F150FirstTimer

So i have an 06 F150 xlt, supercab, fwd with 5.4l, 106k miles

I have been itching to put a lift kit on it but to my dismay it seems that the rust underneath has run rampid. I live in ohio and in the 3 years since the truck has been here, the salt did a number on everything underneath. It litterally looked brand new when i brought it here... No rust!

I Have attached a pic (wont seem to let me do multiple) i took today. Was wanting some opinion on whether it was even worth lifting it. Is the rust too far or its not as bad as it looks. Will rustoleum do anything for it? Will por15 reverse it or does it just cover... Ie i have to sand it all down?

If its still worth lifting, i was looking at rough country 6". It seems to be the best prices and decent reviews. So is it worth spending $1300 on it?

I also plan on doin this on the driveway... Seeing that the diff is the biggest thing i have to clear, i think i have enough clearance.... I wich i can attche multiple pics, but i cant figure it out... And im a tech guy thats veeling like and idiot right now.

Oh, my driving habbits are street... I dont off road so the lift is primarily for looks.

Project_Red

I just got a lift kit from zanesville and I live near Cleveland and my truck looks like that too I'm going to throw the lift kit on after it gets sanded and painted cause it was in salt in zanesville and I'm not doing any body lift cause the body lift will show the frame. You should be fine for looks like I want but I will take mine offroad acouple times. It's worth it though. Where at in Ohio are you from?

Rockjock3

I would still go for it. This is nothing. Little bit of surface rust and normal for many. You can sand it and and paint it, or not and you could treat it as well. With a 4 or 6 inch lift though you are going to be replacing both your front crossmembers with ones in the kit though. Check out my build thread as I put on a BDS 4 inch in my driveway, like you are going to do with the 6 inch. That looks like the passenger side of the rear crossmember so you will most likely being cutting about half of that off anyway for the new crossmember.

https://www.f150forum.com/f38/2013-b...-build-270928/

Xlt5

If that's the worst of your rust it doesn't look too bad...is the steel starting to peel, or flakes coming off if you hit it yet?
If you cleaned it up really well and removed as much of the rust and loose metal as possible, a good rust paint like por-15 or chassis saver should keep it from getting any worse. It does not "fix" it, but they are designed to stick to rusted metal (can't be loose of course, cleaner the better) and it should keep the rust from getting worse by having the coat of paint over it. I cleaned up and painted a whole frame with chassis saver that was way worse than your picture above...
As far as the lift, if you want one then go for it!

F150FirstTimer

Im west of columbus. Yeah, mine will be the suspension lift. I was also reading up on chemical converters and they sound promissing.mmy biggest worry was whether strength was compromised. Thanks for your opinion!

F150FirstTimer

Yes, definitely cutting. I Was concerned about the piece left behind and if whether strength was compromised. I do plan on keeping the truck, lift or no lift until it dies and it runs great with a clean body right now. Tried to see some examples on the web of a driveway effort and found none... Every example used a lift. Ill be checking your link out, thanks! I will probably be doing 90% of the work, if not 100... I Figure moving the diff is the only 2 person job.... Cant be worse than a rear end...ive done that on a jeep myself. Thanks for the input! I Am feeling more comfortable moving forward with this.

F150FirstTimer

Yeah thats the worse... But it is like that all over the undrside from front to rear. Not flaking or peeling there though... Just lumpy and pitting. I may try a chemical at some point i guess... I just dont know anything about body work or rust. Hopefully those chemicals are as good as some reviews ive read. Thanks.

Rockjock3

Mine was all driveway effort and no lift. I lowered the diff onto me and rolled out from under the truck. For mine there was only one part I couldn't do and that was a small triangle of steel that had to be bolted on then welded to the fram on 2 sides (it is a triangle). The lift can be driven without it so that is safe. I did the lift and then drove it to the shop that was to do my alignment and had them weld the piece in place at the same time.

F150FirstTimer

Good info and I read your write up. Makes me feel a lot more comfortable I can do it myself. Also have a second car so, like you, I am not pressed for time.. just want it done before it starts getting cold or rainy. I like the height on the 4" you had on yours. Making me second guess the 6", but the price difference between the 4 and 6 is $100 so I am still leaning towards the 6.

On a slightly different topic.... they recommend 35x12.5-17 but I wanted to stick with the 18" wheels or maybe 20" (since I dont off-road. my understanding is that on 20s you don't have as much sidewall if you stay at 35 or 37 diameter and therefore don't have much room to let air out when crawling.). Also considering 37" tires as some people say they had lifted 6 and was able to put 37 on it. Well, my question is.... will jumping from my current 275/65-18 (I think these calculate to about 32") to 35 or to 37 be a major loss in the "power" at the wheels or is it negligible? I don't want to get into changing gear ratios either.

F150FirstTimer

Oh. Forgot to ask... any ideas on roughly how high in inches the frame rail or bottom of front diff was off the ground when you were doing the work? I can get mine pretty high, but not 24". It seems there is enough room to lower the diff, but I don't want any surprises and find out I need it higher and I cant get it higher. My jack only jacks to 20" so that's where my jackstands are at. The diff sits higher than the frame rail so I have a little more height/room there to drop it.