Maybe this has been covered before, but I am curious about measuring ride height, and determining front to rear level.

Many people refer to fender openings. If I do this, the front is lower by almost one inch.



But if I measure the side step, which I assume is mounted parallel to the vehicle axis, I get no rake at all.

 

Would help to have measurements on level ground, with wheels straight and tape measure straight up and down.

 

No one measures at the steps.

The best way to measure is from center of hub to bottom of fender. That way it will be apples to apples comparison no matter what size tires someone else is running.

 

Most F150's that are level based on the front/rear wheel well height, appear nose high to me. My truck has the Ford Performance Bilstein suspension at the 2" setting and still has ~1" of rake using the wheel well measurement. However, it resulted in exactly the leveled look that I wanted. If you are not happy with your current setup, you can always use a floor jack to raise the front end an additional 1/2" or 1" to see if that is what you are looking for before you commit to anything.

 

Picky, picky. My garage floor is close enough to level, and the tape got twisted while trying to hold it with one hand while taking a photo with the other. But the measurements are essentially correct.

 

I get that, but I suggest that "level" may not then be level. To me, actual level would mean that horizontal components, like the top of the bed sides or the side steps, would be, well, level.

 

Throw a level on the bed rails

 

Why are you attempting to reinvent the wheel? Just measure it like every other person does...Takes 5 minutes.

 

@bskrantz sorry just wanted to reiterate best practices for a consistent result. The wheel position and bend in the tape are certainly affecting the measurement here. Get the wheel straight and try what @b-real said with measuring the hub vertically and as straight as possible to the fender lip.

 

If you are unable to do it while holding the phone start taking a video, set the phone down with the area in frame, get the tape into perfect position (we are talking fractions of an inch, measure tape needs to be basically perfect), then watch the video and pause + screen capture at the appropriate time.