So the Boss coilovers I ordered arrived yesterday and I can't wait to get them on this weekend.

Question for the people that have installed them, what is the best way to get the stock coils out? Drop the lower arm, detach the axle or just pry it out leaving the control arm and axle attached? Just looking for opinions...

 

Drop the lower arm and it will give you the room needed for the taller coilover. You shouldn't have to remove the axles.

 

I pried the stock one out by putting a pry bar between the arm and the bottom of the coilover without lowering the lower arm or loosening it and didn't touch the axles, not sure if it was that good of an idea to put the cv's at that much angle but it worked out fine for me and i've been offroad a few times now and no issues or sounds. At first I tried to hammer chisel the stock lower coilover studs out so I didn't have to pry to much but I didn't have any luck. The new coilover(in my case fox) went in super easy after getting the stock one out. Be careful about the CV boot if you decide to pry the coilover out.

 

That's what I did as well when installing my leveling kit on my 2012 f150. After seeing the shop install my lift kit though with the fox coilovers I realized how much easier it would of been to drop the lower arms. Using a pry bar won't hurt anything though. I ran my leveling kit for the 2.5 years I had it and never had a single issue.

 

All done. Wasn't too bad especially as I'm use to working on vehicles with a little more corrosion on parts lol. Tried prying but didn't like the angle of the CVs. Ended up disconnecting the lower arms without any problems. Just need to install the rear shocks and 3" blocks tomorrow. Front is currently about 3/4" higher right after the install.

Before:



After:

 

Truck looks real good. What do you have the coilovers set at? 3"?

 

Thanks! Supposed to be set at 2.75". Right now it's a little over 3". Will see how it settles before I adjust them down. Now if I could just decide on tires...

 

What kind of tire are you wanting? All terrain, mud terrain? And what characteristics are important to you in a tire?

 

Probably going with mud terrains, but haven't completely ruled out ATs. Had Trail Grapplers on my previous truck and liked them, but kind of want something different given their weight/cost. Size is a big sticking point as I'm looking at either 295/60/20 or 305/5520. Kind of leaning towards the 34" Cooper STT Pro or Toyo MT. Just want to avoid dealt with the crash bars.

 

Coopers are going to be the most cost efficient. I'm running the toyo MT's on my truck now. I absolutely love them. In comparison though the trail grappler and the toyo MT are almost identical. The same guy owns both nitto and toyo. They are both 10 ply tires and have the same weights. Downfall is that the toyo's are usually more expensive than the nitto's. I think the toyo's perform better though and also ride really well. So in the end when comparing the toyo and the trail it ends up being more about preference and budget. I personally prefer the toyo's cause I think they have a little more road noise (which I love) and think they clean out a little better as well as look better.