you run ALL of the spacers. To achieve maximum drop you would run NO spacers. However belltech does not recommend running no spacer because it puts too much stress on the ball joint. That is why they recommend running one thick spacer which they state will give you 3" of drop from factory. They also stated that they have different adjustable struts for 4wd and 2wd. It is possible that Kat received the struts for the 4wd instead of the 2wd and that is why he is sitting higher in the front even though he is running the sugested spacer. I can't confirm this because I can't see what spacer, if any, I am running because there is a rubber boot around them.

I am going to go to the dealership across the street from my work and see if I can get a measurement from a stock FX2 so we will have a base to determine the amount of drop we have all actually achieved. I recommend that everybody check their leaf packs in the rear too.

This is driving me nuts. I think we should just all switch to custom four links in the rear and air bags in all four corners.

 

So here is katpeeler, b_cirilla, and myself all running the exact same kit on the exact same year models, exact same trim line, exact same wheels and tires, and exact same cab and bed size and look at the differences. The pic I posted of mine was taken before I had the helper bags so we are all on the the same setup.

 

Well I just got back from measuring a few stock crew cabs at the dealership and I am more confused than ever. I found several 2wd that had the 3pack leaf and several 2wd that had the 4pack leaf. All of the 4wd I looked at had the 3pack leaf. My logic tells me that the more leafs you have the stiffer your suspension would be and the more load it could handle. That being said I would think the tow package would include the 4pack leafs. Well I have the tow package and I have the 3pack leafs so I don't know what to think.

As far as the stock ride height goes I measured the 2wd with the 3pack and the 4pack and they BOTH measured 21 1/2" in the front and 23 1/2" in the rear stock. Why would they measure the same when one has an extra leaf in the rear? I didn't even bother to measure the 4wd because that would be one more variable we don't even need in the equation.

Knowing that the trucks sit at 21 1/2" in the front and 23 1/2" in the rear at stock ride height the belltech 3/5 drop should put the truck at 18 1/2" in the front and 18 1/2" in the rear.

I have come to the conclusion that I am either running no spacers in the front or my struts and springs have settled drasticaly over the course of the 35K miles they have been installed because I just measured mine again and I am definitely at 17" in the front. That is a total of 4 1/2" of drop.

My rear is at 18" again so now I am starting to wonder if air is leaking from my tank back into my bags because I just had two buddies sit on the tailgate the other day while I held my switch open to get the rest of the air out of the bags and I was at 17 1/2 in the rear with all the air out. I haven't aired up since then and I just tried to let any excess air out with nobody on the tailgate and no air was released. Either way it looks like I got either 6" or 5 1/2" out of the flip kit.

I am still waiting to hear from my brother, b_cirilla, on his measurements. He says he is going to take them when he gets home from work but I'll believe that when me shat turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.

This is really messing with my head. LOL