Lowering Lightning height by a couple inches

[Kev12345]

I’m guessing you might gain some extra range with a lowered truck. Do some before and after range tests.

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[Henry Ford]

This

this is fact. The only difference in diameters is the wheel itself. This is true of almost all auto manufacturers. When my Tesla had a 19” or 21” wheel option, the outside tire diameter remained the same. That s that same for my Platinum Lightning vs the various other versions. My 22” wheels just have shorter sidewalls and bigger wheels, same diameter tires.

The Pro comes standard with 275/65 R18 tires; that is a 32.1" or 815mm diameter.

The Lariat comes standard with 275/60 R20. That is a 33 or 838mm diameter.

The Platinum comes standard with 275/75 R22. That is a 33.9" or 835mm.

The Platinum and Lariat are functionally the same but the Pro is significantly smaller.

 

[GurmukhHundal]

Are these what you have on the rear, no mods, plug and play?

Belltech

Yes 100% plug and play, even the compressor and controller are optional. You can always have a shrader valve somewhere to adjust pressures.

 

[GurmukhHundal]

Your black truck pictured is lowered how much?

The front is approx 3" and the rear is closer to 6.

 

[brewski]

The front is approx 3" and the rear is closer to 6.

Wow.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I've got belltech 25027 on the front and for the rear I've got "ride tech shockwave hq" air struts with a "wireless one" ride height control kit

How did you get the camber straightened out in the rear? I'm having a hell of a time getting mine acceptable.

 

[LightningMcqueen]

How did you get the camber straightened out in the rear? I'm having a hell of a time getting mine acceptable.

I am curious is it negative or positive camber?

 

[Mustang11s]

Just tried using the belltech 25001 to lower the rear of my Lightning 1-1.5”. Did not work. Looks like it would be great for 3”. The strut is about 3 inches shorter on the spring installed side. So less than 3” would increase spring tension and have reduced travel

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I am having a very unfortunate situation where my truck is 1/4"-3/8" too tall to fit in the parking garage of a family member we visit often. There is a fixed in place steel min height clearance bar that literally just scrapes the top of the two rear satellite antennas. I could probably go in and out of the garage but will severely scratch and damage the two antennas in the process. There is literally no other parking in the area so we've been forced to park far away and walk 5 blocks. I'm almost ready to say goodbye to the pristine condition of the antennas and park in the garage.

I'm actually surprised just how tall the truck is. There are several other large trucks that park in the garage including an older F-150 and three Jeeps. There are even a few larger SUVs with roof racks and they fit just fine.

I noticed how high the rear is relative to the front. The rake seems excessive and it makes loading the bed a pain. There is so much room in the wheel well it's crazy. So I'd love to drop just the rear 2"-3" if at all possible. I'm also fine lowering the front 2-3" as well but figured it's easier to just focus on the rear. I would love to get the entire truck to drop 2" as it would make it much easier to get in and out of. I'm not interested in getting the "low rider" look so limiting the drop to 2" for both front and rear or 3" for the rear only is the goal.

Can anyone recommend a relatively inexpensive and easy way to drop the height without voiding the truck's warranty? Thank you in advance.

Ask for forgiveness later…

 

[23lightdan]

Just tried using the belltech 25001 to lower the rear of my Lightning 1-1.5”. Did not work. Looks like it would be great for 3”. The strut is about 3 inches shorter on the spring installed side. So less than 3” would increase spring tension and have reduced travel

Hello, so did this end up working?

 

[Mustang11s]

Not for me. I only wanted a one inch drop.

 

[Strangatang]

Belltech makes a direct fit strut for a 2013 f150 that utilizes the factory spring and fits the rear of our lightnings for 1-3" drop. I used them on my lightning for a while and ride was same as stock. Recently switched to a different setup to get even lower though. As of yesterday swapped all the parts from the white truck to the black platinum.

This is gorgeous. How is the alignment/camber/tire wear?

 

[GurmukhHundal]

Tire wear has definitely been uneven for the rears. These were the rears after about 35,000kms. I've now switched to a 10ply tire that I should get a bit more life out of.

 

[Strangatang]

Tire wear has definitely been uneven for the rears. These were the rears after about 35,000kms. I've now switched to a 10ply tire that I should get a bit more life out of.

Got it. and is that mostly on the 3" drop or the 6" bagged drop? Im putting together my own now, proj just doing the 3" version

 

[GurmukhHundal]

With the 3" drop there was very little or no negative camber

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