I was looking into the fabtech 3" susp. lift for my truck.
I saw that some other kits use a spindle for the lift whereas fabtech replaces an arm and the coil. Which one would be better for overall durability and ride quality. Thanks

 

The spindle lift should not affect ride quality or durability at all.

 

how will the spring+arm, affect the ride?

 

The new springs will probably be stiffer than the OEM springs.

 

ALso with longer coils and new A-arms, you will be hitting the droop stops all the time. You will go through a dip fine, but will feel the A-arm hitting the droop stop as your front end rises after absorbing the dip. Just my $0.02 stick with the fabtech 3.5 lift spindles. Also, its my personal recommendation NOT to get the 7 inch fabtech lift with spindles, coils, and longer A-arms. I would get the drop down bracket kit.

 

looks like the spindle lift is the way to go. how hard is this install?

I just sold my jeep (98tj 5.5 LA lift, HPd44 front, 9" rear, ARB's,36's) so i am very familiar with solid axle suspension work. I have never messed with ifs though. on a scale of 1-10, how hard is it and what are the common problems (if any) associated with it? I havwe a full service shop with a hydro lift at my disposal

 

hey sk8inrj1 why do you not recommend that 7in fabtech kit?
did it break on you or something?

 

Hey porky, I was looking at some of you pics of putting your truck through the mud and was wondering how well your 2wd performed. Especially with those street tires.

Do you have a locker or anything?

I've been dying to take my truck somewhere and have a little fun, but not much around here.

I have some Nitto all terrain and a lift on my 2wd, and kinda scared to get it stuck, so I havent really tested it out much. I've only played around in deep water puddles on dirt roads and uneven gravel roads with lots of big pot holes.

When and if i do go do you have any advice other than bring a 4wd buddy with me?

By the way those lights look awsome behind the grille! I want to get some mounted on a roof rack.

 

THe A-arms have broken off one of my droop stops from them kitting so often and hard and went through ball joints in 20,000 miles.

I don't recommend the 7 inch fabtech lift with the longer coils, longer A-arms and lift spindles. I do so because it puts your suspension nearly to the max in droop. Fabtech says it increases travel, but it does not. You may gain 3.5 inches of compression travel, but you end up with around 1 inch of droop travel. THis means that going over even small speed bumps with any speed makes your A-arms hit the droop stops. For me, it wore out the stock ball joints in 20,000 moiles and I'm hoping the moog ones last longer. I would suggest any of the drop down bracket kits from rancho, RCD, Pro Comp, Fabtech, etc... THose kits maintain the proper travel up and down. I would of got the crossmember kit from fabtech but they don't have an available coil spring for my reg cab V6. It would have been 300 bucks cheaper too. My goal is to get rid of this kit and get the crossmember kit and get custom coils made for my truck with stock spring rate and add .5 of an inch to the lift with the springs to get a total of 8 inches and get some 4 inch deaver leaf springs for the rear.

 

hey sk8, i just bought the fabtech control arm lift.

Why do you mean by the droop stops? can you modify it to have more back travel.. such as remove the droop stops?

And also; Do you have the ultimate long travel kit with the fabtech lower control arms? Or do you have the stock control arms?

 

I have the stock lower control arms. THe droop stops are essentiall like bump stops but they prevent your suspension from topping out or over extending. You cannot modify your droop stops to allow more down travel as you will kit your upper A-arms on the frame. THe limiting factor in the down travel is the ball joints because they don't articulate that far. If you look at off-road pre runner trucks with expensive suspension set-ups, they nearly all run uni-ball joints and hiem joints. Also, your upper A-arms would hit the coil if the droop stop was not there. For me, I can barely get my finger between the upper A-arm and the droop stop. THis is so because I think the coils Ive got are too long and/or stiff and giving me too much lift. Ive seen on other F150's that are V8 and extended cab that they got about 1-1.5 inches of droop travel.