Front Suspension Travel
 

Yes, I know I only have a 2wd...and the suspension is stock...but this can't be right...

http://www.stephencard.net/fronttravel.jpg

Sorry the picture is bad, but I think you get the idea even though the perspective makes it hard to tell what the spacing really is. Theres slightly over 1" between the I-Beam and the bump stop on both sides up front. What should it really be? I think its time for new springs...

Thats probably pretty close to right.

how about a pic of the truck in a whole

Did you get those wheels on there??

Not yet, I've been fighting with my bumper since I left your house. I'll put them on tomorrow and get a pic when it's light out.



I can feel the front hit the bump stops on almost everything I drive over...and I'm talking about on road, not off road. If there is only supposed to be 1" of up travel and it uses all of it that often then I'm going to be changing that for sure...



Not a current pic, but works for now...
http://www.stephencard.net/truck.jpg

Ugh, the more I look at that pic the faster I want new wheels on there and get the suspension work done...it looks like a skateboard to me, lol...

that looks about right. i mean a 2" lift block would help alot or 2" lift springs eather or really.
here was my truck before i did anything to it
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...71_15_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...71_14_full.jpg

wow doesnt even look like my truck but it is...so unraped...

One more for you...
http://www.stephencard.net/truck2.jpg

ya that looks about right as i sayed

Well your truck is sitting level. When you look at mine from the side you can tell the front sits a lot lower.

um you blind?.... my truck before i put the 2" leaving block was 3" HIGHER in the back idk why but it was.. now my rear is just 1" higher then the front with my 32's

Um...no...I am not blind.

I know the trucks are supposed to sit higher in the back so they don't sit too low when loaded. It looks a lot closer to level in that picture than mine does. If this is really where the front is supposed to be riding, okie dokie then. All the more reason to lift it. 1" just isn't enough travel for my taste...so the lifting just moved up on the priority list.

its the lighting i could inhanse it for you to see but mine wasnt anymore level then yours was beleave me i owed the truck

No, his sits kinda low compared to your pic, he was at my house today.

I believe you, I'm not arguing with you. To me, it looks CLOSER to level than mine. Part of it I think is that in that picture the front has the concrete helping it sit a little higher. My extended cab is about a foot longer than your truck, so the proportions and angle look different to my eyes when I see mine from the side. I'm aware that it doesn't come from the factory level. In my opinion, the front is too low and 1" up travel sucks. If that's the way Ford intended it, then it doesn't change my opinion...just my plans for fixing it. :biggrin:

Your truck sits pretty normal. The front ends are usually atleast 2 inches lower than the rear. Mine was until I tightened my torsion bars, now its only a half inch lower.

Just get some "leveling springs" yours have just sagged.

lol zach.. after seeing those before's.. i have much mor repect for the work you did, and how much cooler that **** really is now ;)

You dont have 1" of up travel. Think about the way the arm moves on its pivot. The farther away from the pivot you are the farther it travels in the same distance if you are closer to the pivot. Take your arm for example. Put your arm out straight, then bend at your elbow, your hand will move farther in the radius than your forarm right at your elbow, or the pivot point. This is a very basic way of saying that while your beam at the bump stop may only be moving up 1", at the hub (wheel) the beam will move say 2.5".

Follow me? Its after 5 so my brain is off, but basicly, that looks right. Look at some of the RCD kits, the bump is 1/2" off the lower arm.

You are correct about the radius issue. I was incorrect in stating the up travel based on that particular radius from the beam pivot in my posts. I think I just had a one track mind thing going over the 1" and didn't think about what I was saying. :biggrin:

The beam is 1" below the bump stop, apprx. 26" from the pivot point.

arctan(1/26)=2.2 degrees that the beam is pivoting at max up travel.

The tire center is apprx. 37" from the pivot point.

37*tan(2.2)=1.42" up travel at the center of the tire.

I was less than .5" away...but thats 30%...pretty bad... :dunce: Funny too considering I'm setting control surface travels on UAVs a few times a week... My math and measuring work at least, but I must have already used my intelligent thought quota for the day.

I do think 1.42" sucks too, however...lol


Measuring from the ground to the wheel well, my front is just shy of 3" lower than the rear. If 2" is a usual number then it is sitting different. In any case, it is getting new suspension and going up whether there is a problem or that's just the way it was made. Funny how most of the time when I ask a question on here lately I'm usually the only thing in the way of the answer. You guys are good sports at least, lol. Thanks for the responses