Wheelin an F150?

[frumpy]

So after researching here is my plan

stage one
prerunner front bumper
leveling kit
rear receiver mount winch (already have the winch, may move it into the bed later)
wheel spacers
and already have 32" MTZs on the truck

stage two
Glass front fenders
glass rear fenders or trim/remove the box
34-35" tires

stage three (if it ever gets there)
SAS

the plan is pretty much to make a prerunner style truck capable of doing a bit of everything (think ultimate adventure prerunner toyota). For now I will be starting the first stage of the build slowly until I get posted and buy a house, then it will kick into full gear.

 

[frumpy]

So I found out the leveling kits is going to cost me $670 installed, taxes in including new shocks and alignment. Not having quite so much luck on finding a prerunner bumper for a reasonable price. Also think I found a matching spare tire on kijiji (Currently running MTZs on 17" rims with some rusty rim 16" and street tire from the wreckers for a spare). Just need to decide if I want to carry one or two spares. Think all I really need is one since I have oba and tire repair kit but might be nice/look good with two, especially if I go with the prerunner look.

 

[frumpy]

Found a few MTZs on kijiji but they are all 33x12.5 (vs the 265/70/17s I'm running) I may pick one up anyway. None of the wreckers around here have any 17" F150 rims so I am just keeping my eyes open. Also found out my 4x4 isn't working, think its a problem with the vacuum pump ($400 part). Going to hopefully get a few things cleaned up on the truck and maybe pop the front bumper off and pound a dent out of it.

I also talked to a buddy who is a mechanic, he said he'll help me install the leveling kit next time I have the truck back home (12hrs away). Next parts on the list to buy are front receiver, and wheel spacers, and the leveling kit for whenever I do get around to installing it

 

[frumpy]

I guess this is kind of turning into my build thread.

I went to the hardware store and bought a bunch of stuff to bolt down my spare at the back of the bed. However after looking, measuring, debating, I decided to hold off. I already ordered a tailgate net, and spare tire cover to hide my ugly full size street spare on 16" rim (since I can't find a 17" spare rim for the matching spare tire). I am just going to use a heavy duty ratchet strap and tie it down right at the back of the bed. Worst comes to worst if I need the extra room I'll stand it up against the side of the bed.

It's a cheap solution and it works so I like it. Also through my toolbox back in the bed and loaded it up with a few things (trailer hitch, small recovery strap, cargo net, tie downs, shovel, ax, gas can, etc) Up next is converting my winch plate to a receiver mount winch plate, front hitch, and leveling kit.

 

[frumpy]

Well I found a winch plate I'm going to pick up. Now the next problem, battery power in the bed. I was thinking of running wire from the battery under the truck and to the back bumper but I'd rather have connection terminals or a second battery near the front of the bed or in my tool box.

ideas?

 

[brianjwilson]

What is this leveling kit you are talking about? Your F150 has torsion bars up front, no?
Please tell me you are not talking about torsion keys. IF you feel like you need to adjust the front suspension, all you need to do it tighten the torsion bar adjustment bolts. All the torsion keys do is allow you to tighten them more be re-indexing the key. The problem is, the more you raise the front, the less down travel you will have from ride height, resulting in a rough, crappy ride. The front shocks will top out on all but the smallest bumps.
Start here:
Measure the wheel to wheelwell height on each front wheel at ride height. Now lift the truck off the ground until the wheels are in the air, and re-measure. How much downtravel do you have stock? I wouldn't want to drive with less than 2" of down travel on the road, and I would definitely prefer more off road.

In my opinion, start with performance (traction, shocks, etc) instead of looks (light bars and the like).
I would get a locker, atleast in the rear. Focus on getting whatever suspension travel you can get out of what you have (not much), this means disconnecting sway bars when off road. If you must crank the torsion bars, make sure you leave some down travel, and get it re-aligned after.
Do not use wheel spacers. I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with them, but they do not belong off road. They will cause a lot of extra wear on the suspension components, and more than likely cause the tires to rub.

 

[frumpy]

The reason for the torsion keys is thats the only thing available thats not an insane amount of money for an IFS kit. Right now all I want to accomplish is a little better approach angle as the front bumper hangs pretty low. I agree torsion keys aren't the best but I'm not ready to drop an insane amount of coin on a 2-3" lift kit.

Already have put in nitrogen shocks, MTZs, looking at a locker and front receiver (for winch). Wheel spacers do not cause any more wear than an offset rim. I know of many people that run wheel spacers and tons more than run rims with less backspacing than stock. My old YJ had stock 28" tires had 5" backspacing. I ran 3.5" backspacing with 33x13.5 LTB and ran it hard, never had any issues.