Why doesn't Ford provide OEM lift/leveling kits?
 

Just curious.

Most likely because they alter the geometry of the suspension which is at optimal specs the way they sell it. That's for the leveling kits that is. As for the suspension lift I'd say it's because the amount of trucks that get aftermarket lifts is only a small fraction of the gross sales. It's not really economically sound is what it boils down to. They can only do things like the Raptor which is at low production level and high cost. It's a supply and demand thing. That's just my thoughts on it

leveling kits affect the suspension geometry negatively, leading to premature cv shaft and ball joint wear. they also adversely affect ride.

IFS lifts are expensive, and again, lifted trucks only compose a small portion of all the rest of the stock suspension trucks out there. Ford's R+D time/money is better spent elsewhere.

I thought the leveling kits do not affect ride quality? Is this true or not because I was about to order one for my truck...

yeah, they make the front end ride stiffer. not like a tonka truck, but you'll notice the difference on bumps/potholes.

I don't know about where you live, but my local ford dealership will install leveling kits on the new fords for $250

ya actually you can custom order lift kits from ford. very pricey but comes with a warranty

yeah, there are dealers out there that sell some lifted trucks too... I know the dealer near me had a shop put on level kits, moto metal 951s, and 33" Toyo A/Ts. They looked really nice, but they charged $5K more than a stock truck with the same package (ie fx4, xlt, etc...). I also heard of some dealers having full lift kits put on and selling them that way.

The local Chevy dealer's manager offered to let me drive his lifted silverado to let me see how it handled... He said they wouldn't sell it to me lifted, but that if I wanted it lifted, they would take care of it for me. He said they'd take it to a shop, have the lift, rims, tires installed, and he'd deduct the price of the stock wheels/tires, since he'd keep those... I thought it was a good offer, but I personally liked the look/ride/and everything else about the F150 a lot better... just my personal preference.

Those are DEALER options and not actual Ford options. When my girlfriend was buying a new car she chacked out the new Altima's. She was set on getting leather but the only one they had that fit what she wanted didn't have leather. The dealer said they had a local shop that would take the car and redo the seats and such with whatever leather she wanted. Do you think that was a Nissan option or just something that the dealer had worked out? The same goes for lifted trucks. Ford themselves doen't offer the options we are talking about which is what this thread was about. You can go to just about any dealership and work a deal with them to do aftermarket stuff and add it under warranty because they can finaggle the system. That doesn't make them Ford or even Ford authorized options and parts though.

doesnt it also have to do with towing , if you have a leveling kit and tow , you will prolly squat quite a bit. thats where the factory rake comes in to help that out right ???

A better question is why don't they just make the darn things level to begin with? :rolleyes:

Andy

My truck sets level (I think the P.O. twisted the torsion bars?), and with ~500# tongue weight, the tail drops about 1.5". Not enough to be a problem or even very noticeable.

Andy

If they were level and you towed/hauled heavy weight the truck would squat and look overloaded...


Ford builds these trucks to work. ;)

Leveling kits that stack on top of the coil-over do not affect ride quality.

I'm in the process of investigating a 2inch level. I've got to say I'm so confused. It seems that for every person that says that levels ruin your cv's and so on, there is another person insisting that this is not so. I don't know who to belive. I don't trust what the dealer tells me because they are just looking to protect themselves. I've also got the warranty that I don't want to ruin and I'm really on the fence. The kit I'm considering is installed inside the coil collomn. I wish I could find the "expert".