3” Suspension Lift Kit

By Brian Hofmeister

The new 2005 Ford Super Duty has gone through some very appealing changes. The front axle has been upgraded to a Dana 60 and is now sprung with a coil suspension system. The grill and headlights were also changes for a tougher look. In addition to body and suspension changes, there were also some changes to the motor, which you can read in Fords What’s New for 2005 publication. When we started planning for our 2005 Ford Project Truck, the first thing on our list was a lift and larger tires.

In searching for a lift kit for our 2005 Ford F250 project truck, we had some ideas on what we wanted. First, we did not want to sacrifice a lot of ride quality, we wanted a full kit including new springs for the front to improve articulation, and we wanted to run a 35 x 12.50 on a 17 inch wheel. Our search concluded by talking with Rough Country suspension systems. They offer a 3” lift kit with a progressive spring for the front of the super duty. The progressive front coil springs which will adjust depending on what situation the truck is in. The spring rate increases when you need it and decreases when you don't. It’s simple, while you are cornering or carrying a load, the rate increases, but normal driving the spring rate decreases to allow for a better ride. The goal is to allow the spring rate to decrease smoothly back to original spring rate or as close as possible.

The kit took 3 days to arrive at our home, and we opened it up and read over the instructions. They were very straight forward, since all we were doing is adding a block to the rear and a new spring in the front. We checked the length of the u bolts provided, and other miscellaneous hardware to make sure we had all the pieces to complete the kit before we had the truck apart. We then made the appointment for the alignment to be done after the lift at local truck suspension specialist Suspension Maxx. After talking to them about our project, they offered us their shop and lift to use for completing the project.

After pulling into Suspension Maxx, we took some pictures and were directed to put the truck in the alignment rack where we took measurements of all four corners to get the stock ride height. They also measured the caster and camber so we could return everything back to stock. This step, although not noted in the instructions is very important to retaining the factory steering and ride. Our project truck measured 39” from the floor to the wheel well top in the front and 40.5” in the rear and our caster was at 3 degrees positive.

We then pulled the truck over to the lift and lifted the truck about a foot off the ground. Following the instructions, and with the help of the Suspension Maxx crew, we removed the tires and the front shocks. We also found it necessary to remove the sway bar links, brake line mounting brackets, and the front axle breather tube. With a jack under the front axle, it was lowered enough to remove the front spring and replace it with the Rough Country replacement spring. Everything fit like it was factory installed. We then installed the new mounts for the Rough Country shocks.

This mounting system removes the upper stud mount shock and replaces it with dual hoop mount shocks. This is to eliminate the bushing wear on the stud mount shocks. A helpful hint when installing these mounts: do not mount them straight across like the installation pictures dictate. However, mount them on a 45 degree angle so that you can get at the rear bolt incase you ever have to maintenance them in the future.

Once the shocks were mounted we reattached the breather tubes, sway bar links and brake line mounts. The track bar mounting bracket was a simple spacer to lower it down.  The two bolts were removed and replaced with longer bolts with washers.  That process keeps the front axle in the center of the vehicle.  The tires were replaced and we moved o the rear of the vehicle.

The rear tires were removed for simplicity, but it is not necessary.  We supported the rear axle with a floor jack while the factory u bolts were removed along with the factory shocks.  Making sure to align the pins and keep the factory block on the top, we added the rough county suspension block. This block is angled so make sure you get the narrow end toward the front of the truck.  This tilts the axle to help decrease the angle change on the universal joints.  Once they were in, we replaced the u bolts with the ones supplied and torque them down to 120ft lbs.  The shocks were replaced with the longer ones supplied, wheels were put back on, and we were ready to lower the truck off the lift.

After taking one last look, making sure all bolts were tight, we lowered the truck off the lift a moved it to the alignment rack, where we let the professionals at Suspension Maxx work. As it turned out, our truck needed some tow in and a steering wheel adjustment. We took our final lifted wheel well measurements and fount that the front was raised 2.75” while the rear was raised 2”. This leveled the truck very nicely and created a tough looking stance. We took the truck for a test ride and were very pleased with the new springs and shocks. They ride as good as the factory, if not better. The truck retained most of its performance characteristics and made us feel like it was still the factory stock truck.

The total project took us just over 4 hours including the alignments and stopping to take pictures and notes. This is a very simple install that could easily be completed in the driveway. The instructions include pictures for and give you great step by step processes for doing the lift at home with jacks and jack stands.

We will be checking the tightness of all the bolts after about 100 miles, and we have an appointment to have the truck checked over again at Suspension Maxx after 1000 miles. This will insure the safety of driving and enjoying the vehicle.

 

Rough Country® is a Division of Heckethorn Products, Inc.
1400 Morgan Road
Dyersburg, TN 38024-2339
1-800-222-7023
http://www.roughcountry.com/


Special Thanks To:

Suspension MAXX
407 S. Linn St.
Bay City, Michigan 48706
http://www.suspensionmaxx.com/
Phone – 989-892-2013