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going from 6" to 8" in a 2005 F250

3K views 22 replies 3 participants last post by  mhatlen 
#1 ·
I have a 05 crewcab right now with the procomp stage 1 6" lift on it. the parts that come with that kit are •Front Lift:Coil Springs • Front Sway Bar Links •Bump Stop Extensions •Steering Correction: Pitman Arm •Radius Arm Brackets •Brake Line Extension Brackets •Rear Lift: Block/U-Bolt Kit w/Add-A-Leafs

Now i was looking at the procomp stage 1 8" lift and the parts in that kit are •Front Lift:Coil Springs • Front Sway Bar Links •Bump Stop Extensions •Steering Correction: Pitman Arm •Radius Arm drop brackets •Brake Line Extension Brackets •Rear Lift: Springs and U-bolts

Now I am wondering, could I just get new springs all around on my truck to go up another 2" and be good? or even add spring spacers up front and change the rear out to a full leaf and be good? the add a leaf is a bit of a rough ride so if i could swap that out to a full pack while going up 2" more it'd be perfect.

anything I'm overlooking here or should it be this straight forwarding adding those 2"?
 
#2 · (Edited)
You will need to put on the proper track bar mount for 8" or you will have bump steer issues that will freak you out bit. Pitman arm needs to match as well. Besides that anything goes. I'm no fan of radius arm drop down brackets. If you can swing radius arms truck will look and drive better.

As far as front coils go you can throw in the 2" rubber isolators on top of springs. In the rear you are getting a good sized block back there. A set of leafs would be a good idea but if you don't have a heavy foot blocks will work.
 
#4 ·
Pro Comp is a good company and that's a 6" lift spring. You need to buy two since that's a single listing so $330.00 a set. Not a bad price you take a chance on the ride I suppose. I'm guessing the OEM block stays.
If you were in the Sacramento area I would give you a set of Fabtech rear 6" leaf springs. They are like new too.

That is a much better way to go then all block.
 
#6 ·
No they do not. If you want to improve your ride a bunch get the Carli/Deaver 2008 and later spring pack. I put them on my truck and it rides like my wife's Chevy Tahoe. They are not cheap though your looking at $1,300 for the pair.
But your truck will ride like a dream, it really will. The lift is 4-1/2" without the blocks so they are a little short for a 8" lift. A typical 6" lift has 5" in the rear so they would leave you short 2-1/2" low. But you can either do a rear shackle flip of 2-1/2" or put a block under the springs.

I myself made a set of custom blocks 1-1/2" with a 6* degree angle along with a 7/8 spring pin offset. The offset was to get my rear axle dead center where it belongs and the angle was to correct driveshaft geometry so I had no driveshaft vibration anymore.
The one flaw that Carli springs have is the rear axle is 1" more or less forward of center in the wheel well. Reason for it is the springs have 18" of travel and your tire will hit back of fender in a full compression. I have 5" of travel and I hit axle bump stops so the 18" of travel will never happen.

But all and all the springs are worth the money and the work to get everything right. With the Carli in the rear I put Icon 7" progressive up front and Rancho 9000XL shocks. So it's a bunch of different suspension manufacturers to get a ride that I'm happy with. The cheap ole Rancho shocks do a nice job and I like the ability to adjust them to suit the spring setup etc.
I can't justify spending $4,000 on shocks or $10,000 on a full Carli suspension.
There are affordable ways to get a beautiful ride in these big heavy trucks. I have not been in a truck that has a better ride then mine, like I said it rides as nice if not nicer then my wife's Tahoe.

What kind of budget do you have for the lift ?
You can go bare bones or you can really change the entire ride. It depends on how much you can stomach spending on it. :)
 
#7 ·
Presently I have the procomp 6" Stage 1 lift that is a leaf and block setup.(rear sags about an inch too) It's just a bit too harsh of a ride with that add-a-leaf on her. I know the procomp full leaf pack won't make it ride like a Cadillac which i am fine with but riding a bit smoother would be nice. The truck tracks perfect and drives great, no wobbles or shakes, or uneven wear, or anything.

I'm even happy with staying at 6" if I end up leveling the rear out with the front and loosing the sag. I measured my lift vs a stock f250 and the front was at just over 6" and the rear was only 4.75" or so. (I measured from the center of the hub to the top of the fender on both trucks front n rear to compare)

Deavers are nice but deff out of my range. I just want to lose the add-a-leaf and regain some ride comfort. I've had lifted jeeps all my life so I'm used to a stiff ride but I think this set up takes the cake for stiff. I assume going to the full pack would soften the ride up a bit and level me out at least right? The rear is a 4" block and added leaf right now.
Also thought about keeping the 4" block and maybe running the procomp 22415 rear springs. From my research they provide about 4" of lift if you keep the oem 2" block so that'd put me right at an solid 6" and not a sag.

My question regarding the 6" to 8" was since I already have the drop pitman and radius arm drops if a simple 2" taller spring in the rear and a spacer up front would be all I need to go up the additional height without any other parts.

What lift height is the driveshaft good to? I had a 7.3 excursion lifted 7" on 37s and had to lengthen the shaft.
 
#8 ·
Lots of guys running around on 8" of lift without any driveline changes. I had my truck at 8" for a short time but it was a bit higher then I liked stepping into. I also was getting bump steer because my 6" track bar mount and pitman arm became too short. I also started getting a driveline vibration at that height.
Basically it was right at the height where things started becoming a issue because my lift geometry was getting out of whack from the extra few inches. If you are ok with being at 6" I would stay there or go to 7" max. My truck is at 7" and it really behaves so much better from going back down just one inch !

May be something to that because I see people also with 7" of lift. There is nothing wrong going up to 8" of lift but your steering geometry will most likely be off because your 6" pitman arm and track bar mount is going to become too short and will need to be replaced with a 8" setup.

I fine tuned my front height by buying a 2" rubber coil spring isolator and cut it down till my truck sat level. I ended up cutting it down to the OEM height by the time I got everything set. lol
Get yourself a set of rear springs and do your diligent research on which one rides the best. Then put in a small block if needed to get trucks stance where you like it.
A small block 2" or less is not going to cause you any issues really unless you're super heavy on the gas pedal. ;) And you can do the front spring rubber if rear winds up too high.

You can most likely get away for under $400.00 by going with the springs you found.
 
#9 ·
thanks that's what i wanted to confirm. I was wondering how far off it would throw everything going up 2" more with parts made for the 6". On my jeeps I have always run adjustable stuff so it wasn't a problem.

I will probably do like you said, start with those springs and blocks and see where i come out and then adjust the front accordingly. I'll shoot for 6.5-7 for the rear and then if i need to slightly shim the front higher I can.

On a 7" lift will 22x12s clear 37x13.5s? right now I'm on 22x9.5 with the 37x13.5 and want to go wider too. fit without trimming?

I bought the truck on this setup a year ago and want to change it up and go a bit more aggressive.

I see you are on 38.5s, how much trimming did that require?
 
#10 ·
I'm 7" of lift exactly at least I'm saying that because I have Icon 7" springs up front with OEM thickness on spring rubber.
My wheels are 18X9 with 5" backset and tires are 38" X 15.5" wide and the only place I trimmed was the black plastic part of the fender well that rolled under the rear part of front fender and I rounded the corner up front on the black spoiler or whatever it's called under front bumper. I refuse to cut on the body I would go up waay before doing that.
I don't rub at all in full lock.

Funny how 1" higher can change things in the steering and even the handling of the truck. One thing you might look for is if you have a little bit of driveline vibration a 6* degree angle shim may work wonders. After I made the 6* angled blocks for my truck I couldn't feel the driveline at all. Zero Zip None Natta was kinda weird at first to get used to not feeling the driveline spinning back there.
 
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#11 ·
I have the slightest vibration from 40-45mph or so. Nothing from taking off or at any other time. I want to change it up to maybe chrome 22s and I'd like to go a bit wider or at least a slightly lower offset.

Here's what she looks like right now. you can see how the rear sits just a bit lower. Current setup is 22x95 with 37x13.5s
 

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#12 ·
So we have the same lift basically, except I have a fabtech basic 6" lift, and I wanted to do the same thing as you, go up to 8". I emailed Trevor over at PMF and asked him about it. He said either doing a spacer would be fine, but going to the Icon 7" lift dual rate lift springs would do much better and would ride better. He also said, and I didn't see it mentioned is why I'm saying it, that you're either going to have to get new shocks for the height difference, or you're going to need different brackets that account for the extra height. If you go spacers, he said don't go more than a 2.5" level kit. You don't want too much block over that spring.

As far as the rear goes, I was thinking of doing the shackle reverse as well. I have a PMF 6" block under there now with the air bag perch, but if i do the shackle flip I may have to do a different block. But I want to do PMF traction bars anyway because I HATE the Fabtech bars. So I may wait until I can afford the PMF's.

I'd be interested in those springs for the back too, mhatlen mentioned, but how are those on towing? Am I going to suffer in the load I can tow (32' travel trailer) with those springs, or would my air bags make up for any loss in load ability?

I have the PMF Adjustable Draglink and Track bar so I can just adjust those as needed.

I'm wondering on the drive line as well. I've got about 8 shims under the carrier bearing right now, I have 4 more in the kit, and I still get vibrations at take off. Not even at hard take off either, but just normal leave from a light, or sitting in traffic moving forward. I don't know how much more I should shim. It's a brand new carrier bearing as well. So I'm experiencing some issues there myself.


So that this particular moment I'm looking at the following:

7" Icon Dual Rate Lift Springs
New Shock Mounts (I have a buddy who can make me some)
PMF Carrier Bearing Drop Bracket
PMF Shackle Flip Kit (3.5" lift)
PMF Single Traction Bar Kit
Carli/Deaver Springs (3.5" lift over stock combined with the shackle flip for 7")

I think that will cover it. None of this stuff is cheap. But I also don't want to cheap out on the lift either. Especially towing. I would just have to figure out what to do about the air bags, and what about the block. i think I need some sort of block under there right?

Maybe we can both figure this thing out.
 
#13 ·
I'm thinking I'm going to throw a full pack in there first and level it out at an even 6" with no sag n see how i feel about it. If i get the 6" pack then i can remove my 4" block and put a 2" in. block (the lift is calculated using OEM block from what I've read). If i decide I want to go bigger after that I have the 4" block to swap into there and go from there.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Carli Spring Pack

As far as load on these springs they are not going to be as strong as OEM 3/4 ton rating. You would need air bags if you have a heavy tongue weight.
I went with 4-1/2" lift on the springs and I bought a rear shackle flip from PMF and my rear was up crazy high. I think I went with 2-1/2" on the flip and I bet it was 9" of lift. It may of been 3-1/2" I forget and I have given away the flip shackles so don't know.

So I put it back to stock and made these blocks. You can see the front lip I have to lock onto spring perch. I did that because the spring pins are offset 7/8" back so my rear tire is centered in the fenders. I also tapered the blocks to get pinion up so the driveline is a straight shot to center u/j.

It works and it works nicely.
Scooter you are right on the shocks. I got lucky mine must be for 8" because I had room to go on them still.

Nice looking truck BTW ******.... I mean kracka :)
 
#16 ·
So you're running tapered blocks on a crew cab short bed? I didn't think ccsb's required the use of tapered blocks, just shimming the carrier bearing
? I don't tow anything with the truck so no worries about the ratings. She is pretty much my fishing machine and weekend mall crawler.
 
#17 ·
I don't care what some manufacturer says on this or that. The CCSB is more angle sensitive to height changes then a long bed. What I do know is I felt my driveline spinning and that was with the carrier bearing shimmed down and with a slight angle on it too.

After I put on those tapered blocks my driveline disappeared lol. No longer feel it at least. If you look at those blocks you will see that they hang over forward on the spring perch. The axle is back 1" on those springs and I made the blocks long enough so that the spring U-bolts hold them in place side to side. Then the tab in front keeps it moving as well yet the surface area that's under the spring is still the same as designed. So the spring will perform as designed.......
 
#18 ·
So the block you made, has a tab on the front and back of the perch then? Obviously I can only see the one side. Makes sense. What'd you make it out of, or did you just have it made?

And yeah, I was looking at that same thing, I think these springs plus the shackle flip at 2 1/2" get's me "theoretically" to 6". But then I was figuring a block in there too because the springs can't sit right on the axle can they? I'm trying to think about what it looks like when I did the PMF blocks I have on it now.

I think it had a pin up or something that the block sits in. But I think the spring pack has the bolt that sticks down so it would need something between to allow both of those to sit in it, right?
 
#19 ·
You can install the springs out of the box the way they are made.
The leafs have the spring pin that is in the center of the leafs I think it's 5/8" and 1" or so long. The axle spring perch has a hole in it for the spring pin. That is what keeps everything straight.

The springs are designed for off road 100% and they are not as concerned with the axle position ar rest but they are at full compression.
But I think they need a set for street and off-road designed for around 7-8" of compression. Which is more then mine would do before my rear tires eat the top of the fender. :)

As far as the blocks go, I made them and they are 100% American steel. They have a forward stance on the top and a rearward stance on the bottom. That way it's still 5" under the leaf spring and yet still lands completely on the axle spring perch. There are two different spring pin locations in it. There is 7/8" offset and the bottom has a pin by itself going into block and axle only. Then the spring pin locks into top of the block which BTW has a 6* degree angle.
It is the perfect block for the springs and its tuff as nails. The spring pin on top of the leafs is off the 7/8" but the OEM spring clamp has a open area exactly 7/8" back from center so it all fits like a glove up top.

They are awesome riding leaf springs and was worth a bit of effort to make everything spot on for me.
 
#21 ·
I'm in central California Elk Grove area. The Carli/Deaver springs really are awesome, there is a huge difference over OEM.
You also won't have the axle wrap with the Carli rear springs compared to 6" blocks. There are 12 leafs in the spring pack but yet they are smooth riding.
The blocks I made are the answer for getting everything centered.
 
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