Hi Everyone,
So I just had my lift and tires installed and everything is not working perfect. I had a fabtech six inch lift installed and put 35 inch Toyo Open Country MTs on Helo Maxx6 20x10 rims. offset:-12mm backspacing:0 width:10, Is what I gather from the net. I am getting a lot of rubbing when I cut the wheel either way just wondering if something is wrong here? Also it seems my front wheels are sticking out like 3-4 inches furthur than the back is that normal with the lift? Any help would be great!
Thanks,
McIntyre

 

I think your rubbing because of your backspacing. And the tires look to be sticking out further because your fender curves inward on the front compared to striaght on the back. I'm sure Wandell will chime in on the rubbing and backspacing issue.

 

The fabtech lifts are know to give a Pre-runner look where the front wheels stick out and sits slightly lower in the rear. If your wheels are rubbing then it is more possibly a backspace issue. I believe you need 5" of backspace for the fabtech lift.

 

the fabtech lift expands your track width roughly 2"s in the front than the back. and i am guessing those wheels have 4.5"s of backspacing. That is probably why you are rubbing. try to do a little trimming on the inside fender well/front valance. that should solve your problem. just use a straight edge for the trimming.

 

Im GUESSING that you have a 97-03 because they only make the maxx 6 for the 5on135 bolt pattern so far. fabtech says that the maximum amount of backspacing that is allowed is 4 5/8", while the wheels that you have 5.03" of backspacing

in other words the wheels are going to stick further under the vehicle with the wheels that you have now compared to the wheels that fabtech says you need.

 

thats funny my friend has them on his 06 lifted on 37 baja mtz

 

Thanks for all the help guys. My truck is a 2005 and I think all I need to do is some trimming to the back of the fender. It doesn't rub in the front at all. Also I have a vacuum leak in the front? Has anyone heard of this? Something to do with the hubs? haha sorry for all the questions guys but I am such a rookie at this. One last question is about the four wheel drive. I seem to have a pretty big vibration in the front end when I engage the four wheel drive. My mechanic says that I need to take out the front drivestaft and have it re-balanced(says that is what the fabtech instructions says to do) Did you all have to do that too?
Again thanks for all the help and advise,
McIntyre

 

Incorrect, I have a 2006 with Helo Maxx 6 wheels. Also I'm not sure what you're trying to say with the backspacing and the max Fabtech recommends because my wheels have 5.75" of backspacing and I get absolutely no rubbing on mine.

 

Do you have a F250/350 or an F150? I'm pretty sure only F250/350's have hubs. Could be wrong there.

The vacuum leak refers to a mechanism that engages the 4wd on the transfer case. It's part of the electronic transfer case and doens't exist on the manual shift transfer cases. On the manual case, the front driveshaft gear is physically shifted into place in the transfer case by using the in-cab shifter. In the electronic mode, a vacuum creates pressure, pushing/pulling the gear in and out of place. If you have a leak in that hose, your 4wd may not be be engaging all the way, if at all.

For the record, always shift into 4wd when you are in neutral.

Having a noticeable vibration when you are turning at slow speeds in 4wd is normal for these trucks. The problem becomes more noticeable with large wheels and tires. I'm not saying what you are experiencing is normal (as I don't know exactly what you are experiencing), I'm just saying that some vibration and resistance is normal.

If you are experiencing the vibration just when you engage the 4wd (not as a result of turning, like I mentioned above), then it likely has something to do with the 4wd not engaging properly...ie, your vacuum leak.

I have no idea why you would need to rebalance your front driveshaft, although that may be standard procedure for the Fabtech lift.

 

so on the newer trucks you guys have 20"s? sorry guess i didn't put that they don't make the 6 on 135mm in 20's

Use 315/75R16 tires w/ 16x10 wheels w/4 5/8" BS w/ minor trimming
Use 325/65R18 tires w/ 18x9 wheels w/4 5/8" BS w/ minor trimming

http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/ap...97-03f150.html

wxspo, the difference between YOUR wheels and HIS wheels is this (i think)

your wheels has the 5.39" of backspacing with 10mm of POSITIVE offset...

while HIS wheels has 5.03" of backspacing with -12mm of backspacing....

ehh i'm just throwing out ideas here guys. call fabytech

what trans do you have?
e4od
NOTE- VEHICLES WITH E40D TRANSMISSIONS REQUIRES IMPACT STRUTS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS SYSTEM.


I didn't see anything in the instructions about rebalancing the cv drive shaft though. do you have the instructions?
http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/pd...on%20Sheet.pdf

 

Big Bad Red: ALL 4x4 have hubs. Apparently Ford tried to get away from locking hubs in the 97-03 models by using a vacuum operated dif machanism. The New generation (04 and up) went back to vacuum operated hubs. The F-250's (and up !) have manual locking hubs (as an option i believe). That way when you click the transfer case into 4x4, you have to get out and manually click the hubs over to engage. With ours, all we gotta do is click the transfer case into 4x4 and hubs auto engage. Just an FYI bud.

Also, I have the Fabtech 6" lift with 305/70 R18 Pro Comp extreme muds sitting on ProComp series 8023 18x9.5 with 4.75 of backspacing. My tires rubbed real bad at first. After some trimming I have no problems. Trimmed the fron valance, had to trim my actual chrome bumper and I had to trim the back of the fender! Just another FYI for anyone. My old man helping me get rid of my "rubbing" issue:


And to the guy saying he has bad vibration in 4wd. Did you re-clock the driveshaft? After reclocking and grinding down the "key" did you go get it profesionally balanced? And then finally if you did all that, look under you truck... make sure on the driveshaft, the boot end is sitting closer to the transfer case (as opposed to sitting slightly closer to the fron differential)

 

LOL sounds like someone put their own lift on lol. hey mercedesTech, step by step instructions??

 

I sure did. Thanks a lot Josh, ya got me, by far the best deal around. I've tried sendin some people over your way. Ya i can give some step by steps if needed, but I don't wana do it on lunch break man
Heres a couple pics for ya:



First "test" : took her out to do some light wheeling and good ole campin/huntin trip:



Couple more in the gallery. Thanks again man, and I will be givin ya a call here soon. Just sold the Ole Chevy.

 

Thanks for the heads up. My previous truck was a lifted 97 and I remember a lot of people being frustrated with the vacuum system Ford had. To be honest, I haven't done much research on the newer styles and didn't realize they had changed them. I was thinking of the manual locking hubs...not just hubs in general. Thanks for the correction!

 

No problem! one thing I love about this site. I was corrected on this same thing on an earlier forum by Kingfish (think thats the name). I thought all the F150's were using vacuum locking hubs. He's the one that let me know that the 97-03 models had a vacuum operated "fork" type mechanism in the dif. It was a stupid idea (probably why you heard people frustrated with it) and for the new F150's they decided to go back to the good ole locking hubs.