Take a measurement of the distance between the top plate and bottom plate of the strut/coilover while uncompressed. Also, you really need to change that upper ball joint (you actually have to change the whole upper arm to change the ball joint). Please, please, please change it - and if you choose not to, then let this post serve as my goodbye to you, because, well, it is only a matter of time...

Also, your struts might not be bad. Maybe they are keyed for the wrong vehicle. Bilsteins HD Struts for the F150/Expy have different lower plate grooves for each respective vehicle. If you remove the strut from the coil, and find that there is a groove that is lower than the one you were on, then either (1) keep as is, but remove the spacer, or (2) set the ring to its lowest point and keep the spacer.

Good luck, man. Keep us posted!

 

One more thing, man. Make sure you take a towel with you on the first ride you take once you have this all corrected. You're going to be so excited by how much more comfortable your ride is that you will likely wet yourself. Seriously, you might as well have a solid post up front with how preloaded those springs are. I mean, the difference between stock springs and springs preloaded for just a 1.0 inch lift is very noticeable. Some here will deny it, and I am not trying to get into an argument about it, but common sense should tell you that preloading springs will give you a stiffer ride... and using a spacer will change the angles up front sufficiently to affect turning radius, turn in response, etc...

 

Ha dont worry Minus, i replaced both upper control arms...now we're just tryin to figure out if this strut is the correct size

 

Yea im pretty stoked...i guess i only had a smooth ride with this truck 2 weeks out of the 104 weeks that Ive had it (i got the leveling kit 2 weeks after gettin the stock truck). We're thinking that the worst case scenario is that I have the wrong sized strut so getting a new replacement should solve the problem...again, keep your fingers crossed for me guys

 

Hey, you're in there already. Everything is going to be apart. You should already be changing out the upper control arms. So, I think now would be a good time to change out those lower ball joints, too. Might as well do the tie-rod ends, as well, but that's something you should just take with you when you go get your alignment done - no need to completely fudge up toe if it can be done simultaneously with alignment. Also, check the lower control arm bushings for cracking.

If you do this right, you won't have to think about suspension again for a long, long time, especially with those awesome moog ball joints with the zerk/grease fittings 9if you choose to go that route).

 

Well, looks like the truck already had aftermarket struts on them...seems like theyre bigger than factory because its just stretching everything down...i dont know if i bought the truck with them on already or if the guy i bought the leveling kit off of swapped struts...either way i think i need to buy replacement OEM struts which should hopefully be shorter

 

What if they're Bilstein 5100's? They are leveling shocks that need no leveling kit. That would be ideal for you.

 

Don't get OEM struts. You'll pay top end price for a bottom end strut. Do some research. If you still want some lift up front, get yourself some Bilstein 5100s and put it on the 1 to 1.5 inch mark (I forget the range). It won't be as high as 2.5, but your angles and stiffness will be lower also. If you don't like it, compress the spring, move the ring, and you've got more lift. I think the 5100s are right up your ally. But don't kid yourself - any of these style of lifts, whether spacer or strut, will compromise street performance, comfort, and reliability. There are different considerations, though, when we are talking about off-road use.

 

He may already have leveling struts but he doesn't know! He just thinks they are junk because he had bad experiences with a bad install.

 

Theyre not Bilsteins and they dont look like theyre leveling struts or adjustable...i just went ahead and ordered some Monroe strut assemblies (quick mount) and some rear shocks

 

I didn't find any loss of comfort when adding a 2" AS leveling kit on my '09 4x4. I won't know about durability for 100,000 miles or so, but don't anticipate any issues. The ball joint seems to be in its designed range of motion. The increased angle on the CV joints will cause more motion in the joint and boot resulting in more wear, but only time will tell if they can outlast the truck or not. As far as performance, offroad and deep snow performance is increased while cornering at the limit is decreased (I haven't observed this, but as an engineer, I am know I will have a little more body lean). The center of gravity of the truck is only 1.25" higher with the leveling kit. I don't know what the vertical component of my center of gravity is, but I suspect it is 20" off the ground or so; therefore, the leveling kit increased it by ~6% - not trivial, but not huge either.

 

Well, it looks like I bought the truck with longer, aftermarket struts already on it...they were like 2" longer than the new struts I bought...that combined with the 3" leveling kit made that control arm have a ridiculous angle...I was gonna just take the leveling kit off the pre-loaded struts but figured I'll need new struts soon anyway so just stuck with the new ones and the 2" leveling kit...the control arm still seems to sag down a little bit but its not rubbing against the coil spring anymore Anyways, i just figured I'd update you guys with this...thanks everyone for the help...I really do appreciate it

 

Thanks for the update. A lot of people have asked if it's possible to combine a leveling kit and longer coilovers for more lift. Everyone agreed that it was a bad idea and you just confirmed it.

 

Glad I could help ha I read up on longer struts and it says that it takes the place of a leveling kit...so I guess I would recommend getting a leveling kit if you still have low miles on your struts or just get the longer struts if it's time to throw the old ones out anyways...or whatever's cheaper

 

Well just to keep you guys updated, I got two new tires for the front to prepare for the winter and when I went in to get an alignment, they said my tie rod ends were shot (most likely from alllll of these suspension issues Ive been having) Went ahead and bought 2 inner/outter tie rod ends so just waiting for them to come in...anyone have experience installing them and know how long it takes or the difficulty level on the installation...the shop i went to wants 200 bucks worth of labor to do it and another 70 to align it...tryin to save as much dough as possible and would rather do it myself, you know