Lowered 2005 F250 4X4?

[Tinker219]

Has anyone lowered a 2005-2007 F250 4X4? I would like to lower the Front of the truck 4" or so and then level the rear of the truck to match with a longer shackle setup that I will build, and by removing the 4" block between the leafs and axle.

The front is not so easy. The axle is roughly 8" away from the frame, so that will only give me 4" of travel, most of which will be through the bump-stops. The easiest way to do this would be to cut the springs. The best way to do this would be to a STIFFER, but shorter spring and a shock to match. Does anyone produce such a kit?

Does anyone have any experience with this? I tow quite often, but only 8000lbs max. The truck sags only 1" with the trailer loaded, so I'm not overly concerned with ruining the workhorse nature of the truck, at least for my use. I have never and probably will never "offroad" the truck, so this is not a concern either.

I would like to keep the stock suspension setup on the shelf should I ever need to return to factory ride height.

Thanks for any tips!

[Rob]

why would you buy a 4X4 then lower it?? should have bought a 2 wheel drive since it just seems to me to be a waste of the 4 wheel drive system.

[Tinker219]

traction, traction, and oh ya, traction. I can't hook up until 50mph with my truck in 2wd with the tune that I normally run. That doesn't do anyone any good

Plus, we get snow daily six months out of the year and 4X4 is needed to get up hills, pull the trailer out of the snow bank, etc.

Please don't lecture me on this topic, I tend to think outside the box and it generally rewards me. I don't want to body-drop the thing, just want to drop it down a little bit.

Thanks!

[Rob]

not trying to lecture bud, i just wanted to know why you would lower a 4X4. seems to me you have good reasons to want to do this. let us know how it works out.

[Tinker219]

I just re-read my response and that sounded harsh! I appologize, it wasn't meant to sound that way!

Anyway, yes, I want to build something of a do-it-all and do-it fast street truck. Right now this thing accelerates 0-40mph faster than my 800whp NSX because there are 4 wheels scrabbling at the pavement at all times. Coming from the Import side of the equation, lower has always appealed to me.

Plus the small benefits of possible fuel mileage increases(probably very small). Plus the wife will be happier which means I get to see her in more skirts!

Maybe I'll call up DJM and see what they recommend.

Thanks!

[Rob]

no offense taken bud!

[Echo]

Sounds like you have the right idea. The back is easy to lower but like you said a shorter spring in the front is about the only way to lower the front. Unless you want to get complicated and run an onboard air system, then you could use airbags to replace the springs in the front. That way you could ride at whatever height you want and if you need to you could lift the front up all the way back to stock height.

[Tinker219]

I had thought about that, but it does sound rather pricey. I can build anything out of metal and that will save $. If I went and cut the stock springs(I wont!), I could do this for less than $30.00 in materials.

What do the 2WD trucks use for front springs? The weight that they have to handle in the front of the truck SHOULD be similar to what the 4WD trucks would handle. Perhaps a simple factory-parts swap? This way nothing would be "hacked". Thoughts or any information?

[lowstroke]

My drop kit uses all of the stock springs, front and rear. The front utilizes a drop spindle, while the rear uses dropped shackles and hangers. I can still tow the same with the stock soft ride.

[Tinker219]

You're 2WD aren't you? That makes it easy because there isn't 12" worth of axle to try and clearance