If that is true, it would only be the front. You would still need the rear blocks. However, you may be able to get the full spring and shock for the same price of redoing just the shock. With just the shock, you have to compress the springs, remove the old shock, and put the new one in. Labor cost if paying for it becomes a factor.

 

Just the front would be lifted about 2.5" once everything settles out. At least that is the theory. YaMon is the member that got me going on this whole thing.

 

Ok this thread has been idle for a while, but i have been doing some research and am wondering, if i were to install the Fx4 shocks and spring assemble only the front of my 4x2, would this give me some added height, and then would i still be able to add the leveling kit? If so then should i add the fx4 shocks to the back or can i keep my stock shocks and just add some 4x4 blocks for the height? Thanks!

 

I believe that you will have to put on the 4x4 shocks as I think they are a tad longer. Your don't want to over extend the shock if the wheels come off the ground.

 

thank you, that is what i thought

 

No, I don't believe you can run a set of 4x4 coilovers and a leveling kit without destroying your ball joints because of the extreme angles. You need to go with one or the other, not combine the two.

 

Ok, so i may as well do the leveling kit, for the same height, and its much cheaper to install than the shocks.... i just thought it would be possible to do this, because cant you install a leveling kit on a fx4? thats the only reason i felt it may be possible to install a leveling kit above the coilovers. Then i was going to do the rear shocks of the fx4 along with a 2" block. I just wasnt sure what kind of angles it would make. Thank you for letting me know, i alreadyhave the leveling kit at my house, i will just install that this weekend instead. Let me know if you think i could still do the fx4 shocks with it, or even half of it to ge a few more inchec.

 

I am very confused on this situation. I know YaMOn did the coilovers up front and a block with shocks in the back, he also put a half of his leveling kit, up front and said it worked, but i didnt know if it was true or not, i mean i have no way of conacting him either, i tried. I just see it as if i did this and had a 3" block in back instead of 1.5 like him i could maybe do the compelte leveling kit up front. This could give me around 5" up front and another 3.5 or so in the rear, with a 3" bl this would be exactly the height i want, but i dont know the stress it would put on, or if there are any other parts i could change out to make this work....please let me know

 

Without knowing for sure about the what the outcome of UCA and LCA angles will be, I would have to say that I definately WOULD NOT do the 4x4 coilover and spacer together. I have done quite a bit of checking into this thanks to YaMon's help. He said he would be sending me pics of this UCA and LCA angles after the weekend to help me with my decision to do the coilover swap-out, or to go with a spacer, or do nothing. Here is the way I look at it...By going to the local Ford dealership and snaping pics and taking measurments under both and 4x4 and a 4x2, I found out that the ball joint at the outer rim of the UCA sits about 1.5" lower from the top of the strut tower on the 4x4 than the 4x2. Along with this, I measured the height of the spindle assembly on both the 4x4 and 4x2.....The same! So, from what I can tell, other than the 3" shaft at the bottom of the shock on the 4x4 and of course the drive system in the 4x4, I can't see a difference in the two. I have talked to the techs at Ford here in town, and they raised an interesting point. They said that they would be very interested in knowing if the people having all the trouble with ball joints and the AutoSpring spacer are running 33" and 35" tires. The head shop tech said that he feels that putting a 130# wheel and tire where a stock 65# was designed to be would kill ball joints even without the spacer. To have the added weight of a tire and wheel twice that of the stock set is bad no matter what you have done to your suspension. Imagine taking your beloved $30k baby, putting it on a rack for an oil change, then having a 100# man hang from your wheel, and the stress on your suspension already being at full drop. He said he would move to void a warranty for oversized tires, just the same as he would a spacer for ball joint damage.

Thank you so much for chewing on my food for thought, and everyone have a good night.

 

Drumdog:
I ran the 2" Daystar leveling kit for 46K and lost a ball joint. I am running 285/60/18's (31") on a 2WD. That is "almost" the same as a stock 4WD tire.

 

Yeah, but I have been frightened away from the Daystar all together. There is no way that something that squishy should be in your strut assembly. My cousin has the '04 4x4 SCrew and your can actually hear the squeek from the spacer moving around. I just like good old steel. Ball joints can go for a number of reasons. Not saying tires are the whole prob, but not something I would do.

 

If you want to lift the front with new shocks, go buy a pair of Bilsien Pre-Load Adjustable 5100's. They are specifically made to lift the front, are adjustable in height and are a much superior shock over stock. However, they will be more expensive than just a leveling kit. Get the bilstiens only if you want new shocks. Otherwise, go with a leveling kit.

 

I completely agree with you. The bad part is that 2 yrs ago that was the only thing available.

 

Sorry I have not been here to respond to anyone. Been working pretty hard these days. Ok, lets set things straight......I replaced the coilover from a FX4 with the unit from my 4x2. This gave me a lift of about 2.5" and another .5" was due to putting on 285/60x18 tires. Total lift was 3".

I had considered putting on 1/2 of the spacer from a daystar kit but decided AGAINST it. As it is now, I have 3" of lift and the control arm is not stressed in any way. The ride is firmer and it ended up costing a lot less than the front spacer kit because I bought a brand new coilover from a dealer for about $60.

As for the back, I put in a set of 4x4 shocks because I knew I was going to lift the rear 2". I wanted to prevent any topping out. It kind of gets confusing here.......I also have a shortened shackle that I installed because it came with the kit I bought. I only got 1" of lift because of it, that was why I custom made a 1.5" block in the back to make up the difference. I threw away the stock shackle. It would be better to just install a 2" block and 4x4 shocks in the back.

Back to the guy that installed the Bilstein 5100 shocks. One thing that you are not considering is that the 4x2 weights less. Installing the 4x4 Bilstein shocks made for the 4x4 may be a bit too stiff for the 4x2. I found the FX4 shocks to be perfect for the ride I was looking for.

Now stick with me.....As it is now, the back of the truck is sitting a bit high. 40" from lip to floor I think. I am probably going to remove the 1.5" spacer, which will make the vehicle level......and install a 3" body lift kit. That should put me at 40" up front and 41.5" in the back.

You CANNOT put the coilover AND the lift spscer in front, I tried and actually got it to fit up under there. Great to see 5" of lift, but the wheels were pigeon toed and they could not be aligned.

 

I thought that (alignment) would be a problem.