I was on my way home from work last night and I pull up behind this older style F-150 with a HUGE lift on it. As I get closer, I notice that he has 3, possibly 4 stacked blocks in the rear of his suspension. This thing looked like it rode like crap, bouncing all over the place from side to side. Sorry for the crappy pic, it's from my camera phone.

 

Kinda like this!!!!!!



I know its bad, thats one of the first thing im gonna fix when i get home

 

Well, I'm kinda in the same boat. I have a single 6 inch block as part of my lift but I installed traction bars so I could sleep better. I do plan on putting in a lesser block and adding an add-a-leaf eventually.

But this thing was crazy! I'd say he had 10 inches worth of stacked blocks under this thing, just didn't look safe to me. The picture doesn't really do it's justice.

 

hahaha damn that looks bad! it would be my first thing to fix too.

 

 

what's the deal with these block lifts? i was thinking about bumping my truck up 2 or 3 inches front and rear. is this a quality/acceptable way of doing it?

 

no. its the cheapest. or you could get an add-a-leaf
the best way would be to just buy whole new leaf packs. they are a little pricey tho

 

Yes this is an acceptable way of doing your lift. DO NOT stack your blocks tho. If you are 4x4 you have a factory lift block back there (2" or so) so you MUST take that out when you put in the new lift block.
Yes the "better" way of doing it would be all new springs... but with these trucks and what they do, the lift block is both much more economical and just fine.

 

right on, so if i yanked out the stock blocks (since i'm 4X4) and threw in a 4 or 5 inch block i'd be good to go? i just don't want to throw crap on my truck and find things out the hard way. as long as it's safe and reliable i'm good with it. what sorts of driveability qualities would this affect?

 

Ya you will be fine. Like was said before me... it isn't the "best" way to acheive the lift. Spring would be "ideal" but very very expensive and a 5" block would be the biggest I would ever recommend. There are PLENTY of guys on this site alone running 5" blocks out back and putting their trucks thru some pretty good abuse and having no problems. As for driveability? You may get some axle wrap/hop . If you lift with a block I would also urge you to consider some type of traction/ladder bars to keep that rear planted. I know I am wanting some, but im wanting this upcoming Vegas trip just a tad bit more.

And just to be clear... you don't need this big of a block unless your running a lift (you saying stock blocks got me worried a bit) You can't run the block up front (ifs) unless you are calling the leveling kit a "block". But then if you are just running a leveling kit you will have no need for the rear lift blocks. The 5" lift block is usually used on our trucks with a 6" suspension lift with aftermarket coilovers cranked up a couple inches, giving them about 8" or more lift in the front suspension. I am running the 6" lift , nothing cranked up and use the 3" rear lift block to get my truck to sit level.

 

Wow, that looks scary. I noticed my truck has stacked blocks as well, and have since ordered an add-a-leaf to replace one of the blocks. My truck has the 6" ProComp lift up front, and what measures out to a 2" and a 2.5" block stacked in the rear. I am assuming that the 2" block is the factory block (4x4), and the 2.5" was included in the lift kit to level the truck out. I personally like a little bit of rake (like it had from the factory) in the truck, so that it isn't in a perpetual squat, or constant state of acceleration while parked in the driveway at night. I use my bed and occasionally tow, I am looking to keep the truck level under those circumstances... damn, now I need to start fixing the lift.