Need ideas for F150 rear suspension

[ghank]

I have a 2003 F150 with an H&M front suspension kit limited at 17". It works awesome. I also have 7" extended glass fenders and 37" Bajas. The rear is stock and needs to be modified. I want to keep as much of the bed as possible so a 3 or 4 link is out of the question. Also I don't want a cantilever setup as it looks too expensive. So I am thinking about some Deavers with maybe a 3" lift, changing it to spring under which was recommended by the shop, fabbing up some shock hoops and mounting King triple Bypass shocks and Air bumps. The shop said I will need a bigger shackle and will need to reinforce and maybe move the front mount forward to accommodate longer leafs. Anybody have any experience with F150s? I went to a 4X4 shop that does some pretty cool stuff for ideas. It is looking like $3500-$4500 total. I plan on going to Geiser Bros tomorrow for a quote too.

I've got a welder but have limited experience with this kinda stuff so I am wary of taking it on myself. I jumped the truck several times today and it handled superbly except for the rear end bouncing.

[Just4Fun]

I run deavers in the rear of my 99 and a set of camburg shackles and love the set up. I was building a rear cage around some 18" 3 tube kings, but decided to sell them because I need the bed space for my quad and other things. I would run 16" 3 tubes almost straight up and down, they would probably sit an inch or 2 above the bed sides if you mounted them on top of the leafs. You could also run a longer shackle, but I wouldnt worry about boxing in the front mount or even moving it forward. Just bolt on the shackle and leafs and you'll get around 18". shackles and leafs are around 800 and 3 tubes are about 1200+ tax.

[John_Bitting]

Link it.

Here is what Newline Products did with Dana Nicholsons Tundra retaing the stock frame and bed. Same can be applied to a ford. Newline just finished a bolt on 4 link for the f-150 keeping the bed and stock frame in place.

http://www.race-dezert.com/wwwthreads/files/107717-dbed.JPG

[John_Bitting]

Underside

http://www.race-dezert.com/wwwthreads/files/107718-d4link.JPG

[John_Bitting]

Last one without wheels/shocks (buildup)

http://www.race-dezert.com/wwwthreads/files/107719-dana4link.JPG

[Just4Fun]

John you always know how to spend peoples money...lol. Anyways, the down fall is the rearend is going to set you back around 3500, plus new driveshaft, links, coilovers, cage....$$$. Newlines work is as good as it gets, Nestor and Kyle are both awesome fabricators/people. If you have the cash, that would be the way to go.

[tre5]

John you beat me too it. I love Dana's truck. The only thing is if someone is to go this route, they need to keep in mind that the bed is now a permenant fixture to the truck. Those upper shock mounts are all tied into the cage and welded to the bed. The only draw back to that setup is that there is not as much compression travel. I dont know how much money you are planning on spending, but if you say you are going to check Geiser Bros, I am guessing you have a lot to spend. (Don't bother trying to go this week) I would go the 4 link route over the leaf sprung route. You can save more bed space. There are also other factors to consider though....gas tank would have to be moved and so on. Good Luck. Let us know what you work out.

[John_Bitting]

Trefizzle, got any pics of Bennys tacoma linked with the bed? That could be an option keeping the bed and stock gas tank.

[Solo1469]

My two cents

[Solo1469]

three cents

[Solo1469]

four cents

[Solo1469]

ah nickel

[Solo1469]

six cents

[Solo1469]

lucky number 7

[John_Bitting]

Very nice work. Like how clean the cell is mounted.

[Solo1469]

Thanks... Heres some pics of the cell...

[Solo1469]

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[Solo1469]

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[Solo1469]

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[tre5]

why yes I do.....

[tre5]

takes up quite a bit of bed space, but the shock mounts could be made differently, and no spare would help also.

[tre5]

uno mas

[tre5]

dos mas

[elcaprerunner]

tre5, that is a very nice truck, saw it a couple of times in 2003 at Parker and the DP2 premier. I was curious, is there alot of pinion angle change in the rear end with the upper wishbone coming from the rear like that?

[Bryan_D]

Huh that truck looks formiliar! http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[tre5]

Nope he doesnt have that much pinion change. He is limited to around 17 or 18 in the back. So its not traveling as much as a traditional 4 link. If he was pulling 20 something numbers I am sure that there would be pinion issues.

[ghank]

Thanks so much guys! That 4 link is perfect, minus the pricetag. I've been debating on just tossing the bed and going all out, but now I have another option. Maybe I will just save up some more $ and just go with Newline.

[singlehanded]

You should see the 4 door f1 that newline finished last month. Kinda like danas but cage is bolt on and so is the 4 link kit and fuel cell. And best of all u can still use like 90% of your bed.