ICON KIT LEVEL / LOWER IDEAL SETUP

All right friends, those of you who know me know that I am a active contributor and fully support the electric vehicle lifestyle, it's just the best way forward. The Ford Lightning is an amazing, capable, badass truck but it does need some work from the factory to reach its potential.

I've done a lot of modifications with the Ford lightning.

I started with the Belltech shocks which artificially compressed the rear springs 1 inch which will level the truck somewhat, but the ride was actually pretty rough and I didn't like it. I also didn't have faith at the shock would last very long. Add that to the unacceptable negative camber, and they had to go.

I installed the ICON full kit with camber plates and initially lowered it all the way but the ride was FAR too rough. I lifted it some more, still not great. I also had concerns that the detached shock reservoir was under too much pressure when lowered all the way down and would eventually fail or leak prematurely. After multiple visits to the shop, I lifted the front 2 inches and the rear 1 inch and now I think it's just about perfect. It is a good mix of stock suspension comfort and fully lowered looks, so it is firm but comfortable on roads, maintains good grip, and now can plow through the turns as if it's on rails.

Very comfortable on interstate travel and looks so much better… It 100% should've looked like this from the factory. Definitely confidence inspiring.

Attached are pictures of my suspension settings. Feel free to count threads and install similarly.... and I hope you have the same same happy result that I do.

NOTE: when you install the camber plates, you have to torque them to *at least 80 foot pounds* which is the stock caster setting. Even this will eventually slip loose, so the last time I had an alignment done I had them torque it to 110+ and it hasn't budged since then. If you don't tighten the bolt completely, it will eventually slip and ride up all the way to 3° of negative camber and your truck will look awful.

Standby for questions, let my trial and error be your success

Updated with tire information:

MICH DEFENDER PLATINUM LT265/60R20 LRE BSW ALL SEASON TIRE

Cheers

From fully lowered with the kit. It is gone through multiple changes to get it perfect so right now the front hub is 21 inches from the arch and the rear hub is 22 inches from the arch. Since I have different tires, that would be a better way to judge. You can also go by the shock body threads on the suspension set up.

MICH DEFENDER PLATINUM LT265/60R20 LRE BSW ALL SEASON TIRE

love them!!!

csukoh78 said:

View attachment 87144 View attachment 87145 View attachment 87146 View attachment 87147 View attachment 87148 View attachment 87150

All right friends, those of you who know me know that I am a active contributor and fully support the electric vehicle lifestyle, it's just the best way forward. The Ford Lightning is an amazing, capable, badass truck but it does need some work from the factory to reach its potential.

I've done a lot of modifications with the Ford lightning.

I started with the Belltech shocks which artificially compressed the rear springs 1 inch which will level the truck somewhat, but the ride was actually pretty rough and I didn't like it. I also didn't have faith at the shock would last very long. Add that to the unacceptable negative camber, and they had to go.

I installed the ICON full kit with camber plates and initially lowered it all the way but the ride was FAR too rough. I lifted it some more, still not great. I also had concerns that the detached shock reservoir was under too much pressure when lowered all the way down and would eventually fail or leak prematurely. After multiple visits to the shop, I lifted the front 2 inches and the rear 1 inch and now I think it's just about perfect. It is a good mix of stock suspension comfort and fully lowered looks, so it is firm but comfortable on roads, maintains good grip, and now can plow through the turns as if it's on rails.

Very comfortable on interstate travel and looks so much better… It 100% should've looked like this from the factory. Definitely confidence inspiring.

Attached are pictures of my suspension settings. Feel free to count threads and install similarly.... and I hope you have the same same happy result that I do.

NOTE: when you install the camber plates, you have to torque them to *at least 80 foot pounds* which is the stock caster setting. Even this will eventually slip loose, so the last time I had an alignment done I had them torque it to 110+ and it hasn't budged since then. If you don't tighten the bolt completely, it will eventually slip and ride up all the way to 3° of negative camber and your truck will look awful.

Standby for questions, let my trial and error be your success

Cheers

Click to expand...

Looks great!
I wish they would’ve included an adjustable suspension!

csukoh78 said:

View attachment 87144 View attachment 87145 View attachment 87146 View attachment 87147 View attachment 87148 View attachment 87150

All right friends, those of you who know me know that I am a active contributor and fully support the electric vehicle lifestyle, it's just the best way forward. The Ford Lightning is an amazing, capable, badass truck but it does need some work from the factory to reach its potential.

I've done a lot of modifications with the Ford lightning.

I started with the Belltech shocks which artificially compressed the rear springs 1 inch which will level the truck somewhat, but the ride was actually pretty rough and I didn't like it. I also didn't have faith at the shock would last very long. Add that to the unacceptable negative camber, and they had to go.

I installed the ICON full kit with camber plates and initially lowered it all the way but the ride was FAR too rough. I lifted it some more, still not great. I also had concerns that the detached shock reservoir was under too much pressure when lowered all the way down and would eventually fail or leak prematurely. After multiple visits to the shop, I lifted the front 2 inches and the rear 1 inch and now I think it's just about perfect. It is a good mix of stock suspension comfort and fully lowered looks, so it is firm but comfortable on roads, maintains good grip, and now can plow through the turns as if it's on rails.

Very comfortable on interstate travel and looks so much better… It 100% should've looked like this from the factory. Definitely confidence inspiring.

Attached are pictures of my suspension settings. Feel free to count threads and install similarly.... and I hope you have the same same happy result that I do.

NOTE: when you install the camber plates, you have to torque them to *at least 80 foot pounds* which is the stock caster setting. Even this will eventually slip loose, so the last time I had an alignment done I had them torque it to 110+ and it hasn't budged since then. If you don't tighten the bolt completely, it will eventually slip and ride up all the way to 3° of negative camber and your truck will look awful.

Standby for questions, let my trial and error be your success

Cheers

Click to expand...

Sweet ride!

Ford Motor Company said:

Sweet ride!

Click to expand...

Thanks Ford! I hope you're taking notes! Lower the truck down, put the lightning badge on the side, make it a little more aerodynamic, but thank you for making such an amazing vehicle. It truly does everything while being an absolute blast to drive while saving the planet.

Looks awesome this is how I would like mine to sit, I just can not stand the thought of loosing any ride comfort.

I dig the stance! Nice

Love the stance! Has the IIC made much difference in ride quality among the different height variations you’ve tried?

MrKing7 said:

Love the stance! Has the IIC made much difference in ride quality among the different height variations you’ve tried?

Click to expand...

Yeah I've done virtually every possible height combination and the way I have it set up now is the best. I made a post on what I think is the ideal combination of right quality and lower stance which is where the truck is now.

I wouldn't call the ride rough but it's more firm, going from a 1970s Cadillac to a Dodge charger.

I like the most is that it feels so much more planted in the corners. The Stocks suspension is so soft which is nice when you're going in a straight line but a 7000 pound truck going around a curve, to me, has unacceptable body lean.

I'm not trying to turn this into a BMW M3, but the combination of much much better looks and more secure footing in the corners and interstate on ramps to me makes it a winner.

I'm curious, when you were in the lower setup, what was the clearance on the bump stop at the frame? How much shock travel was there before the snubber? Also you indicated you were lowering by further compressing the spring as opposed to moving the spring location on the shock body? Trying to understand what was causing the harsher ride when the suspension pieces didnt change...