So you want a cheap 2" lift???

[The_Dealer]

Ok, everyone yall remember the write up i did a while back about installing aal's? Well im doing a write up on dropping the coils buckets 1.5" for about 2.25" of lift. Its pretty simple to do, its just time consuming. The hardest part is figuring out how you are going to do it, but I did that part for u guys.

Aight so heres the part where i say do this at your own risk, and if u **** your rig up dont bitch at me. and use jackstands.

this write up also doubles as spring removal if u've never done it

Aight so this is the part where u have your rig jacked up and the tire and wheel off.

Heres some pics of my starting measurements, yours will vary. I already had about 2" worth of spacers so Im shooting for 4" with 2.5" pivot drops and camber bushings(ill show yall how to install those next week). The light was messing with me so i took a couple pics if u cant see it too well

If u cant read it its 33.5"

first thing u need to do is remove the shock by removing the upper nuts and bushings.

Next remove your coil spring upper retainer(if equipped, mine are just some small u bolts from lowes)

Then remove the sway bar nut and bolt. U dont have to remove the whole link or anything

Now remove the lower shock bolt and remove

For some reason my camera didnt save the next few pics, but ill post some up tomorrow when i do the passenger side.

Remove the lower spring retainer nut and washer with a 1 1/8" wrench. If u dont have one, u can use a pair of vice grips, thats the way i always do it.

Now twist the coil and pull it out of the upper ears.

Ok, you will see 3 rivets on the spring bucket, then theres a bolt at the front under the frame, and a rivet at the back under the frame. Remove the bolt and grind the rivet heads off. Be careful with the rear one its close to the brake line. Now after you have ground the heads off hit them with a punch and knock them out. the bottom rivet was in there pretty good, i think because it goes to the engine xmember as well, so i ended up drilling it out. i couldnt get enough room to hit it hard enough. heres the coil bucket removed

Now im gonna go ahead and warn you. the brake hard line is mounted to the coil bucket and it meets the hose. you dont have to remove the hose if u are careful. theres plenty of hard line to move the bucket out of the way as long as u remove it from the plastic clip on the frame.

So the way i did it was i took a 4ft section of 3/4" square tube and cut it the length of the bottom of the coil buckt. I cut 2 pieces and stacked them and clamped them to the bottom lip of the bucket, and drill my holes through them. Then i mounted the 2 pieces of 3/4" between the bottom of the frame and lip on the coil bucket. It acts as a spacer 1.5" spacer which should net about 2.25" of lift. I ran some bolts through the bottom of the bucket, 3/4" spacers, and frame and ran the bolts tight. Doing it this way puts the buckets in the stock location and makes sure it stays in the stock position(front to back) then i drilled holes through the bucket and framerails and run my bolts in, roughly the same places as stock.

Now i ran into a problem on the passenger side. the pivot drop goes on top of the bucket, but with the bolt out it gave me enough room to get the bucket out. so when i lower it what im going to do is notch the bottom 3/4" tube to clear the 1/4" lip from the pivot point. that way the bucket sits flat just like stock and isnt angled funny. Again not too hard to do, i just ran out of light so i stopped for the night. I will get some pics up tomorrow of how i actually mounted the buckets, and measurements of the finished product. It looks as if i got about 2.25" on the drivers side, and the passenger side is unfinished.

The good thing about this mod is u can get around 2" lift for the price of a grinding disk and some bolts. it also allows u to keep your shocks you are currently running. Going from the looks of it, i wouldnt drop them more then the 1.5" that i did because the bucket will want to cock out any further down, and u run out of room to drill thru to put the mounting bolts

enjoy and happy wrenching

 

[The_Dealer]

Ok so i just got finished wrenching on here and heres the rest as promised...


for the spacers that i put between the bottom of the frame and the coil buckets i just used 3/4" square tube that my light bar was made from

I cut them about the same length, stacked them and drilled them so i could run bolts thru the old rivet holes.

It doesnt have to be purdy you will never be able to see them anyways. now these spacers dont have to be too strong, you could even use washers. they are just to make sure the buckets sit flat when u drill your new holes, so both the sides are the same(so your rig wont be leaning. At first i was kinda skeptic, but bronco/f150 buckets only have 2 bolts in them and dont even have a bottom lip. i put 3 bolts in mine just like stock.

here is what i was talking about with the passenger side drop bracket. note how the bucket goes on top of the ear for the pivot bracket. it took me some time to figure out how i was going to do it.

so u remove the bolt and nut and the coil bucket slides out. i just took some washers and put them between the gap of the pivot bracket and the frame where the bucket was.(no pics of washers but heres the gap)

Now what i did was notch the coil bucket lip to clear the bracket and the bolt/nut

Well after i did that i realized that the i had to trim the hole off where the pivot bracket bolt went. no biggie, i put my 3/4" tube on the bracket, and just used the hole the bumpstop went. then i drilled my holes and put my new bolts in

Heres the dropped bucket mounted up

im a little paranoid when it comes to stuff that holds my rig up so i put red loctite on everything. and thats basically it.

heres the finished product

the finished measurement is 35 3/4" so i got exactly 2.25" by dropping them 1.5" im pretty happy with it, drives like it did before. besides my allignment being jacked up now. im putting camber bushings in next week, and putting shackles in the rear. after a little driveway toe change the camber is ok enough to drive for a few days