wow, that was alot of acronyms.
anyhow, i want to lift my 97 4wd f150 enough to put 35's on it. ive given up my fantasy of actually having a suspension lift because of the monetary issues. therefore, im left with the options stated above. i know that if i put a 3 inch bl on there i could run 35's. ive seen it done with good results. however, my question revolves around whether:
A. i could fit 35's with an AAL and Torsion keys?
B, would my truck sit level or would it still be raked with an AAL and torsion keys? and
C, if these things wouldnt fit a 35, would putting on torsion keys and an AAL on top of a body lift improve offroad performance, allow me to fit bigger tires, or make my truck sit and perform strangely?

Any help would be appreciated.

p.s. can body lifts cause major harm to your truck? i know people say that you cant tow with them, but if youre towing from the frame it shouldnt matter, right?

 

Ok, i guess lets start at the problem and work our way to the top of your post... you can tow just as much as you always have as long as your not towing off the bumper (which most people dont anyway, if you tow much at all you use a tow package receiver hitch). The reason you cant tow off the bumper is because your going to raise the bumpers up with brackets and they are not designed to support the weight.

You can fit 35's with the torsion bars cranked up to level the truck, and technically you wouldnt even need the AAL in the rear - the only catch is that you need to use the stock wheels, its pretty much the only way it will work and even with this its going to be tight depending on how beefy of a tire you get. It may rub at full lock and when working out the suspension off road.

You can crank the torsion keys to level out the truck, and depending on how much lift you can get out of cranking the keys all the way up, you may be able to actually make the front sit higher than the back, if you do then you can run an AAL to level it out once again, but be prepared for the truck to ride pretty rough if you max out the torsion bars.

Plenty of people crank the torsion bars and run the AAL on top of a body lift to squeeze an extra inch or two of clearance out when they want to run wider rim and tire combos and to my knowledge it doesnt hurt anything at all. Your not stacking lifts that affect the same parts of the truck if that makes sense. The body lift doesnt affect the suspension, and the suspension adjustments you make (torsion bar/AAL) dont affect the body, so no problems there.


Lastly, most will tell you to stay away from the aftermarket torsion bar keys that you will find all over the internet and in catalogs as they will allow you to put way to much preload on your factory torsion bars. You should be able to crank up your factory keys to get an extra inch to two inches. I know of a couple of people that use my local offroad shop and they are running the aftermarket keys on both of their f150s but they havent had them long enough for me to say if its detremental to the trucks integrity and longetivity of the suspension components.

 

x2 on all of that! and the question on towing, i had a body lift on my ranger and i towed a boat though my yard that i had no choice but to put on the tongue it help up fine!

NOTE: this was just because we had a hurricane on its way and i had to put the boat inside our barn, i would not do this on the road!

and i finally saw a f150 with the torsion bars maxed out and an aal with 35's.. i didnt like it it was way to crammed!

this is what i would do! crank your stock torsion bars enough to level your truck out, then go get an alignment! then put a 3" PA BL this will give you enough room to clear 35's and aftermarket wheels with 4.5 BS. if you dont a have a tow hitch then go get one they arnt that expensive!

and you will have enough clearance tire to wheel well to go offroading!

 

These guys are right on the money. I have pics of the Body Lift install process in my gallery, with captions and descriptions.

 

I agree.