Hi everybody, sorry to post if this is unwanted or unwarranted but I need some help and can't find anything that will fit my needs exactly. I'm in final negotiations to buy a 2005 4x4 F-150 that has 35" Nitto Grapler Tires, a 3" body lift, and a 2" leveling kit. This would be my first nicer truck and my first actual vehicle that I can call my own, but it has a gap between the Iron Cross Winch Bumper and body of the truck due to the body lift. I really like the bumper and the height but the gap just looks awful. Should I try to make the bumper fit or should I switch out the body lift for a suspension lift? Can I combine the leveling kit and a suspension lift to keep the height and make the tires still fit? How much will all this cost me? I'm a poor college kid. Sorry for the NOOB-y-ness but I'd like to learn more and I figured this was a good place to start.

 

I think they make bumper relocation kits. If they will work with an aftermarket bumper or not I don't know. Someone should be able to help you on here.

 

The factory mounting bracket is adjustable to an extent. Not sure if yours used it or an aftermarket, but theres a little room for adjustment. Just loosen the bolts and push up and retighten.

 

It’s not going to move up 3 inches... re location brackets would be the correct way to fix it. You will need them for the rear too.

 

Shouldn’t the body lift have supplied those?

 

Depends which kit they get.

 

I highlighted the phrase that caught my attention. My advice is to keep looking for one without these issues. Ford made a TON of these trucks, keep looking until you find a better sorted example.

.

 

I concur with Trio, if the original owner didn't care enough to install the bumper location kit, what other short cuts did they take while customizing the truck?

Leave that mess for another person to deal with.

Did they install a custom stereo? Did they do any custom wiring themselves and cut corners cause doing it right was too much money or time?

One of my trucks I bought cause I loved the look and color.
It seemed so perfect, but I looked passed any "faults" thinking it wasn't a big deal and it was a great price.

Well, you get what you pay for! That truck, the previous owner installed new speakers with 3 inch wood screws and hit the wiring harness in the door.
I have no clue how it ran for so long with those like that. It took forever to chase down the wiring issue in that truck and a ton of work to splice the wiring harness in both doors.

 

Never understood guys like this.. If you don't have the patience and know-how to do something right in the first place. Don't bother doing it. I agree with other posters, the truck's probably a mess everywhere you cant see.

 

Most of the body lift kits I am seeing have the bumper kits with them, making me leery on if he just used pucks to do the job.



The leveling kit would allow you to run 35 inch tires with the right back space on the rims. What size tires does this truck have? This leads to "Poor college kid". Tires aren't cheap, and the bigger they are, the more expensive they are, and they tend to not last as long.

A suspension lift is just as cheap as a decent body lift, so I'm betting he went with junk to do the body lift.