2.5" Autospring Ordered
Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: Florida
yep ill second that. just went to the range the other day. guns, ammo, along with fishing rods, bait and all the other things that make life great
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
I just did my AS 2" install last week.
As many others have noted, this install is very easy and straightforward.
I didn't even use the install instructions, but instead used the ones at the following link:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/su...t-install.html
A couple notes I would add to the process above:
Get the 30mm deep socket.
I was able to get the job done on the passenger side with the standard 1/2" drive 30mm socket, but I couldn't get enough socket on the driver's side for a good bite for some reason. Once I had the 30mm deep, it was no sweat.
I didn't find the strut rod bolt unbearably hard to break loose, but I had a 18 inch 1/2" drive breaker bar, and I'm 240#. If you have hard time with it, I think a couple foot section of pipe for leverage will do the job.
When loosening the upper ball joint bolt:
If you find the bolt wants to spin after you've freed the upper control arm from the spindle, use a 10mm wrench on the end to keep the bolt from spinning - or grab the exposed (smooth) part of the bolt with pliers. I actually took the nut all the way off and just put it back on with a handful of threads grabbing to keep things from flying when I did the second side.
When separating the upper control arm from the spindle:
I had bought a pitman arm puller from Advance Auto, and it didn't fit. It wasn't deep enough, and I would have had to grind or cut off the end of the bolt, I didn't want to do that, so I broke out the sledge hammer. Despite others notes of having a hard time getting them separated, It probably took half a dozen or so shots with the hammer on the upper control arm to separate them. Literally less than a minute to get them separated.
Other than that, no sweat. If you can turn a wrench, it's an easy job and can be done within 2-3 hours.
More words of encouragement: Putting aside removing the wheel and mounting the spacer to the top of the strut, it's literally a 3 bolt job:
sway arm bolt, strut rod bolt, upper control arm bolt. How much easier can it get!! ??
As many others have noted, this install is very easy and straightforward.
I didn't even use the install instructions, but instead used the ones at the following link:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/su...t-install.html
A couple notes I would add to the process above:
Get the 30mm deep socket.
I was able to get the job done on the passenger side with the standard 1/2" drive 30mm socket, but I couldn't get enough socket on the driver's side for a good bite for some reason. Once I had the 30mm deep, it was no sweat.
I didn't find the strut rod bolt unbearably hard to break loose, but I had a 18 inch 1/2" drive breaker bar, and I'm 240#. If you have hard time with it, I think a couple foot section of pipe for leverage will do the job.
When loosening the upper ball joint bolt:
If you find the bolt wants to spin after you've freed the upper control arm from the spindle, use a 10mm wrench on the end to keep the bolt from spinning - or grab the exposed (smooth) part of the bolt with pliers. I actually took the nut all the way off and just put it back on with a handful of threads grabbing to keep things from flying when I did the second side.
When separating the upper control arm from the spindle:
I had bought a pitman arm puller from Advance Auto, and it didn't fit. It wasn't deep enough, and I would have had to grind or cut off the end of the bolt, I didn't want to do that, so I broke out the sledge hammer. Despite others notes of having a hard time getting them separated, It probably took half a dozen or so shots with the hammer on the upper control arm to separate them. Literally less than a minute to get them separated.
Other than that, no sweat. If you can turn a wrench, it's an easy job and can be done within 2-3 hours.
More words of encouragement: Putting aside removing the wheel and mounting the spacer to the top of the strut, it's literally a 3 bolt job:
sway arm bolt, strut rod bolt, upper control arm bolt. How much easier can it get!! ??
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,017
Likes: 0
From: Augusta, GA
I just did my AS 2" install last week.
As many others have noted, this install is very easy and straightforward.
I didn't even use the install instructions, but instead used the ones at the following link:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/su...t-install.html
A couple notes I would add to the process above:
Get the 30mm deep socket.
I was able to get the job done on the passenger side with the standard 1/2" drive 30mm socket, but I couldn't get enough socket on the driver's side for a good bite for some reason. Once I had the 30mm deep, it was no sweat.
I didn't find the strut rod bolt unbearably hard to break loose, but I had a 18 inch 1/2" drive breaker bar, and I'm 240#. If you have hard time with it, I think a couple foot section of pipe for leverage will do the job.
When loosening the upper ball joint bolt:
If you find the bolt wants to spin after you've freed the upper control arm from the spindle, use a 10mm wrench on the end to keep the bolt from spinning - or grab the exposed (smooth) part of the bolt with pliers. I actually took the nut all the way off and just put it back on with a handful of threads grabbing to keep things from flying when I did the second side.
When separating the upper control arm from the spindle:
I had bought a pitman arm puller from Advance Auto, and it didn't fit. It wasn't deep enough, and I would have had to grind or cut off the end of the bolt, I didn't want to do that, so I broke out the sledge hammer. Despite others notes of having a hard time getting them separated, It probably took half a dozen or so shots with the hammer on the upper control arm to separate them. Literally less than a minute to get them separated.
Other than that, no sweat. If you can turn a wrench, it's an easy job and can be done within 2-3 hours.
More words of encouragement: Putting aside removing the wheel and mounting the spacer to the top of the strut, it's literally a 3 bolt job:
sway arm bolt, strut rod bolt, upper control arm bolt. How much easier can it get!! ??
As many others have noted, this install is very easy and straightforward.
I didn't even use the install instructions, but instead used the ones at the following link:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/su...t-install.html
A couple notes I would add to the process above:
Get the 30mm deep socket.
I was able to get the job done on the passenger side with the standard 1/2" drive 30mm socket, but I couldn't get enough socket on the driver's side for a good bite for some reason. Once I had the 30mm deep, it was no sweat.
I didn't find the strut rod bolt unbearably hard to break loose, but I had a 18 inch 1/2" drive breaker bar, and I'm 240#. If you have hard time with it, I think a couple foot section of pipe for leverage will do the job.
When loosening the upper ball joint bolt:
If you find the bolt wants to spin after you've freed the upper control arm from the spindle, use a 10mm wrench on the end to keep the bolt from spinning - or grab the exposed (smooth) part of the bolt with pliers. I actually took the nut all the way off and just put it back on with a handful of threads grabbing to keep things from flying when I did the second side.
When separating the upper control arm from the spindle:
I had bought a pitman arm puller from Advance Auto, and it didn't fit. It wasn't deep enough, and I would have had to grind or cut off the end of the bolt, I didn't want to do that, so I broke out the sledge hammer. Despite others notes of having a hard time getting them separated, It probably took half a dozen or so shots with the hammer on the upper control arm to separate them. Literally less than a minute to get them separated.
Other than that, no sweat. If you can turn a wrench, it's an easy job and can be done within 2-3 hours.
More words of encouragement: Putting aside removing the wheel and mounting the spacer to the top of the strut, it's literally a 3 bolt job:
sway arm bolt, strut rod bolt, upper control arm bolt. How much easier can it get!! ??
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 160
Likes: 0
From: Beaumont, TX
I put mine on this afternoon, I'll post pics in another thread tomorrow when I get my camera from work. One thing I ran into not listed yet, when bolting the spindle back to the upper control arm I had to put a jack under the lower control arm and use a ratchet strap from the upper control arm to the lower control arm to thread the nut from the spindle to the upper control arm. If the spindle isn't making contact with the rubber boots on the ball joint mine just would just spin freely. The truck is a 2004 FX4. If that doesn't make sense let me know and I'll try to do better explaining it.
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,017
Likes: 0
From: Augusta, GA
Got the kit on in about 1.5 hours. Bowt and hour for the first side and 30 mins for the second side. Overall it went well. I will post pics in a new thread tomorrow and give the rundown of how it went.