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1994 Ford F350 RSK suspension lift. SHE'S DONE!!!! 9/26/13


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I have a question for some of you ford folks, or even I guess for anyone to answer.

There's a shackle flip kit out there for the fords. What it does is it takes the shackle and flips it from the top of the perch, removes the perch and flips it and the shackle to give the rear a 4.5" - 5" lift. It' worth it, I think, at $170. Here's a link to the kit. My question is, if I do this, do I need to change out the shocks? This combined with this, Lift Extreme Heavy Duty Ford Shackles ($110) will give me a 5.5" lift in the back.

next question is, what would i need to do to the front to make it level or just barely taller? The RSK I'm using is 3.5", and then the SD springs on top of that will make it about 4.5" currently. So, if I end up 5.5" taller in teh back than I am now, what do I do about the front? Do I need a 6" lift spring do you guys think? In that case I'm assuming I'm going to need new shocks.

I'm just thinking about the future, and keeping cost down on this. I'd love this to be 8" over stock, although my wife is not to happy about it. But I also don't want to dump thousands and thousands of dollars into it either.

Open to thoughts.

Thanks guys. More tomorrow.

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Ok let's get on with some updates. Yesterday was not as bad as I thought it would be. I actually was very happy with the progress I made. Considering I was going to use a full weekend to get this front part done, I think I was right on par with my thoughts. Course taking pictures at every step, having to kind of figure out my way as I go, and a couple little issues along the way, takes up a lot of time. So I'm guessing if you get right down to it, and don't do pics etc, I'd say it'd take you about a day to do the front. Ok let's get on with it.

Day 6:

Getting the front up in the air. Passenger side

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Driver side

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Shocks were absolutely shot. Bushings were destroyed, and it's no wonder I had so much noise from these. This is the Passenger side shock

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Passenger side bottom shock bushing

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Passenger side top shock bushing.

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Driver side didn't fare any better, and actually I'd say it was much worse.

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Driver side shock bottom, not as bad, but still large cracks in the bushing.

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Driver side top shock bushing. This one is all but gone. There's only a little piece left there, you can see it in the front. That's it. Otherwise the bushing was completely missing from this shock.

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Removing the track bar. This is the spot on the passenger side where it connects to the axle. Bad pic, but it should give you an idea of where it is.

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Removing the track bar from the top mounting point. The bracket connects to that frame piece that hangs down there (not sure if there's a technical name or not).

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Track bar is off. Bushings aren't very good on this either. Neither side.

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Time to remove the end links.

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End link top. These were a pain to get off. They did not want to let go. But I eventually won!

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Passenger side brake line. This will be changed out with a longer SS Crown Brake line.

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Ready to take the spring off. These U Bolts go first!

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Another view of the U Bolts

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I lied, again remember I've never done this type of thing before so I'm kind of exploring, and trying, and doing things as I go as well as getting some help from truck forum friends and DIY tutorials there as well. SO I was wrong, and the shocks needed to come off first. In this case, they probably didn't need to come off first cause there's no back pressure on these things they're so shot. But if there were good ones on here, it'd be difficult to deal with the plate while the shock was connected.

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So off it goes.

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Then I decided to do the brake line while I was there because I knew the axle needed to be dropped, and the line wasn't long enough.

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So Both brake lines come off.

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Next that needed to come off to drop the axle, was the steering linkage and pitman arm.

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Next that needed to come off to drop the axle, was the steering linkage and pitman arm.

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Yesterday I rented a pitman arm puller from O'Reilly's Auto Parts.

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Using that PA Puller, I was able to get the linkage off the arm.

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Then thought while I was there with the tool, that I'd pull the arm too, so that way I could be ready to put the new arm on. This is where I hit a snag. Last year I got the steering box changed. I didn't pay for a new pitman arm then. But I'm not sure this one is stock. I put the tool on it to take it off, and the arm is too wide for the tool to fit on. So it's still sitting there just like this. I'm going to call the place that put the box on, and see what they have and what they did. Maybe they can help me with it. Otherwise I'm going to be stuck.

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So back to the U Bolts. Got them off, but they're in bad bad shape. I went ahead and ordered some new one's from Bronco Graveyard and they should be here some time this week.

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then the driver side U Bolts.

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Next I took the bolts out of the front and rear of the leaf springs and removed them.

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Rear shackle

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Driver side springs out

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Passenger side Springs out.

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Time to remove the shackles up front

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Bumper brackets. These are just on the inside of the frame. Both bolts come off, and then the bumper hangs there by the studs. i was worried about this part, because I wasn't sure how they came off. I was thinking that I was going ot have to have help with this, but the studs being on the bumper brackets and not being from the frame nutted to the bumper made this pretty easy. Bolts off, then bumper off.

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Gone!

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This will give you a good behind the scenes view of the bumper and the brackets etc. I'd love to replace this while it's off, because of my accident a couple years ago, this one is bent up. But I don't think money will be available for it for a bit.

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Shackle off. Ready for the RSK to go on!

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It was pretty tight to get on there. I thought maybe something was wrong, and I'd gotten a bad one or something. Then I thought about the accident and wondered if maybe I bent the frame. Took a look at it and it didn't seem as though it was bent. So I grabbed a piece of those 4x4's and my persuasive little friend (mini sledge) and tapped it in place. It just needed help getting started.

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Once it was passed that point, it was pretty movable. Not too many taps at all.

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Got the Rear shackles ready to go, then remembered that the rear perch needed to be drilled out to accommodate the 3/4" bolt.

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So I got my drill, and my 3/4" bit which is just about shot.

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Shackle went on with no problems.

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Now that everything was pretty cleaned out, I was able to get to the Track Bar Bracket off.

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After having all my bolts in hand and labeled, I ran over to Lowes for some more Grade 8 hardware. WE're just about ready to start putting stuff back!!

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Got everything put together and ready to go on. I called it a day at this point. I need to grab a couple more bolts, the track bar drop bracket bolts I grabbed were too small. I need to grab those today, also some washers. The last thing I need to do is figure out the Pitman Arm situation. I'm just about ready to get this thing all put back together.

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After a little searching, it turns out that this is a common problem for the 350's. I found this via the truck forum I belong to. I'm going to see if anywhere around here rents them before I drop another $50 on this truck. Wifey is not all that happy. But I need it so I may have to get it. We'll see. I'm gonna go look at lunch today.

So tonight, I'm gonna start getting it put back together. More pics tomorrow!

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Thanks.

I went out at lunch and talked to the guys who did my steering box last year. they said they used a tool that looks like a fork with only two tines. So I went to another place in town that sells alot of tools, and picked one up.

I'm about to head home now and get at it!

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So I went around and was looking for a tool that would get the pitman arm off. I went back to 4wheelparts, who did my steering box, and asked them what they used. They said a large fork with 2 tines. That's not what I was expecting, but after asking if I could rent it from them, they said no. I decided to go looking. I found this beauty. So, let's just see if it will work!

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After a little persuasion with my little sledge friend, she came jumping off. Very happy at this point!

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Little comparison between the old and new.

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After some lube and love, the new one is on and ready to go.

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Track bar drop bracket and new bolts.

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It's new home.

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Some loctite blue, and the new bolts.

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Time for the springs to go on. Been ready for this for a while. Let's do it!

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Anyone see the problem here? Yeah Me either for a bit. The ford guys will. At least the one's who've done this before. LOL See, by the seat of my pants and learning as I go.

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See it yet?

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Yep even after I put loctite on it I found out.

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How bout now? See it?

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