It was pretty much a given that a basic 2.5" Lift Kit/Leveling System wasn't going to be enough to satisfy our hunger for massive trucks. Since bigger is always an option for us here at Stage 3 we managed to get our hands on an Icon 4.5" Lift kit for the F250 and then jumped up to an even bigger 7" lift! To balance out the additional size we went ahead and installed some 38" Nitto Trail Grappler Tires. Now this truck is big. Really big.
Icon's 4.5" Lift Kit added a noticeable difference in ride height and allowed for easy fitment of our 20x12" Fuel Maverick Wheels and 35" Mickey Thompson Tires (Read more about those here) without being too overbearing, ostentatious, or difficult to live with. The system comes with high-quality components including ICONs 2.0 Aluminum Series front and rear shocks that provide excellent levels of ride quality along with greatly improved suspension performance. F250-F350 6.7L 4WD ICON 4.5" Stage 1 Lift Kit
Our Project Ice Box Build was already looking pretty big on its 4.5" Lift and 35" tires, but in typical Stage 3 fashion we just had to take this awesome Super Duty even bigger and give it a set of 38" tires to match an even more massive lift kit. The good news is that we were completely successful.
The first thing we needed to do was to take our ICON 4.5" Lift Kit that was already on the truck even higher. Conveniently, some of the components needed for an ICON Stage 2 7" Suspension Lift Kit were shared with our truck's 4.5" Lift Kit, so we grabbed what was needed to transform our current lift system into ICON's 7" Stage 2 Lift Kit and we were on our way. The 7" ICON 2.0 shocks, the new ICON 7" lift spring, and the rear leaf packs gave our truck an awesome, controlled ride on the street and can take an absolute beating off-road without breaking a sweat. In short we love the thing, especially for the amazing, massive stance it gives our Super Duty truck.
We aren't fans of the "roller skate" look that comes from a massive lift and relatively small tires. No to mention, our truck's current 35" Baja ATZs were looking a little worse for wear after enduring our owner's "spirited" driving style. To solve all our problems with one set of tires, we turned to Nitto and grabbed a set of their 38x13.50" Trail Grappler M/T's. These huge tires give us both the extra ground clearance and ground pressure that our truck desperately needed, while the aggressive Mud-Terrain tread pattern can rip its way of out just about any terrain without trouble. 38x13.50-inch Nitto Trail Grappler M/T Tires
While our 2014 Super Duty looks amazing with a 7" lift and 38" tires, that increased size and different suspension geometry means that "death wobble" and high-speed instability are an ever-present threat to our truck. As a preventative measure, we grabbed ICON's 2005-2015 Super Duty Dual Steering Stabilizer Bracket Kit and a pair of their ICON 2.0 Stabilizer Shocks. The entire system was surprisingly easy to install and improved our Super Duty's front end handling by making steering inputs much more predictable and solid.
