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Ive heard of this with going a full 3" leveling kit. Ultimately its why i opt'd for a 4" suspension lift. The 3 inch kit even when i had my bilsteins set to 3" i had no down travel of the suspension so it was very stiff and defeated the purpose of having rpg uniball ucas. So bow with the rancho 4" im litterally back to stock angles and i have down travel for days smoothed the ride out and greatly increased offroad ablitily and im still running 33x12.50 no problem with going 35s either. All for around 1800 after install thanks to [MENTION=50133]Tap[/MENTION]auto for the great kit price
I don't usually subscribe to build threads on trucks other then the 87-96 era but I figured I would chime in and say a couple ideas.
I know you are kinda trying to slow down on the battery usage but have you considered AMP power boards?
On our 02 F250 we are planning one day to get them but that wasn't until a little persuasion. Being our 02 F250 has to drive similar roads to what you are driving (northern AZ but was born in tuscon so know tuscons roads) I was worried about things making the electronics fail. From what I have heard people haven't had problems with them driving it rough conditions like you and me drive through.
Instead of running the antenna you are have you considered something like the Chevy trucks have for XM and such? They are so short I don't see how you could end up breaking it.
Trav
There have been a few people on here running level kits that have made their front driveline components go bad. A suspension upgrade like Boss/King/Icon is great for most applications as they can go upwards of 3 inches for a coilover/block lift. After reading this entire thread though, I would have to agree that you would benefit more from a proper lift such as a 4-6". It would keep all of the angles closer to stock while giving you the capability that you need.
I'm personally looking at a coilover/block lift for my 2WD, but I don't use it like you use it. I might take it to some fields, but the maximum articulation that my truck might endure would not be enough to justify me buying a suspension lift. Good luck to you on the vibration issue. Glad you got a truck you love, that does what you want it to do.
Well, after a lot of back and forth, I ended up installing a level kit. It's the Traxda 2.5" front / 1" rear. I had the local Ford dealership install it, primarily so that any issues or vibrations would be guaranteed to be covered by my factory warranty. Their price was basically the same as the local suspension shop, too.
I also upgraded to Toyo Open Country A/T 2 tires. They're 275/65-R20 tires on the stock 20-inch rims. The dealership gave me an excellent deal on the tires, so they went ahead and installed these at the same time as the level kit. They did the recalibration of the ECU also to adjust for the taller tires (they're 34-inch, vs. the stock tires at 31").
I'm super pleased with the end result. It rides just like stock, only taller and with better tires for offroad use.
Because of the short bed, one of the things I really need for the truck is a combination overhead/headache rack. The problem is I really don't like any of the commercial racks available. They're either too wimpy, or way too ugly. Or both. So me and a buddy have been hacking away at the following project over the past couple of weekends. So far we've got the uprights and the rail plates welded up. I've got most of the remaining steel on hand, so I hope to have the fab work finished by this time next weekend. Then it will be off to sandblasting and powder coating.
Because of the short bed, one of the things I really need for the truck is a combination overhead/headache rack. The problem is I really don't like any of the commercial racks available. They're either too wimpy, or way too ugly. Or both. So me and a buddy have been hacking away at the following project over the past couple of weekends. So far we've got the uprights and the rail plates welded up. I've got most of the remaining steel on hand, so I hope to have the fab work finished by this time next weekend. Then it will be off to sandblasting and powder coating.
Quick question, why is it getting sandblasted if its bare steel? Other than that it looks great so far.
Quick question, why is it getting sandblasted if its bare steel? Other than that it looks great so far.
Two reasons: First is that there is some splotchy rust starting to show up (it's actually rained here in Southern Arizona for the last couple of days straight). Hard to see in the photos, but it's there. Second is that it's just good practice to get back to perfectly clean steel via sandblast or similar prior to final paint on a fabbed piece like this. Or at least that was how I was taught long, long ago.
12-21-2014, 11:32 AM
