hey guys. I have a 2001 F-150 super cab, with the off-road and sport package. So obviously it has a 1" lift with 17's, skid plates and the 5.4L v8. I'm new to the truck game but not to mechanics. I race motorcycles and this has been the hauler but now I want to mod it. I already posted in the exhaust/intake and the tuners forums. But I also want to lift it cheap as possible. What do you guys recommend I do? i have no clue where to start. Maybe a 3-4" lift, can this be achieved without dropping more than 500$?

 

A body lift and install it yourself thats all that i could think off and it will give you 3 inches of lift and also get gap guards

 

lets say I wanted 6" or possibly more. Is there a cheap way of doing this while spending under $1000? I've noticed that once you go above 4" it seems the prices also go up exponentially (because you have to replace the suspension?).

 

Rough Country suspension lifts costs right at $1000

 

FOr the money you want to spend, I'd install a 3 inch PA body lift, crank up the torsion bars enough to level the truck out. THis will put you at about the same height as a 4 inch suspension lift and allow room for 35's. That's the combo I'm running.

 

5inch rcd lift cost like 1200-1300 out the door with shipping at national wheel and tire ntwonline.com

 

are rough country suspension lifts any good? see the problem with dropping a grand down for suspension is the fact that i still have to pay for tires and wheels. How much would a set of 35's run me?

EDIT: looks like I can do a 3" body lift with a 4" suspension lift for $1250. but once again how much are wheels and tires going to be after that?

 

I got my wheels for 440 shipped and 300 for my 35" nittos. The rims are new and the tires I got a good deal on craigslist. So 740 total for my setup

 

some lifts allow stock wheels, which would look bad *** w/ some 35's, if you load your bike in your bed your gonna want a long ramp, it was a PIA loading my bike in my bed on my own.

 

whhels and tires depends on what you want? it can as expensive, for a set of american eagles and some nittos i was looking at around 1300 bucks with ballancing mounting etc... but i found some used rims and tires off of craigslist for 400 bucks tires have 80% tread left and the wheels are kind of curoded. or i was just going to run my stock rims intill i got the extra money.

 

There are much better choices for our trucks..

 

as far as loading the bike, i am used to picking it up and putting it in the bed without ramps, however I do have ramps. I saw a guy at the track with 9 or 10" lift and he had a hell of a time getting it in. must of been because it was a yamaha .

anyways, he came back with air-ride...

So back to the real topic, just for the sake of having some gas money left, 3" body, 4" RC suspension, i know the wheels i want, but I am lost on size yet again. With 8" of lift I know I could run over 17's but on the wheels I want the 17's are 17x9 (and theres nothing I hate more than skinny *** tires.), but they have a 15x10 option that I cant find tires for. Any help? These are the wheels im looking at-

-http://www.roughcountry.com/cepek_wheel_torque.html
-http://www.roughcountry.com/mickey_thompson_wheel_sidebiter.html

 

You can't fit 15 inch wheels on your truck. You have to use 16 inch or larger wheels. If you like the wide look, I'd go with a 10 inch wide wheel with 4.5 inches of backspacing. If you are gonna run a 4 inch Rancho with a 3 inch body lift, I'd stick with a 37x12.50 or 37x13.50 tire.

 

ok, well ive been searching and searching. And so far the most cost effective way to obtain what im looking for is 4" suspension lift, 3" body, 16" rims, with 315/75R16 Tires. But what about spacers. ive seen them mentioned MANY times but Im confused, spacers for the wheels or spacers for the suspension. if it is for the suspension is this a option to get more lift?

 

Ok, a 315/75-16 is essentially a 35x12.50 tire. I'm running that size with only a 3 inch body lift. So there is no need to combine a 4 inch suspension and a 3 inch body lift if you want 35's. Just pick one or the other.
As for the spacers you mentioned, I think you are refering to the leveling kits, aka spacers, for the 04-09 F-150's. THese trucks use a completel different suspension system (IFS with coilover shocks) than our 97-03 F-150 4x4's (IFS with torsion bars). THe front ride height of our trucks is adjustable (usually for about 2 inches of lift) by increasing the preload on th torsion bars.