1977 F150 with 35" Thornbirds

[royalblu68f100]

Hello everyone, thanks for reading this. I have a new project that im having trouble getting started on. My truck has a high pinion Dana 44 and it has a nodular 9" with 31 spline axles. The motor is a 390 with a T18 behind it and a NP 205 T-Case. I really like the drivetrain but it does need some TLC. I was wondering if anyone out there could tell me how best to tackle my suspension lift. I dont want to use blocks in the back and I dont really want more than a 4" lift. The reason for this is that I want to keep things low to the ground for a lower center of gravity. I was wondering what kit out there will give me the most amount of travel without the expensive price tag. I know that I may have to use the sawzall for clearance on the fenders but that doesnt bother me. I have looked on JBG and I like some of their kits but what will work the best is my question. And where can I find it the cheapest (im a college student, with a love for Ford pickups, so that means im broke LOL). Anyway thanks for the help I hope to have some picks posted before to long.

 

[jake_262]

if your looking for cheap then I'd go with blocks in back, especially if your only going for a 4 inch lift. check to see if you have factory blocks allready, and if you do see if you can find a kit that replaces the block so that you don't have to blocks. not sure about which kit is the best, but make sure that it has the right wedge to keep driveline geometry.

 

[[email protected]]

If your looking to go cheap, buy a truck that's already lifted ;P

I also wanted to do a 4" lift on the cheap. I searched around and found that the Tuff country 4" lift with an add-a-leaf in the rear is quite the deal, see: http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bi...con/247123.html.

You are still going to sink a ton of money into your truck but, you can't beat the price of this kit. The lift kit was $300 and it came with more stuff than most kits do. The extras I got are: 4 nitro shocks $154, new rear spring bushings (LMC Truck) $50, dropped Superlift pitman arm (Bronco Graveyard) $65. And I'm building a dual steering stabilizer setup ~ $100.

This lift actually gave me 3.5" in the front and 4" in the rear, 35" tires won't be a problem. Just so you know, I am having driveline issues now. I think I need to put 2.5 degree shims on the rearend and then have double cardan drive shafts built. The current slip shafts are wore out and the drivelines only have 1 u-joint on each end. I suspect the dumb a*s that owned the truck before me didn't want to replace 3 u-joints so he tossed the cardan joints.

Hope that helps, good luck with your project.