F150 spacers installed on my 93 2wd Sport

[danlong]

OK, after reading through pages and pages of threads about the F150 spring perches, I found that there were virtually no pictures that still show up, and that while many people talked about running them on a 2wd, it really didn't seem as if anyone had done it. Or if they did, they never said exactly how they did or put up any pictures.

410Fortune mentioned several times that you can use the top stud from the 4wd trucks so that the spring retainer nut will be able to screw on, but the 2wd trucks (at least my 93 Sport and 94 Ranger) DO NOT use a stud. They use a single bolt through the i-beam, a 7.5" long, 3/4" diameter Grade 8 bolt. You need about another 1.25" of thread to get the retainer nut on, so I went looking for a 9" long bolt. The problem is that as bolts get longer, they have less threads on them, and there is also a nut that sits under the spring perch against the radius arm, which means the threads must go down as far as the original bolt did. I checked with a machine shop to see if they could thread the 9" bolt further down the shank, but it was going to be at least $45-60 to have this done to a Grade 8 bolt, and at that point it would be cheaper to buy Daystar spacers.

After speaking to the guys at the fastener store some more, we came up with a solution. I bought a length of 3/4" B7 threaded rod (~$15 for 3 feet), 4 locking nuts and 2 regular nuts (all Grade 8), they said the B7 rod is very close in strength to Grade 8.

I cut the rod into two 9.5" lengths, and theaded a lock nut on to one end so that I had about 2 threads sticking out the nut. Then I slid the bolt though the beam and used the regular nut on top of the radius arm (under the spring perch). I had to grind about 1/4" off the tab that sticks down from the F150 perch so that it would sit flat, with my ChassisTech beams I couldn't locate it anywhere without it hitting the beam. Also, I had to grind the top of the nylon spring insulator down so that the spring retainer would sit flush against the top of the spring perch.

On goes the spring perch, spring, retainer, and then the other lock nut to hold the retainer in place, and you're basically done. The only real tricky thing about this is that the lock nut under the beam can spin when tightening down the nuts on the top, so you have to make sure it's still threaded properly. I'm either going to drill it and put a cotter pin through it, or have the nut welded to the rod.

For anyone who hasn't seen my other post on why I want to run the spacers, I'll recap.... I wanted about a 3" drop, but springs alone don't cut it due to the very poor ride and alignment problems. So I got a set of 3" drop beams, but that still leaves me with old, crappy Ford springs. I had previously gotten a set of 2" Eibach drop springs for about $40, and decided I wanted to use them for the handling benefits, although that would give me a 5" drop, which is far too much considering my tire size (255/55-18). So, on goes a set of the spacers to gain 1.5" of lift, and I now have a 3.5" drop with full suspension travel and superior handling! I have to admit, I haven't driven the truck yet, or even got it back on the ground, but everything looks good and should work as planned. I'll update after driving, but here's a few pics so you can see.

 

[danlong]

OK, here's an update.... after getting everything back together I found that I was actually a bit too low for the tires I'm running. I only had about 1/2" of clearance between my fender and the tires, so that wouldn't work. After taking everything back apart, I got to looking at the F150 spacers and took some measurements. They actually on give about 1 1/8" of lift vs. the stock spring seats, not 1 5/8" as some have said. Maybe something is different on the 4wd's, but not on my 2wd. Another thing that I think contributed to the problem is I'm pretty sure the springs actually lowered 2 1/4 - 2 1/2", not 2" like advertised. Time for a new plan......

After spending a few minutes looking everything over, I had a great idea, and I really wish I had just done this in the first place. Here's a pic of my new spacers!

I took the original spring seats to my families welding and fabrication shop, cut 2 pieces of thick-walled tubing as close in diameter to the perch as I could find 2 1/4" long, and welded them to the bottom of the perches. A little clean up and some black paint, and I've now got 2 1/4" spacers! Everything is reassembled and on the ground, and the height is perfect. I did have to cut 2 new pieces of threaded rod a bit longer, and this time I also welded a regular nut to the bottom, which makes life MUCH easier than trying to keep a lock nut from spinning while taking off the top nuts!

 

[tweakedlogic]

what did you do for the rear lift? Interested in selling some of your pearches to me?

 

[danlong]

I actually lowered the truck, not raised it. If you read the last part of the first post, you'll understand exactly what I was doing.... as far as making a set for you, let me get some miles on mine first and make sure I don't run into any problems. I just got the truck aligned this morning, but I can't get my exhaust done until next week, and I really don't need to get a ticket for running around with open headers! I wound up having to buy another piece of the threaded rod, and it was a 6' piece, so if I make you a set I'll include the longer bolt with it since I have plenty of rod left over. I'll post another update next week after driving some more, but so far everything seems good!

 

[tweakedlogic]

well I have the four wheel drive so I might not need it. Unless that isn't in your design.

 

[danlong]

The 4wd trucks have enough thread to work OK with the F150 spacers, but my spacers are almost an inch larger, so I'm not sure if that would work out. I don't have a 4wd to check it out on either, so you'd be on your own for the bolt it if wasn't long enough.

At the moment I'm stuck, as best as I can tell, Chassis Tech either sent me one i-beam for an Explorer and one for a Ranger, or one was just made wrong. My driver side tire sits almost an inch further into the wheelwell than the passenger side, and it has also affected that side's ride height. I'm waiting to talk to the tech guys from CT tomorrow to figure out the problem, but its set back my time frame for everything a little bit.