was considering a six inch fabtech for my 2000 f150, a couple of questions

- how much faster will the ball joints and cv joints wear than normal
- can i still mount factory 17" wheels or will the backspacing be off (budget may allow new wheels for a while )
- is towing really that much worse with a lift and tires
- is fabtech the best choice for this year truck, i was also considering rancho but had read reviews saying fabtech does ford trucks best
- how long does a first time drive way install usually take


thanks for any help

 

my friend has a 2000 150 with the fabtech lift, i think he did it in a weekend, the ride is just like stock

 

Yeah definetly go with the fabtech, its a great kit and i have never heard anything bad about it. I installed one on mine about 4 months ago and have been loving it ever since. It took me about a day and a half but i was really taking my time to make sure everything was right. As far as towing, you will notice a difference, especially on the highway, hitting a big hill, it will always be wanting to downshift and hunt for gears, so always take it out of O/D. For wear and tear on suspension componets, i really cant say from experince, but i have herad from other guys that they will wear out "slightly" faster if you do alot of serious off roading, but if shes gonna be a street queen then there wont be any diff than if it were stock. But yea go for it you wont be dissapointed with the fabtech its a great lift especially for our trucks
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...099&anum=16003

 

Definately go with a Fabtech lift they are a very high quality lift and from my experience your truck will ride better than stock with this lift on

 

I want to add a 6" Fabtech to my truck and put on 37's! Maybe one of these days when the kids leave home. LOL

 

thanks for the answers, just a few more questions before i start shopping around for the kit. is all this revesable (can it be put back to stock if i ever need to for any reason) and will i be able to run my stock tires and rims (17") for a while (about 2 months) until i can afford some new ones. i know that there is a thread on this already in the suspension section but so far they never really came to a final answer so i asked it again. thanks for the help, you should see another lifted f150 on here by the end of the month

 

Yes, you can use your oem wheels.

 

thanks for all the help just one more question, as stupid as it may sound. is the lift reverseable if i ever need to get it back to stock for any reason. (not that i would want to!!!!)

 

well, yes, it could be reversed.... but not easily.... it would take some welding. then you install these lifts, they require you to cut a good chunk off of a subframe bracket.


but, IMO if you install a 6" lift, the only thing you will want to do to it is go HIGHER !!!!

 

As for the towing with a lift and tires:
You will be pushing more air (bad) and will effectively have a higher (numerically lower) gear ratio (also bad). Re-gearing your differentials will do wonders for the towing capabilities and put you right back to where you were stock. I have a 2006 lifted 6" on 35's and still have my 3.55 gears... the truck tows just fine, and when hooked up to a 6,000 pound travle trailer made short work of the task. Yes, it will downshift much sooner, but it still has the torque to move the load... just let it get the RPMs up there.

 

I didnt have to cut any subframe brackets when i installed mine. I did have to cut the tie rod ends a little bit so if you went back to stock you may have to buy new tie rod ends. The kit is a complete bolt in though. You can go back to stock if you want to without welding. You would have to keep all the stock hardware though.

 

yeah i definetly have to agree with cletus, because i never had to do any cutting, except for my tie rod ends, and drill some new holes. If i wanted to i could lower my pickup down to stock with no probs at all. But mattd your right all i want to do is go higher.