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2004-2007 Ford 150 Tuff Country - 4Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

2004-2007 Ford 150 Tuff Country - Pony To Prerunner

Jerrod Jones Former Editor, Off Road ford F150 Prerunner front View Photo 9259840

There are guys who just want to elevate their Fords, and then there are guys who want to wheel their Fords. And we understand that there is a market to be had with these nonwheeling, big-treaded, never-off-roaded gas guzzlers, so we can't blame companies for trying to make a little money getting a guy's truck in the air as cheaply as they can (providing the kit is safe and reliable). But then there are the kits addressed to guys like us, who, no matter how expensive or new the truck is, want to go wheelin'. We need performance suspensions, not lift kits. We don't want drop brackets and blocks; we want high clearance and usable suspension travel.

Tuff Country knew guys like us were out there and, with the help of JD Fabrication, brought out something that would truly have us singing its praises. The long-travel suspension kit for the '04-'07 Ford F-150s stands alone as a race-proven, bolt-on suspension. It yields 13 inches of travel and only increases ground clearance. Can your suspension system claim that?

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PhotosView Slideshow Here is the entire kit. It is only a kit for the front end, as rear possibilities are endless-from a custom four-link and coilover to a long-travel leaf spring. The kit does not include any coilover shocks, but by the time you read this, Tuff Country should have its own brand of coilover shocks you can option into the kit. No provisions are made for bumpstops either.

You'll need to remove all the front factory suspension parts, but leave the differential housing alone. Before you start bolting the new kit on, you'll have to cut a 5-inch hole into the factory Ford coil bucket on the frame. The Tuff Country kit comes with a template that bolts to the existing bolt holes in the coil bucket. You'll have to buy your own 5-inch hole saw, but the template has a guide hole predrilled in the middle of it so you know exactly where to drill the hole.

We went to JD Fabrication in Escondido, California, to watch an install of the Tuff Country kit. Jesse Nelson cut the hole in the factory coil bucket, had mounted up the upper coilover bracket, and was ready to put the coilover shock in place. The owner of this truck opted for King 2.5-inch coilover remote-reservoir shocks.

The new lower A-arms ride on urethane bushings and bolt directly in place of the factory A-arms without using any drop-down bracketry that will just lower our ground clearance. There are special fixed alignment cams (arrow) to take the place of the original alignment cams where the bolt goes through the frame.

New one-piece machined-billet upper A-arms take the place of the puny factory stuff. They utilize 3/4-inch rod ends at each pivot point, and accept a 1-inch rod end that will now be attached to the factory knuckle for pivoting instead of the factory ball joint.

The knuckle has to be modified in two places. First, the top has to be drilled to accept the 1-inch rod end instead of the factory ball joint. Second, the steering stops must be ground down. The new lower A-arms are much larger than the factory ones, and if the steering stops are not ground down, you will have a terrible turning radius.

Upgraded Porsche 930 CV shafts are an option you might like to swap onto the truck. They are obviously a bit more pricey than standard CVs, but are much stronger at high-degree angles, and will ensure that you do not munch your drivetrain with all your newfound travel.

Once the CV shaft is installed and the knuckle is cut and drilled, it'll be time to slip it onto the new A-arms.

As we mentioned earlier, a 1-inch rod end bolts to the upper part of the knuckle and pivots between two high-misalignment spacers bolted onto the billet upper A-arm.

The Tuff Country kit also addresses the steering, since the factory tie rods won't handle the improved amount of travel. A tie-rod extension goes on the end of the rack, but this is an optional rod-end steering upgrade that JD Fabrication sells.

A 1/2-inch hole can be drilled right in the side of the factory coil buckets to mount the limiting straps. The straps should be placed so that they go tight just before the suspension is fully drooped. This will prevent extraneous loads from being put on the coilover shocks.

The entire Tuff Country kit went together pretty flawlessly. The only cutting we had to do was the steering stops on the factory knuckle and the 5-inch hole we had to make at the top of the coil bucket. We got to ride in a truck equipped with this suspension before we actually shot the install, and the ride was unbelievable. Instead of concentrating on getting as much travel as possible, the Tuff Country kit concentrates on making usable travel, though we think 13 inches of travel is pretty darned respectable anyways.

2004-2007 Ford 150 Tuff Country - 4Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

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