SDDiver5
Expedition Leader
Glad I can entertain lol. Cant tell you how many threads I've read while on a conf call. Thanks for the input on the sliders and fumoto appreciate it!
2017 F-150 build...Everyone meet Walter White
- Thread starter SDDiver5
- Start date
SDDiver5
Expedition Leader
I'm thinking of getting some UCA's, Fox DSC front and rear and maybe get some deavers.
Anyone with an F150 upgrade their UCA's? Not looking to spend that much money but I believe in "you get what you pay for" so am willing to spend some money on this little project. Dirt King is having a sale with $250 off which is attractive. I don't need a flashy brand name/color to show off to my IG friends, however, if it works that way then go me. A lot of people seem to like the SPC UCA's for their simplicity. My current UCAs are starting to show some wear so I am for sure going to upgrade them. Still 50/50 on the rest of the setup.
For the shocks, I was pricing out Fox DSC 2.5 with DSC and the equivalent for Kings. With a custom Tune from accutune they price out to be about the same so if anyone has input I'd love to hear it. What I want out of my shock upgrade is more adjustability to be able to have a better ride on road and offroad. Nothing wrong with my setup now and they are great offroad but with returning to the office it leaves some desired comfort when on the freeway. The ability to adjust the ride with the turn of a knob seems awesome and will fit what I want.
For the deavers, I've always wanted to say I have deavers because they are iconic and a local So Cal company. IDK if I really need them. My current leafs squeak and it annoys me.
All work will be done by a shop, I would love to spend the weekend and DIY but I'd rather hang out with wife and baby daughter.
Anyways, thought/opinions are appreciated!
Anyone with an F150 upgrade their UCA's? Not looking to spend that much money but I believe in "you get what you pay for" so am willing to spend some money on this little project. Dirt King is having a sale with $250 off which is attractive. I don't need a flashy brand name/color to show off to my IG friends, however, if it works that way then go me. A lot of people seem to like the SPC UCA's for their simplicity. My current UCAs are starting to show some wear so I am for sure going to upgrade them. Still 50/50 on the rest of the setup.
For the shocks, I was pricing out Fox DSC 2.5 with DSC and the equivalent for Kings. With a custom Tune from accutune they price out to be about the same so if anyone has input I'd love to hear it. What I want out of my shock upgrade is more adjustability to be able to have a better ride on road and offroad. Nothing wrong with my setup now and they are great offroad but with returning to the office it leaves some desired comfort when on the freeway. The ability to adjust the ride with the turn of a knob seems awesome and will fit what I want.
For the deavers, I've always wanted to say I have deavers because they are iconic and a local So Cal company. IDK if I really need them. My current leafs squeak and it annoys me.
All work will be done by a shop, I would love to spend the weekend and DIY but I'd rather hang out with wife and baby daughter.
Anyways, thought/opinions are appreciated!
YetiX
Active member
Yes, yes you could.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
UCAs: Check to make sure they don't have fitment issues with certain wheels. Backspacing and offset and such if they're the squared off style, the reinforced tube style usually doesn't have the same issues. They're not absolutely required, but they're nice to have.
Fox DSC: Super awesome, you're a click away from adjusting your suspension. If 3.0's are in your budget they're so so so nice.
Deavers: I have Icons on order after driving a truck with Icon leafs... leafs can make ALL the difference in the world. They remove the block and that will help with axle wrap on acceleration, you can also choose your axle rate. While you're doing it I would highly recommend upgrading your shackles too. If you go with Deavers +2 is stock ride height, +3 is +1... Its to account for the block removal. They also have HD leafs which I know a lot of guys run.
ORW San Diego over at Kearny Mesa has done good by me if you don't know which shop to go to.
....or you could get RPG to do a Raptor swap.
SDDiver5
Expedition Leader
Hey dude thanks for the input. I think the 3.0s are out of the question. Still need to set some money aside for my daughters 529...
GFC just announced they will be opening up a few spots in So Cal for pickup soooooo I might keep the suspension as is and get a GFC.
I'm hoping if I get an "OEM replacement" UCA so I wont have fitment issues since I am still rocking the best looking OEM wheels Ford has ever made. But good to know, I will keep an eye on it.
Would love to have an RPG Raptor Swap. I feel like I don't do enough desert running to justify. I am always in the desert, just not blaring down washes at 60 MPH.
Too many options for a scatter brain truck addict lol
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
Starting with the UCAs, you should be golden if you get this style:
Its this style that is known for having some amount of issues with fitment on different trucks:
You won't have a major issue fixing it, most aftermarket brands of wheels will fit, and [for the F150s, to include the Raptor] sometimes a shim as small as an 8th of inch will completely de-conflict it
GFC is really neat and if I was clean slate building my truck again I would probably have looked into that from the get go, but I'm pretty far deep into using the Leitner designs rack. Really the only thing I've not fully be satisfied with has been a roof top tent, and of course now I'm looking at clamshells (iKamper clamshell in particular) and thats what GFC does... That being said if you go with a GFC topper I would PRIORITIZE leafs. Its not nearly as dire of an issue in a F150 vice Raptor, but you still got a block and you still could might sag. I don't think you'd sag after adding a GFC alone as they're about 300 pounds, its once you add your gear to the bed and passengers in the truck or when you might have issues. Plus I loathe axle wrap.
To your point, I find myself enjoying the desert a ton but don't necessarily need to be bombing down two tracks and all that. That stuff is treacherous especially with the rains over the past few weeks, lots of roads have turned into nothing thanks to washes. I also don't really want to roll my daily driver or something like that, so much slower scenic routes are on the table for right now. Though I have a project in mind to fix it, just need to know whether I will be staying on the west coast before I get started.
bknudtsen
Expedition Leader
I’ve had SPC UCA’s on 3 different rigs now, including my wife’s ‘14 F150. Very easy to get a decent alignment right in your garage. Our Xterra had 60k miles on a set of tires after I installed those uca’s. Never had it professionally aligned, and it drove great. That being said, their adjustability could be a weak spot if you go off-road a lot. Nothing that you couldn’t account for with routine re-torquing of the adjustable ball joint. Just need to be aware of it.
I would just stay away from uni-ball style uca’s if you want traditional sealed ball joint reliability.
Brad
I would just stay away from uni-ball style uca’s if you want traditional sealed ball joint reliability.
Brad
SDDiver5
Expedition Leader
Again I appreciate the input. I actually had the tubular UCAs from ICON in a cart so will likely purchase those after a little more research. Will look into leafs. Are the ICON leafs you have on order are they raptor replacement leafs? Getting rid of axle hop would be nice. I also wonder if I will get the results I am looking for with better leafs instead of dropping coin on some better shocks with the anticipation of the slight possibility of getting a GFC? IDK man. Time will tell I guess.Starting with the UCAs, you should be golden if you get this style:
Its this style that is known for having some amount of issues with fitment on different trucks:
You won't have a major issue fixing it, most aftermarket brands of wheels will fit, and [for the F150s, to include the Raptor] sometimes a shim as small as an 8th of inch will completely de-conflict it
GFC is really neat and if I was clean slate building my truck again I would probably have looked into that from the get go, but I'm pretty far deep into using the Leitner designs rack. Really the only thing I've not fully be satisfied with has been a roof top tent, and of course now I'm looking at clamshells (iKamper clamshell in particular) and thats what GFC does... That being said if you go with a GFC topper I would PRIORITIZE leafs. Its not nearly as dire of an issue in a F150 vice Raptor, but you still got a block and you still could might sag. I don't think you'd sag after adding a GFC alone as they're about 300 pounds, its once you add your gear to the bed and passengers in the truck or when you might have issues. Plus I loathe axle wrap.
To your point, I find myself enjoying the desert a ton but don't necessarily need to be bombing down two tracks and all that. That stuff is treacherous especially with the rains over the past few weeks, lots of roads have turned into nothing thanks to washes. I also don't really want to roll my daily driver or something like that, so much slower scenic routes are on the table for right now. Though I have a project in mind to fix it, just need to know whether I will be staying on the west coast before I get started.
I presume you've seen the GFC superlite? There's a few used ones I have seen for sale in San Diego for like 2k-3k or so. I cant stand my bulky RTT. I'm ready to move on from it.
SDDiver5
Expedition Leader
Any offroad use with them? I've heard great things about them but have seen some reviews that if you do a lot of offroad they can tend to become out of align. I dont do a ton of offroad but I do about a dozen 1-3 night trips per year and what I usually do is pretty intense offroad. Now that baby girl is a little older it will be easier to camp with her and we are hoping to so some and longer trips this year. Hence the reason for wanting a GFC per my other posts.
bknudtsen
Expedition Leader
I did a week in Moab with them on my old Tacoma with no issues. For me, being able to dial in the castor after a lift was the selling point. I hate how twitchy the steering feels after a lift with stock uca’s. Most fixed aftermarket uca’s account for that though. I don’t think you could go wrong with Icon Delta Joint tubular arms.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
No worries, its enjoyable talking about. I like the ICON brand a lot.
These are the leafs I placed on order: https://www.stage3motorsports.com/95220-10-14-svt-raptor-icon-rxt-multi-rate-rear-leaf-springs.html
I went with them because I liked the flexibility of picking 3 options, the middle of which I'm thinking of going with the middle once its all said and done. The other reason I went with Icon is because earlier this year I had originally placed an order for their GEN1 Raptor Stage 4 kit, but by August NONE of the parts arrived and was not given an ETA. I had ordered it when I did with the hopes that all parts would arrive by the time I got back from deployment. This way sometime next year when life settles down I can order the rest of the kit. I drove a Raptor with the Stage 4 Icon kit and it was enlightening, truly something else. I had thought about going the RPG route as well, but they kind of put together their own kit from different brands (King, Deaver, RPG) vice ICON which is all made to work together.
Get whatever makes you happy, or if you're more pragmatic get what gets you the most bang for your buck.
I've seen the superlite and its absolutely on my radar. The rare occasions that I hope onto facebook I check marketplace and see if there is a deal. I also looked at OVS clamshell, but they're heavyyyy.... like 260 pounds for just a clamshell. Right now the iKamper has my interest piqued is because it apparently has an accessory line that will be coming to it soon including easily mounted solar panels and such.
bknudtsen
Expedition Leader
Prime example of why I am back here on Expo.
bmf- If you make your way to the Seattle area, you can drive my truck with the Icon bits on it. I am sure they could use a rebuild at some point, but the truck still has a great ride.
Brad
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
Honestly I had went away from this site for a bit, lots going on in life, some good, most bad. I hadn't posted from March to like June and then posted maybe 4 times from June to about a week ago. I really enjoyed this site in 2020, even with some of the characters I encountered that I didn't exactly get along with (except one, screw that guy, glad he ran his mouth and got banned). This forum was kind of one of the few things that helped me get through that year, moreso than just about any other forum.
If I find myself up that way, which is a real possibility, I'll definitely hit you up. I saw your truck in the full sized picture thread and I know you'll love it. Even if you need to a bit of legwork into it, it will definitely be worth it. I wanted a SCAB but life factors lead me towards the SCREW, and honestly after having been offroad in a SCAB I'm glad I went with the longer wheelbase. Just a bit twitchier compared to the SCREW. Then again I'm looking at the 2 door bronco in the next year or two, so what do I know?
That's enough derailing @SDDiver5's thread. Cheers!
