Lol dont stack washers to get more lift, If you do that you will end up on the ghetto fab on pirate 4x4. In all honesty I would just get coil overs if you are dead set on being leveled out. But if you spend that much you may as well just get lift. How much lift did you end up getting with the rancho's I am assuming less than 2" since it rubs. You could always take em off and sell them pretty easy since most people who buy these truck wanna level them out.

 

and the fail thread, more publicity

 

cut the top shock mount and lower it an inch of its original position and re-weld back to the frame is another route

 

That's exactly the point. I'd like to get the same hight as a 2 or 2.5 inch level while retaining the ride quality and adjustability of the ranchos which unfortunately didn't lift the front end very much. I've had a 2 inch spacer level with the factory shocks and 34's....the ride is garbage in my opinion.

 

Sorry this thread hurt your feelings to such an extent. Running a small spacer with the correct length fasteners on top of the ranchos would achieve EXACTLY the same thing as any of the commonly used spacer kits with stock length struts (but probably retain marginally better suspension geometry due to the way the ranchos are designed).....and you endorse doing exactly that in your last post. The only difference is that your idea would pre load the factory springs more and reduce suspension droop more for a worse ride and less downward travel. Great suggestion. It's for that exact reason I didn't go with the Bilstiens initially. This is simply a discussion of what can be done to the quicklift THAT I ALREADY OWN to get a decent amount of level out of it for a reasonable amount of money.

Why do you think I bought the Ranchos in the first place or referenced the ICON coilovers? I don't wan't anything to do with a spacer level.....unfortunately I'm stuck with a kit that rides great but doesn't even raise the front 2 inches.

Do you ***** all over every thread about spacer levels? There's probably about 5000 of them for you to chime in on these forums.

Somebody suggests using washers and you throw a little fit as though they're already on the truck. The biggest FAIL in the thread is YOU running your mouth like a complete tool for no particular reason. Yeah, I can just see it now.....the truck will be on pirate 4x4 for using a half inch metal spacer on top of the front struts. *jerks off* There's plenty of guys who are looking to get more out of their quicklift without buying an entirely new suspension.

 

So you didn't like the ride with the spacer yet you think stacking a spacer on top of the leveling struts is still going to ride good? It's going to ride like it has a spacer in it, and the more you put in the front to lift it the more your gonna feel it.

As for him, he didn't say he hate's spacer levels, he simply stated out the fact its probably not a good idea to stack a spacer on top of a strut, when it comes to suspension stacking things is one of the last things you wanna do. But then again you did state you weren't too concerned with the safety aspect of it. So good luck in whatever direction you decide to go in.

 

i was referring to washers, not a spacer so pick up your spilled sippy cup and fill it back up

 

I had the same opinion of the Rancho Quicklift shocks I put on my 07 F150 Screw 4x4. I ended up putting the Daystar 1" spacers on top and have never been happier. NOW, for you shade tree mechanics that say it's unsafe, consider who you try to feed your advice to. I used to fabricate suspension and chassis for a top off road race team in Phx Az, so I know a lot about suspension geometry. I wouldn't go any higher with the combo I had but it wasn't out of the scope of capability of the factory ball joints/steering/A-arms. I'm running 35's on 9" rims and no rubbing...and it rides fantastic with ZERO binding.

 

You should post pictures of your contribution to this thread!

 

Photos won't load, or I'd be happy to.

 

Man brought this thread back from the dead.. You never mentioned what you have your ranchos set too, the amount of lift they have, etc.. And I don't recall anyone saying it was unsafe, what we referred to as unsafe was the op trying to stack those rough country washers as unsafe and the cutting/grinding down of a spacer as unsafe. No one ever said sticking an actual leveling kit on a coilover was unsafe, could be a bad idea depending on your angles, but technically still safe. But since I'm not a full fledged race team mechanic who builds suspension for a living, I have the time to read the whole thread before jumping to conclusions off the last few post. Being a shade tree by working on my own truck and giving others advice gives me more spare time I suppose..

Either way posts some pics up of your truck, and your angles, I'm interested in seeing them! If your not sure how to, upload them to site like photobucket and copy the link over with the [IMG] tags around it and paste it in your post.

 

He can also reduce the photo size to be allowed to upload to websites photo gallery, then you copy and paste the bb code on the photos page and they shall appear

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...ot-albums.html

Hope this works. BTW I also tow a 32' 5th wheel trailer with this rig. I added air bags in the back. Interestingly, the F150 frames are already drilled to take the 5th wheel brackets and air bags. 32' 5th wheel, 8,500 lbs unloaded, 10-11 mpg at around 65 mph as long as no head wind and not too may hills. When I'm not towing I let the bags down to around 15 lbs and have the nice F150 ride. I do some heavy 4 wheeling and noticed little to no restriction with my axle articulation after installing the air bags.

 

Umm, yea, I do recall someone saying it was unsafe, that's why I addressed that issue. I did read the whole thread pizzaman, that's why I finally replied. I fabricated for Jim Sheehan in Santee, Ca for a while as well as a TOP team out of Phx, Az (won't bring their name into into this since Google will likely link them to a stupid conversation).
BTW the shocks are set on 9 but, as you should know, that has zero to do with the height and everything to do with compression and rebound dampening (don't need to tell you that though, right?) What DOES have a huge bearing on the subject is SPRING RATE. After contacting Rancho, I was (unpleasantly) surprised to find out that the springs are the same rate as factory. Had I researched this prior to purchase, I would not have bought them and gone with the FOX coilovers. I should have known. I'm old enough to resist the temptation to air out my daily drivers anymore anyway. Had I installed the FOX units, I would have likely given in to a few beers and my buddies egging me on to put some air under the tires.
Got a question for you pizzaman; How does a spacer affect the ride? I'd like to know what your theory is about spacers and spring rate/shock dampening. If you're putting spacers on a factory spring, you'll still have the factory spring rate. If you're looking for more off road capability, this does nothing more than give you a little more clearance for larger tires. I guess I'm still trying to understand your comment "So you didn't like the ride with the spacer yet you think stacking a spacer on top of the leveling struts is still going to ride good? It's going to ride like it has a spacer in it, and the more you put in the front to lift it the more your gonna feel it."
Please explain.

 

These two ideas right here are what was referred to as unsafe, at least in my opinion. Not trying to argue, but trying to cut down a spacer and use it or using parts of a spacer kit seems pretty unsafe and sketchy to me.


I'll agree with you there, Fox's, King's, or anything on those tier are a lot better choice, but a lot pricier for the average person too.

The standard strut extension spacer doesn't effect the spring rate, your correct. However it does lower the amount of up-travel and can allow for too much down travel (by that I mean more than the rest of the suspension will take). Take those two things, drive on a road that isn't perfectly smooth, and it'll make it feel like the truck rides bad whenever it hits a bump. The bigger the spacer is, the more it effects the up and down travel. So no, it doesn't effect the spring rate, but yes it can effect the ride quality.

Now there is the preload style spacers too, which do effect spring rate. They also effect the down travel and the rebound rate, making for a bouncy and/or uncontrollable ride in certain conditions.

Hope this helps explain what I meant for you some, by the way nice looking truck man. How close are you to maxing it out (tow rating wise) when you have it fully loaded? Seems like it's gotta get close with that trailer.