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Hi guys, I just stumbled on this.
Yes, to confirm, I used the Ford kit, same as the GF, and used the 2 degree shims to get my pinion angle back to stock.
I also used some 5100's on the front to raise 3/4". Not completely level, but close enough.
One thing I noticed after the shocks and lowering, was how much better this thing corners, much flatter. I can't say any one thing made the improvement for sure, but the combination sure works.
Hi guys, I just stumbled on this.
Yes, to confirm, I used the Ford kit, same as the GF, and used the 2 degree shims to get my pinion angle back to stock.
I also used some 5100's on the front to raise 3/4". Not completely level, but close enough.
One thing I noticed after the shocks and lowering, was how much better this thing corners, much flatter. I can't say any one thing made the improvement for sure, but the combination sure works.
Thanks John for verification and a review about how it improved handling.
Yeah...Same color as yours too! Thanks for the tip about the shims. Mine will be a RCSB with a one piece drive shaft. That's a plus and a minus when it come to lowering. From what I've read the pinion angle is critical for those. Probably a good idea just to buy several sizes from shims from BelTech to have ready when you tear it down.
Mike
Yeah, definitely best to have them. I've read a handful of guys on here and elsewhere having some vibe issues on full lowering kits even with the shims. Seems like some people are able to tolerate it for the sake of having a lowered truck, but I just can't do that. Obviously something is wrong if you're getting vibes...it'd destroy my peace of mind.
Hi guys, I just stumbled on this.
Yes, to confirm, I used the Ford kit, same as the GF, and used the 2 degree shims to get my pinion angle back to stock.
I also used some 5100's on the front to raise 3/4". Not completely level, but close enough.
One thing I noticed after the shocks and lowering, was how much better this thing corners, much flatter. I can't say any one thing made the improvement for sure, but the combination sure works.
Interesting. I emailed GF and they said shims weren't needed. There were none in my GF box and I didn't see any mention of it in the install instructions. Did you buy them separately just as a preventative measure? Guess I'll find out soon enough.
No, mine were included in the kit from Ford Performance. I wonder what FP might say. I will mention my truck is a SCab with one piece driveshaft, but it would seem to me, one with a two piece, would be more critical than mine to maintain the angle.
Last edited by johnday in BFE; 01-22-2018 at 07:53 AM.
Did you get a true 1.5" front and 2.5" rear in the drop?
No, I got the 1 1/2" drop shackles, and for some reason, they only dropped the rear 1", that was right when I put them on, and possibly the suspension settled some since. I need to remeasure.
On the front, I didn't lower, I raised it with the 5100's, with the first setting from stock, and got 3/4" lift out of that. Practically level looking at it now. I didn't want to drop the front beyond stock because I live in snow country, but did want it as close to level as I could. I guess I did things a bit differently than most guys, but I'm happy for now.
One thing to watch out for using shackles to drop the rear, is that there is a bed support crossmember directly above the shackle. I've "heard" of guys notching that out with no ill effects, but I didn't want to do that, hence the safer 1 1/2" shackles. If I decide to go lower in the rear, I can always take out my 1 1/4" stock block, I'm 4X4.
Installing my 1.5" shackles Saturday...I'll post some before and after pics but will probably post them in a new thread so hopefully they help others out.
Got the GF rear shackles put on today... modest, maybe would've liked to see it go down another 1/2", but I still really like it. Looks much lower in person than photos show.
EDIT: Top / bottom from two different angles; top = before, bottom = you guessed it.
01-21-2018, 11:00 PM
