Ok well I searched for a week on this one and got about a million answers. You can do this but watch out for that, the easiest way is to do it this way but it will not be as good as this, etc..etc...

Here is what I have 1997 F-150 V-6 4x2 ext cab short bed. I do not use this truck to go off road at all. It is a truck that I use when I need to put things in the back, or give my car a break.

I want to lift the front to level it off, add something to the back to keep it from sagging when I load it up. I never had a problem with sag but recently I tried to put roofing shingles in it and it was leaning BAD.

I looked at spacers for the front to lift the front 2" getting it pretty close to the back, then I heard something about 2" spacers won't fit in the control arms?

If I lift the front with spacers I would assume I will need a front end alignment right?

What should I do to the rear to get it to hold heavier loads without sagging? Better shocks? New leaf springs?

Remember I do not want to lift the whole truck just the front and stiffen up the back.

Thanks.

 

I'd go with the spacers. This is the deal with the control arms. If you go taller than 2.5 inches with spacers or lift springs, the front end cannot be alinged without new upper control arms. THat is why you see some 3 inch lift kits that consist of a 3 inch coil spring and new upper control arms. You will need to have the front end aligned if you install spacers. You may, or may not need to install a camber kit (around $50) to get the alignment correct.
As for the rear, a supplemental airbag system would be perfect for what you want.

 

Thanks, so I should go with the 2" spacers, they should work and the most I might need would be a camber kit to align it correctly.

I thought about the airbags, but the back end is getting soft anyways. The truck has 136K on it and Ford relaced the motor at 60K so it is great for what I use it for. I would like to firm up the suspension a bit as it is too soft for my taste. If I just added some new shocks would that keep it from sagging and stiffen it up a bit?

Or what all of thoes add on's that people put on their leaf springs to increase the load capacity.

 

Hey I just noticed your tire size. Right now I have 16x8's on the truck with regular tires, I was thinking of getting some Geolander A/T's to put on the rims once I level it up. Do you have any pics of your wheel and fenderwell gap. I am trying to figure out if some 285/75/16 or if I should go 285/80/16??

 

Get the spacer up front, and then in the rear you can install some helper springs. They wont raise the truck any, but when you put a load in there theyll help out.

For the tires, I would say get some 265/75R16's. 285 may be a little big for just a leveling kit.

 

Well then thats what I am going to do. Thanks again.

John my truck looks just like yours except mine is all blue. Did the fog light inserts come painted that color or were they black? I have the 4x4 bumper on mine but it is painted...I am thinking about getting the fog light inserts painted to match. I wonder if anyone makes a grill or something that would allow me to get rid of the damn plastic plates?

 

I also have a 97 F-150 4x4 that I wanted to level.Where exactly do the 2" spacers go on the front end?

Smack 2

 

...I dont have inserts, I have fog lights

 

You dont need spacers, just crank your torsion bars (search if you dont know what that is, theres probably a thread on the first page of the forum that tells you what you need to know)

 

Right.