lift options....

[Texanferever]

I just installed new 3.5in lift springs and the front end is lower than the rear about 2.5 inches. Now I have to decide on what to do.

1. keep it like it is
2. lower the rear
3. put in the 4.5in coils in the front for a 1.5 inch difference
4. put in the 5.5in coils for a .5 inch difference

The reason this is in the tech sections is if I go the (#4) route, what else would I be looking at as far as other upgrades to enjoy the 5.5 inch lift?

80% on road, no rock crawling.

 

[Skiddy]

my vote would be get a plate rear bumper with spare tire and jerry cans that may level it out;D really though it should level out some after a while

 

[DirtDonk]

I'm assuming that the Bronco is fully set up now, with it's full carrying weight in the rear? And you left the spring and shackle bolts loose until you had the full weight of the truck on the ground? I know they're supposed to spin no matter what, but they don't always. If you get them tight enough when it's still up on jackstands it can take quite some time for the rear to settle.

If all that checks out, get an exact measurement from, say, the straight body-line along the bed and up to near the front wheel well. Also, for confirmation, measure the distance between the front bumpstops and the frame, just to make sure you got your full 3.5" of lift. Good to know before making another decision.

Then decide whether you want it perfectly level now, or if you will leave it a bit high in the rear until the rear springs settle a bit, which they often (but not always) do.

Also "assuming" here that you're using a 10 or 11 leaf rear spring pack? Or is it a block and/or add-a-leaf in the rear?
If one of the modern multi-leaf packs, take the measured difference in height between the front and rear, and remove some of the bottom leaves. Doing that you get both the exact thickness of the leaf in drop, plus a tiny bit more, progressively as you go up to the longer leaves.
If it turns out that you're indeed a full 2.5 inches taller in the rear, a few leaves should do it.
For fine tuning, you can check with the manufacturer of the springs to see which leaves are better removed, above and beyond the lower 3 or so. Taking those first 2 or 3 are probably only going to net you the thickness of the leaves themselves. Beyond that, you start losing not only the thickness of the leaf, but some support as well.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[broncnaz]

Might want to make sure you got the correct front springs for your lift its happened in the past where the wrong sized fronts were sent. I'd take some measurements of your spring both installed and uninstalled and call the vender.

 

[Texanferever]

I have spoken with Chuck, and what was sent is correct. And as far as the rear springs, they are a block-add a leaf that were there before I purchased the truck and I have not touched them.

I am kinda leaning towards exchanging for the 4.5 coils up front and leaving the rear alone until I can get some weight back there. And if I need to, get shorter blocks for the rear to bring it down a bit. I really don't want to buy new rear leafs because the set up now flexes very well and would hate to mess that up.

 

[broncnaz]

Just keep in mind that taller front springs will take away more caster which will make handling worse. I'd just get you some shorter rear blocks. but really almost all the availible rear lift springs will outflex what you currently have. Blocks make axle wrap worse especailly when bigger tires are added.