[Atlantic Built]

Here's my 22 XLT. The suspension is something I kind of came up with on my own as soon as I got the truck and took some measurements. (June 2022) Still on full length stock springs all around.

So far I can't get enough of this truck. For an everyday vehicle, they are pretty hard to beat!

I know lowered trucks aren't everyone's cup of tea. But I figured with the whole "low center of gravity" and 50/50 weight distribution thing, seemed like the right thing to do, sort of as a tribute to the sport truck we all once knew.

 

[Cooper]

How did you keep the stock springs and drop it that far?

 

[Pdr1966]

do you have any other pictures - that picture looks too good to be real.

 

[Atlantic Built]

How did you keep the stock springs and drop it that far?

I used a belltech drop shock in the front, and the rear, had to modify the rears a bit to get it down to that height though.

 

[Atlantic Built]

do you have any other pictures - that picture looks too good to be real.

I'll do ya one better! All info on what I used and how I tested things in the video below!

 

[RDale]

I'll do ya one better! All info on what I used and how I tested things in the video below!

Very impressive stuff @Atlantic Built! Congrats, it looks really good! How does the truck feel to drive now that it's lowered?

 

[Flash]

That looks really good. How did you keep the rear wheel centered in the wheel well? My understanding from an earlier leveling video was that the control arms in the rear would shift the position of the wheel forward or back depending on the lift/lower motion.

I personally would love to be able to lower the rear to that of the front to level it down vs. up but thought this would require new control arms. Let me/us know!

 

[Atlantic Built]

Very impressive stuff @Atlantic Built! Congrats, it looks really good! How does the truck feel to drive now that it's lowered?

Thanks so much!
The truck drove really well lowered! Its actually back up to stock, with a 2.5" level on 33s for winter right now 🤣

Best way I could describe it, would be to say it drove like a heavy sports car. Handled great, only thing was the alignment in the rear still needs to get sorted a bit. Will tackle that in the spring for sure!

 

[Atlantic Built]

That looks really good. How did you keep the rear wheel centered in the wheel well? My understanding from an earlier leveling video was that the control arms in the rear would shift the position of the wheel forward or back depending on the lift/lower motion.

I personally would love to be able to lower the rear to that of the front to level it down vs. up but thought this would require new control arms. Let me/us know!

So, I'm certain I've seen that same video, I think it was TCcustoms leveled lightning on YouTube they talked about it? I'm sure the wheel does move slightly forward in the arch, but it's marginal.

I just kept thinking about any of the older VWs with the solid rear beam suspension. 80s-2005 or so, they all have the same "swing" type movement of the control arm, and no one really notices that the wheel will come forward in the arch. Honestly I just figured I'd try it, and see what happened. Lol. If you just do the rear strut I used without modifying it, it will get the rear level with the front, but you'll end up with about 1 degree of negative camber. A Few people have done it.

 

[Ragnus]

Did it affect your range much?

 

[Strangatang]

sweet! ive been following your build on youtube. nice to see your truck here as well. ill be going down the lowered path soon enough, but i dont have any welding skills to pull off the same that you did. saw a few others have success with some different shocks so ill be trying that in summer. Hoping alignment can be brought back in line....

 

[Atlantic Built]

sweet! ive been following your build on youtube. nice to see your truck here as well. ill be going down the lowered path soon enough, but i dont have any welding skills to pull off the same that you did. saw a few others have success with some different shocks so ill be trying that in summer. Hoping alignment can be brought back in line....

Awesome! Thank you!! Yeah the alignment thing is definitely a buzzkill. ,10k km on one set of tires isn't exactly ideal 🤦‍♂️ have a few ideas for spring to try and get this thing all corrected! Ive been wondering about trying a 09-14 f150 FRONT lowering spring in the rear instead of modifying the shock. My only thought was the spring might react quite a bit different as far as towing/payload side of things goes. Empty I bet the truck would still drive fantastic.