White 1994 F-150 Sleeper Build

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Nice! Did you get the starter installed yet?

[nubreed71]

Yup, got the starter installed, it works bitchin! Thanks again!

[hobbyturnedobsession]

No problem! Glad to hear your not having to pound the starter in the morning. The truck is looking clean!

[nubreed71]

Haha, yeah, it's much better now.

Thanks! The truck is coming along nicely...but really needs to get in the dirt. I'm waiting on some 2 link bars, so I can then send a whole bunch of stuff off to powdercoat. Once I get all that stuff back (motor/trans mounts, battery box, shackles, 2 link bars) it should be ready to hit the dirt. Can't wait!

[nubreed71]

Got the 9100's on the front and the rear this weekend:





One thing I realized when installing the rear shocks is that the upper mounts really need to be up an inch or two higher to make sure that I'm getting as much up travel as possible. I guess it's time to find someone that can fabricate an upper shock mount.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Give Scott Strong at ssfab (baja scott) or mark keifer at southwest. They both have a bitchen setup.

[nubreed71]

I looked into this awhile back, and the bummer is that unlike the broncos, my truck doesn't have that step in the bed like the bronco does in the floor for the rear set, so a bronco specific rear shock mount won't fit my truck. I have a feeling I'll just have to have one made since I'm in the minority group that refuses to cut holes in the bed and run a bedcage.

[Rmc]

That's a great looking truck, clean.

[tcm glx]

How does the valving feel, at least on the street?......... Curious since you had Mirage corner weigh it.

[nubreed71]

So far so good. I need to take it to my secret strip mall speedbump course to really get a good comparison to the SAW's.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Oops i forgot you have an f150

[ChaseTruck754]

Yeah the F series have a much tighter space for the shock up there. Here is my solution.

I could only get an 8" shock to work without hanging the bottom shock mount way below the axle. This limited down travel a bit as I had to strap it before the shock would be the limiting factor.

If you're OK with running the shocks 4 or so inches below the axle a 10" stroke shock can fit. Watch it at bump though as the longer body of the 10" shock will get close to bottoming.

x 250.jpg (60.43 KiB) Viewed 1188 times

x 424.jpg (68.08 KiB) Viewed 1188 times

x 430.jpg (69.91 KiB) Viewed 1188 times

1-28-13 rear shock hoop painted.jpg (83.8 KiB) Viewed 1188 times

[ChaseTruck754]

Any fabricator can make something like this for you.

My setup is a 1.5" x .120 wall tube sleeved in a 1.75" x .120 wall tube. It's probably overkill but with the mounts for the thing outboard of the frame (which my frame is 3" narrower than yours!) I figured the extra weight was worth the security of not bending it.

The upper shock mount tabs can possibly rotated up just slightly more than mine too, but not much. Mine are set that way for clearance on the fitting for the resi hoses.

Here's a couple more pics on the sleeving.

x 423.jpg (98.28 KiB) Viewed 1187 times

x 427.jpg (69.85 KiB) Viewed 1187 times

x 426.jpg (91.64 KiB) Viewed 1187 times

x 425.jpg (85.21 KiB) Viewed 1187 times

[nubreed71]

Excellent...that's super helpful! Which brand of 8" shock did you end up running with that setup? I've got 9100 weld tops, so their compressed length is a good bit shorter than say a Fox or a King 10" shock. I'm hoping that, combined with getting the upper mount up as high as possible will make it doable with the stock lower shock mounts, but I guess once we cycle it that will be the true test.

[ChaseTruck754]

I've got King 2.5" smooth bodies. I had 10" stroke ones I started trying with and ended up trading for these.

The stock shock mounts should be totally doable with the weld tops.

[nubreed71]

Ahhh, yeah, that makes sense. The collapsed length for a 10" King smooth body is 18.375" vs 16.9" for my 9100 weld tops. My hope is that I can get these upper mounts fabbed, and leave the stock lower mounts alone. Then I can extend the bumps a little bit if need be. I just don't want to have to lose all my uptravel from ride height.

[nubreed71]

Btw...got any pics of the rest of the truck? I always love seeing other F1's with a mid travel/sleeper build.

[ChaseTruck754]

Here's a couple I posted in my thread. It's not a 150. Not sure it would classify as a sleeper either as it always turns heads. Although it is hiding many mods

[nubreed71]

Ahhh, ok....I didn't make the connection since I thought it was a newer style F150 I was looking at in the shock mount pics. Yeah, that thing is bitchin.

[ESHALLBETTER]

I thought it was a newer style F150

He didn't mean it Steve! Ahahaha! Steve hates anything that needs to get smogged.