Hey, been customizing a 1999 F-150 bought used last year as a partner project with my father. as part of this we are considering and looking into a lift kit for her. neither of us is an expert on such things although I know many of the basics. I recently joined this forum and thought I'd ask if anyone who knows more about lifting trucks had any suggestions. she is 13 years old but in excellent condition and we've been told it can be done.
she is a 1999 F-150 XLT supercab 6'6'' box FLARESIDE two wheel drive.
note she has to be kept a practical truck as we don't carry a lot or tow really often but we do sometimes and need her for it.(she hauls an occaisional load of firewood and tows a 16 foot fibreglass speedboat a couple times a year are the main ones). we are not looking for offroad performance as solid dirt roads are the most she will see in terms of offroad.we also would like to get running boards when we can. being that we don't need a lift for anything but just want the truck to look customized and badass while staying reasonably practical, and that we will probably have to keep the stock 17'' wheels on her for a while, from what basics I do know, I figure a regular body lift is probably the best option, probably around 3". but as I said, I know some basics but I'm no expert.
Does anybody who knows about lifting trucks and the like have any suggestions? I'd be grateful for your time if you have any info at all that could help us with the lift. thanks in advance, heres some pictures of the truck as she pretty much is now:
-Zach

 

Hey there...
looks like a nice flare side for sure
The most bang for your buck would be the body lift.
I suggest performance accessories 3 inch lift
they are pretty straight forward on the install and should take about 8-10 hours to install.
It will give the truck fantastic stance.
I installed one on my 4x4 before I also installed a suspension lift

if you have any other questions I will try my best to answer the best I can..
anyone else????

 

thanks a lot! I'm hoping a few more people give their opinions as well, one needs a decent Idea of what they're at with this stuff. your response is along the lines of what I was thinking. we aren't exactly rushing into it either, but it would be nice when we can do it. any large amounts of money has to go into the house we hope to start working on again soon, which takes priority for now as long as the truck doesn't actually need anything. which she shouldn't. but I'd like to get peoples opinions since like i said neither of us knows a huge lot about it, for when the chance comes.
We talked to a local buisness that happened to be at a recent truck show about it, it's called "hiscock's spring service", has apparently done a few lifts around here and deals with suspensions and the like. the guy we talked to mentioned something about a lot of people going for something like we are, are going with 2 inch lifts. think he said any more than that and you have to upgrade to longer shocks. I cant see why a body lift would require that. we'd kinda like to see a few pictures of similar lifts to what we want. I think myself she might look better lifted 3 or 4 inches but given that we will probably need to keep the stock 17'' wheels for some time and she does need to be fairly practical, the 3'' may be the best way to go but even the 2'' we have been suggested may look and work good too. not that she doesn't look good stock height, but we'd like a lift. running boards would be a nice feature as well, that we have also been looking into. but both will have to wait till serious cash is there to spend. will no doubt continue with a few smaller mods till then. maybe a few more decals and some interior customizations.
When the chance comes we may end up going to that local buisness i mentioned. seems like a decent deal, they will install it for us at a decent price and it may be the best option. however nothing's final for a little bit yet and I would love to hear other peoples suggestions.
and you have yourself a nice truck as well!
we love the one we have and will never sell her.
heres a few pictures of her pretty much as she was when we got her in february 2011 with 157,xxx kilometres, so you can see what we have changed on her so far, and the interior, which is pretty original but will be customized a bit in the near future probably. I have 15 pictures and a full list of her specifications and modifications in an album on my profile...If you like to check it out..

 

anyone else have any suggestions?