Which company has a better suspension lift for the 2005 F150....

FABTECH or TUFF COUNTRY??

 

Fabtech

 

Fabtech

 

Fabtech

 

Fabtech, by far. I'd also look at the Rize and RCD lifts.

 

I went with the fabtech, but my friend has the RCD and it is pretty nice too

 

Go fabtech

 

Fabtech

 

2TruckMike,

Clearly you're going to get pretty much all Fabtech recommendations, but I believe that's due largely in part to the fact that Fabtech is very popular amongst members here at f150online. I'm fairly certain that Fabtech was one of the first to market with a full suspension lift for the 2004 F-150 trucks, so it gained a lot of popularity early and get's a lot more recommendations. I'm not saying anything bad about Fabtech at all, but I wouldn't totally discount Tuff Country either.

Here's a few things I noticed between the two brands. Look at the pictures below.

FABTECH:


TUFF COUNTRY:


One thing I like about the TC lift is that their drop bracket for the front suspension is more like a one piece subframe instead of the two drop brackets that Fabtech uses. Rancho and CST also use this one piece design and IMO it's a good one.

I also noticed that the TC includes the spacers for the driveshaft and front axles which is a good thing. Not all the lift companies provide those. Fabtech does as well...

The rear lift blocks for the TC kit are the OEM style with the big bump stop ear on the side of them. Fabtech does make blocks with the integrated bump stop, but I don't beleive they come with their 6" kit... at least they're not in the picture.

I haven't seen the installed TC kit in person, but it appears to use some type of spacer kit for the top of the front shocks. This method is pretty standard with most of the "stage 1" kits, but the Fabtech stage 1 kit does include new front shocks, but I've heard the stage 1 Fabtech shocks aren't the greatest. With either kit I would upgrade to a Fabtech coilover kit.

Another small complaint I have about the Fabtech kit is that they don't use relocation brackets to lower the steering rack. Instead they just raise the tie rod mounting location on the steering knuckle. Many of the other kits, including TC, use drop brackets for the steering rack in addition to slightly raising the mounting location on the steering knuckle. FYI, it's best to have your steering system (tie rods) horizontal with the vertical center of the tire/wheel to reduce strain on the power steering pump. Now I'm exaggerating, but the Fabtech method is kind of like installing the door handle on your bedroom door up at the top instead of near the center.

I've seen and helped install the Fabtech kit before and it's a great quality kit. I have not seen the TC kit in person, but based on some pictures I've seen it seems to be every bit as good as Fabtech... maybe better. My biggest dislike about the TC kit is the spacers for the front shocks/springs.

Good luck with your decision.

 

Nice writeup Baja...well done

 

Thanks Copenhagen! I just looked at your gallery and thought I recognized your truck... looks good BTW! Then I noticed your Metro Detroit location. I must have seen your truck on the road before. Anyways, keep an eye out for a lifted Silver w/ 2-tone DSG SCAB... installing my suspension lift next weekend.

Ok, enough hijacking for me.

 

2 Things, the fabtech blocks are 5" for the 4x4 kit and they do have the beak on them for the bump stop. Next, the fabtech kit comes with spacers to drop the rack and pinion down about an inch.

 

rancho!

 

Sorry I was wrong about the rear blocks for the Fabtech kit. Turns out the 4X4 kit does use the blocks w/ the integrated bump stop as KansasJoe stated. I knew they made them, but they didn't show them in their picture.

Anyways, here they are.



As for the steering rack drop brackets. I was just reading the description from the Rocky Mountain Suspension page about the Fabtech kit for a 4X4 04-07 F-150 and it said "Installation does not require the relocation of the rack and pinion assembly." If that's wrong... I apologize.

 

You're not wrong because they're not really relocated...they're just dropped with the factory brackets reused but they give you new brackets on bottom so the horizontal bolt will still line up which are those 2 silver pieces on the left and right of the differential skid plate in the pic. The thick metal washers to drop them are in one of those bags