Full Traction Suspension - Super Duty

Full Traction Front Coilover Kit Super Duty Super Duty Truck

Full Traction Front Coilover Kit Super Duty Suspension

There has really never been a love/hate relationship at OFF-ROAD magazine like the one between the staff and our Super Duty, the STD (the Super Turd Diesel).

It's a first generation 6.0L truck that has seen enough problems to be lemon-lawed, but we look at every one of those problems as opportunities to learn more and get some cool articles. Of course, we've had to basically replace or rebuild almost every component on this truck, but we're really starting to get somewhere.

If you've been a loyal reader over the better part of the last decade, you might remember how many tires, wheels, seats, tuners, gears, turbochargers, driveshafts, bumpers, and suspensions have been on this truck. In all that time, there have been a few things pulled off this truck that we would like to have seen stay on. One in particular happened to be the Full Traction coilover conversion and King shocks that were put on this truck back in 2006. The kit was ideal for the way this truck is used, and after many years and many kits, we've (again) gotten a Full Traction kit to outfit our Super Duty and get it closer to our goal of a finished and superior Super Duty that would make any 2010 truck owner jealous.

1. The Full Traction front coilover and four-link conversion is made for '99-to-'04 Super Dutys and comes with everything you see here. You can order King coilovers directly through Full Traction or you can supply your own with the suspension. If you're not ordering your King shocks through Full Traction, then remember to order a single rate, 500-pound-per-inch coil on top of the coilovers. You can use either a 2.5 or a 3.0 coilover with this suspension, with either an 8-inch-stroke or 10-inch-stroke coilover shock, depending if you want 6 or 8 inches of lift on the front of your Super Duty.
1. The Full Traction front coilover and four-link conversion is made for '99-to-'04 Super
2. We installed our Full Traction suspension at South Bay Truck & 4x4 in Hawthorne, California, where they work on lots of drivetrains and suspensions. Frank Gilliland was able to help us install the complete suspension in just under a day. We started the install by lifting the truck up, removing stock shock brackets, and installing the coilover buckets on the frame. All holes necessary to bolt up the buckets are already in the frame.
2. We installed our Full Traction suspension at South Bay Truck & 4x4 in Hawthorne, Califo
3. The link and coilover axle bracket bolts in place of the leaf springs on the front axle. To get them to fit correctly, you'll need to remove the back part of the U-bolt plate on the passenger side of the truck. After the plate is cut, you can use the newly supplied hardware to bolt the bracket in place.
3. The link and coilover axle bracket bolts in place of the leaf springs on the front axle

4. The four-link frame brackets bolt directly in place on the frame using supplied holes. We highly suggest leaving all bolts loosely tightened until every one of them is in place-they are a very tight fit with all (bolts) installed.
4. The four-link frame brackets bolt directly in place on the frame using supplied holes.
5. The Full Traction four-link bars come with right-hand thread and left-hand thread rod ends so you can shorten or lengthen the bars on the truck without having to unbolt them from their brackets. This allows you to adjust the caster of the axle much more quickly.
5. The Full Traction four-link bars come with right-hand thread and left-hand thread rod e

6. The track bar bracket requires a couple holes to be drilled in the frame. The reinforcement bracket and frame stiffener bolts to the factory crossmember and gives additional support to the track bar bracket.
6. The track bar bracket requires a couple holes to be drilled in the frame. The reinforce
We also added a newly supplied pitman arm to keep the steering draglink and the track bar parallel with each other.
We also added a newly supplied pitman arm to keep the steering draglink and the track bar
7. One of the nicest features of the kit is a high-quality replacement sway bar made from a torsion bar and two bolt-on sway bar arms. Full Traction provides mounts to attach this sway bar to the frame.
7. One of the nicest features of the kit is a high-quality replacement sway bar made from

8. The bolt-on steel arms are already splined to fit the torsion bar, and come with rod end sway bar links to allow axle movement during suspension twisting.
8. The bolt-on steel arms are already splined to fit the torsion bar, and come with rod en
9. Once most of the Full Traction four-link kit was on the truck, we installed the King 2.5 coilover shocks with their 500-ppi coils already in place. We left the protective wrapping on the reservoirs until we were completely done with the suspension.
9. Once most of the Full Traction four-link kit was on the truck, we installed the King 2.
10. With everything else in place, we used two reservoir spacers per side. We placed the reservoirs as highly as we could on the shock hoops to keep them out of the way of the tires.
10. With everything else in place, we used two reservoir spacers per side. We placed the r

11. We ran into one big problem: we had cut off our original track bar mount to install a hydraulic assist steering kit a few months before trying this suspension out. D'oh! To help get us moving again, the crew at Link Motorsports, who are hooked up with South Bay Truck, kindly came over to see what could be done about building a new track bar bracket.
11. We ran into one big problem: we had cut off our original track bar mount to install a
12. Once measurements were made, the Link crew headed back over to their shop to cut the pieces for the bracket, and came back a couple hours later with something they could weld together for us. Thanks to Link, the track bracket on our axle was now out of the way of any steering components and stronger than the factory track bar bracket.
12. Once measurements were made, the Link crew headed back over to their shop to cut the p

13. To compliment the retrofitted four-link suspension we just installed, we also acquired two 12-inch-stroke smooth body piggyback shocks to keep the rear damping just as nicely down the dirt as the front does.
13. To compliment the retrofitted four-link suspension we just installed, we also acquired
14. The 2.5 King shocks did in fact fit into our stock shock locations, but with only a couple millimeters to spare in between the shock bodies and the frame rails. We spent some time grinding a little extra clearance from the frame where the shocks got close. If you're trying this same procedure, be careful not to take off too much of the frame.
14. The 2.5 King shocks did in fact fit into our stock shock locations, but with only a c

Driving on the New Suspension
The day after we finished the suspension, we took off on a long cross-country trip, giving us the ability to really live with this suspension for a couple weeks.

We've tried numerous suspensions on this particular truck, and none have performed like this Full Traction and King coilover package. The on-road ride was excellent, and the improved off-road bump damping was incredible. If we were looking for more extreme twist for a hardcore trail rig Super Duty, we think we'd use a lighter-rate sway bar, but for all-around use and high-speed driving, this sway bar works excellently.

Sources
King Shocks 12842 Joy Street Garden Grove CA 92840 714-530-8701 www.kingshocks.com	Link Motorsports 108 Sheldon Street El Segundo CA 90245 310-322-2555 http://www.linkmotorsports.com/
Full-Traction Suspension 6951 McDivitt Drive Bakersfield CA 93313 661-398-9585 www.full-traction.com	South Bay Truck And 4x4 n/a 310-219-0727 www.southbaytruckand4x4.com