Hi everyone. As I've mentioned in the past purchased my first Ford pickup. 2013 F150 STX. Haven't driven it more than 30 miles when I started hearing grinding noises. Had it put on a hoist and was told both front axles are bad ( boots torn on both sides ) and the front differential oil is milky grey with possible metal shavings in it. So I've slowly been looking up parts for this. The Front axles list ones for no lift and ones for lifted. How can I tell if my truck has been lifted? I know it seems like a dumb question but my last truck was an 2004 Silverado and this Ford sits higher, also noticed most pickup truck seem to sit higher these days than they used too. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks

 

Show pics of the suspension and people can help. Measure from the center of the wheels up to the top of the wheel opening.

Of note, the front diff fluid often gets grey due to normal condensation and lack of actual use. That may not be an indicator of anything. Although shavings would be bad.

 

Did the seller / listing advertise it as lifted? That's not usually something a seller would forget to mention.

If it's unclear from appearance that your truck has a lift kit, I'd guess it more likely has a leveling kit if anything.

 

Looking through RockAuto, I see several brands designate "without lifted suspension." The Motorcraft parts don't differentiate between a lifted and non-lifted version.

If your truck is "leveled" there might be a 1-2" spacer at the top of your strut between the strut and the strut tower. Or you will have a non-Motorcraft brand strut (like a Bilstein) with an adjustable lower spring perch (you'll see multiple snap ring positions).

If your truck is "lifted," you'll usually see some kind of additional framework bolted to the front frame that drops the differential and lower control arm mounts down.

Level spacer:


Leveling strut:


Lift kit:


The only CV axles I found on RockAuto that claimed to be FOR "lifted suspensions" advertise extreme articulation. Interestingly, the whole point of the full lift kits is to drop the diff and control arms to put the stock CV axles into their normal allowed range of motion. Doing a level kit of 2+" is thought to push the CV axles down further than they're designed to flex.

All of that to say - if your truck is factory original, just get the Motorcraft axles (RockAuto puts the Motorcraft CVs in the "Axle Shaft" section away from the other CVs). If you find some kind of level kit on the truck, the Motorcrafts are still probably fine as long as the level is reasonable (1.5" or less), or if you don't plan to do any real offroading where you're giving full throttle when the front suspension is at full droop and the axle is fully flexed out.

 

Thank you so much for all the information and pictures. I'll be crawling underneath to see whats there. Thanks again