Axle extensions

[Bob W]

That is one reason I am looking for an older, well maintained truck with relatively low mileage. The LWB F-150's from circa 1991-99 rode well and were capable of carrying and towing decent loads even with the smaller V8 engines. They were a mid-point in evolution between trucks that were more Spartan and rode like trucks to designs that were more car-like.

I had a '94 F150. Wife bought it when it had 100,000 miles. We kept it another 100,000 then sold it to a guy at work, who sold it to another guy at work, who's perhaps still driving it today.
It had the 5.0 V8 engine with a five-speed manual transmission. Good enough for highway travel out east, but it struggled to tow anything and was definitely not suitable for high elevation hills at interstate speed in Colorado and New Mexico. No heavy loads either.
The 4WD traction was good (31x10.5R15 tires, All Terrain TA), the interior was spacious and well-designed, captains seats with arm rests were amazingly comfortable, and the ride was very smooth.
Fuel economy was about the same as my newer and more powerful V10 F350.

 

[lazy otter]

I'm with all those that said go for spacers! I've always had lifted trucks and jeeps and run large tires and to do a proper lift is a pain and costly and then to re do gearing for tires is another pain. You can always try a taller but skinnier tire which will also give you better gas mileage.

 

[sodak]

The bad part about spacers is the uneven load they will place on your wheel bearings. I would inspect them often.

 

[lazy otter]

Box-stock works best for me. And I am looking for a small V8 longbed regular cab. Decent mileage and hauling/towing capability. Unfortunately the majority I am finding have the more popular sedan cabs and short beds. For my use, a F-350 just means hauling around a lot of unneeded weight all of the time. To each his own I suppose.

This F-350 is cool looking but not too practical.

You could always paint it red though.

I want it!

 

[Bob W]

The bad part about spacers is the uneven load they will place on your wheel bearings. I would inspect them often.

Since the offset is so far out of spec now, spacers should return the bearing load closer to the OEM setup.

 

[unit]

Except that you are stacking tolerances and the impending imbalance issues could result in undesired failures.