Pulling the trigger on the Superlift

[Paraphoe]

My October is looking pretty full buddy....a triathlon, truck show (if im allowed to skip one of the parties, two bday parties and a confirmation

I totally understand. Let me know how the first few weekends in November look for ya. If not, I can try to see if my friend will let me use his shop. No pressure!

 

[sk1er17]

Nov 1 is the confirmation (was counting that as oct lol)
Nov 8th is my sons bday
Either the 15th or 22nd is going to be bday, so I miiiiight have a free weekend between those two eventsevents....


Does your buddy have a big shop with heat? My garage is going to be tight so inclement weather makes big installs tough in winter. I usually shoot for a nice weekend in spring. ...not to mention, as im sure you're learning, for some reason birthdays are plentiful in my family this time of year! Lol (which reminds me.... I have a niece due at the end of October!)

Then January through March I mentor for FIRST Robotics, and this winter im doubling my Master's classes to finish my degree.

My immediate schedule is not looking good man

Edit... March 29th WILL be open....

 

[Paraphoe]

Well darn, I think I've finally found someone busier than me...haha. All good things though man, happy for ya.

My friend's shop is large and heated, with two lifts. Only problem is I'm not sure he can help much, with a business to run and all, and I don't have enough of the knowledge on how to install the kit. Might be time to do some heavy reading and possibly some recruitment. Haha.

Wanted to get it installed well before the winter so I could use the spring to get the rockers and paint repaired.

 

[sk1er17]

Lol yeah sorry man. You should see our shared calendar app..... I used to double/triple book weekends all the time, this things a life saver!

Depending what weekend you can do it ill try to come out and help for a day. Where's your buddy's shop?

 

[Paraphoe]

He's in Willow Grove as well, couple miles from me. About an hour from you.

Anyone else wanna come down and join the party!? Free beer, food, and bloody knuckles!

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Sure wish I could, cant wait to see it installed (well not as much as you!). Been on my wish-list for over a decade....

 

[Mike's brother]

So how did the install go?

Or are you still looking for help?

 

[Paraphoe]

It's literally embarrassing to be posting this at this point, but the date is FINALLY set, barring any insane weather events or other catastrophes.

Have a lift set aside for me at my buddy's shop for Saturday and Sunday, Feb 28th - March 1st. Should be all set to finally get this done as we close in on two years since I posted this thread.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

haha it happens. You're one up on people who literally never get to it. I've had cars sit close to 10 years before I started to do what I want to them. Or started the project and never finished it. Life happens.

 

[madbutcher]

Hey.. that's this weekend... Good luck with the instalation

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Yes x2 Good Luck and look forward to pics!

 

[Paraphoe]

Thanks guys. Yesterday was a little bumpy and we only got the rear done, the easier half by far. Rolling my eyes. Hopefully today goes a little smoother and we can finish everything. Fingers crossed.

 

[2TimingTom]

Can't wait.

After you drive around like this for awhile, you should think about coilovers to get rid of those low hanging torsion bar mounts. I know someone who has a CNC plasma table and has made a set of the brackets before.

 

[Paraphoe]

Ok, so here's the deal. I assumed that we had the torsion bar puller at my buddy's shop. I bet you can see where this is going. Turns out he didn't have one. So we were kinda screwed seeing as it was Sunday and Ford wasn't open. Totally my fault, but it is what it is. So we wrapped up the rear and put her back down on all fours under the agreement of trying to pick another weekend to do the front.

Below are a bunch of pictures. I'll be completely honest - at this point, I kinda like the stance and am a bit gun-shy about finishing the front and having it be higher than I want. What do you guys think about how it looks right now? I'm considering a few options. 1 being leave it as is, and just run with the Superlift spring and a slight rake in the stance. 2 would be to install the front another weekend when we have the tool, and 3 would be to attempt to go coil overs in the front like Tom just suggested, so that I can have a bit more flexibility in the height of the front and ditch the awful torsion bars.













Parts:

Ready to go on the lift:

My buddy working the oxy-acetylene torch to heat and free up the old bushings. Those things did NOT want to come out under any circumstances.

Rear springs out...

New springs in...

Both sides, shocks, and swaybars done:

Truck back on the ground...how it currently sits. Thoughts?

 

[2TimingTom]

Wow. Hardly raked at all. Did you crank the torsion bars up to match or that just where it was when you did the rear springs? That looks like way more front wheel gap than I ever had (before the SAS).

 

[Paraphoe]

I didn't touch the front. That's the way the front has been since my TT back in '06. If I do install the rest of the Superlift, I will crank the torsion bars down in the front and go back to the stock bolts...but you see what I mean? It's really not that "off" and I"m afraid if I do finish the kit in the front it's gonna look goofy high...

 

[OffTrac]

Looks great the way it is. Coilovers would be a nice upgrade and could be financed by selling the front box kit.

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Forum Runner

 

[Bugzturbo]

If you do decide not to use the front setup, let me know, I might be interested. And I'm local so you wouldn't have to deal with shipping it.

 

[RED 97]

I like the way it looks with just the springs. Did you keep the body lift or go back to stock?

 

[2TimingTom]

With the torsion bars cranked up that high, doesn't that increase the effective spring rate? So the front end feels like it clunks and bangs over every little bump and crack in the road. Coilovers would give you full use of the spring and make the ride much more pleasant.

And if you did use the spindles, it would put your CVs at a better angle and give you more useful travel.