Before You Buy: F150 Exhaust Kits, Leveling Kits, and Tonneau Covers

We here at Stage 3 pride ourselves on being more than just a place to buy aftermarket parts for your Ford. We strive to help inform your shopping experience by providing real-world accounts of our experiences with the parts we sell. That's why lately we've been putting together videos with recommendations for all sorts of performance parts and accessories. If you're in the market for a new F150 exhaust kit, leveling kit, or tonneau cover, let us help you find the right kit for your build. Hit the jump for videos with sound clips and recommendations for your next big upgrade!

Exhaust

In this video, we break down our various recommendations by sound level: mild, moderate and aggressive. Depending on your preference, we have a couple of different options per category that we've had great experiences with on our own project builds. Be sure to turn the sound up for sound clips from the different systems.

Mild:
If you're in the market for a mild exhaust system, you can expect a distinctive exhaust note that's different from factory but without excessive interior drone. These kits are great if you just want a little something different, but nothing too crazy. Here are our recommendations for exhaust kits with a mild sound level:

• 2015-2018 F150 Borla Touring Cat-Back Exhaust System
• 2015-2018 F150 2.7L EcoBoost Magnaflow Single-Exit Cat-Back Exhaust System

Moderate
An exhaust system with a moderate exhaust note will be loud enough to turn some heads, but not so loud that you won't be able to have a conversation while you're driving. Here are our recommendations for exhaust kits with a moderate sound level:

• 2015-2018 F150 EcoBoost MBRP 3" Cat-Back Exhaust Systems
• 2011-2018 F150 Solo Mach-X Dual Side Exit Exhaust Systems

Aggressive:
If you really aren't concerned about interior drone and just want the loudest, most aggressive exhaust tone around, you'll want to pick up one of our exhaust systems with an aggressive tone. Here are our top picks:

• 2015-2018 F150 5.0L & EcoBoost MBRP Pre-Axle Dual Exit Exhaust Kit
• 2011-2018 F150 MBRP 4" Single-Exit Exhaust Systems

Leveling Kits

Leveling kits are extremely popular first upgrades for those looking to squeeze on larger wheels and tires. Depending on what you're looking for, a leveling kit can run you anywhere from $90 to upwards of $2000, so it's important to know what you're looking for before committing to a purchase. We split up our selection of F150 leveling kits by type: spacers, leveling struts and coilovers.

Spacer Leveling Kits
A spacer leveling kit is generally your most basic, affordable option. These simple yet dependable kits come with spacers or pucks that install on top of your factory coilovers to increase ride height. These kits won't do any favors for your ride quality or off-road performance, but they are the easiest way to make room for those big off-road tires you have on your list. We recommend Auto Spring's 2.5" Front Leveling Kit, which we installed on our 2015 Race Red F150 Project Truck with great success.

Leveled Strut Kits
A leveled strut kit is a good middle ground between a spacer kit and a coilover kit. Unlike a spacer leveling kit, a leveled strut kit will actually work to improve suspension performance while maintaining a comfortable street ride. These kits replace at least part of your factory coilover assembly, improving rebound, articulation, and response. We recommend Bilstein's 5100 Adjustable Leveling Front Shocks or Eibach's Complete Pro-Truck Sport Shock & Strut Kit.

Coilover Leveling Kits
Coilovers are the crown jewels of leveling kits. They're similar to leveling struts but include the entire aftermarket shock and spring already assembled. With a coilover leveling kit, you can adjust the front leveling height which many leveling struts won't let you do. These kits are your best bet for off-road performance and should be considered if you plan on spending a lot of time off the pavement. We recommend Fox's 2.0 Front Adjustable Coilovers or ICON's Stage 1 0-2.5" Suspension System, which includes rear shocks as well as front coilovers.

Tonneau Covers

Tonneau covers are yet another essential upgrade extremely popular with new truck owners. Any one of our high-quality tonneau covers will keep the contents of your bed secure and out of harm's way. Tonneau covers can also add a sleek, low-profile look to your truck and even boost fuel mileage by improving aerodynamics. The main types of tonneaus, from least to most expensive, are roll-up, folding and retractable. Here are some of our recommendations:

Roll-Up
Roll-Up tonneau covers are generally affordable and easy to operate. Those are the two biggest selling points, while drawbacks include less-than-stellar weather protection and security. While a light sprinkle won't get through, you probably don't want any precious electronics in your bed during a storm with only a roll-up tonneau protecting them. As far as security, well you can only imagine what a determined thief could do to the soft vinyl protecting your bed. If you aren't storing anything particularly valuable in your bed when you aren't around, then a roll-up tonneau might be for you. We recommend the TruXedo Deuce 2.

Folding If you aren't feeling the roll-up tonneau, a folding tonneau offers a sleeker, sturdier fit, vastly increased security and slightly better flexibility. Aluminum or fiber based folding tonneau covers are ridiculously tough and getting to your bed would require a whole lot more than it would with a roll-up tonneau. The biggest drawback to folding tonneaus is that they block your rear window when folded up, which can sometimes be a drag when you're working around your bed. Nonetheless, we love our folding tonneaus and highly recommend the BAKFlip G and the BAKFlip FiberMax.

Retractable
The retractable tonneau cover offers ease of use and convenience above all else. The tonneau slides out of a container and along the rails to fully protect your bed, sliding back into the container to open up the bed. Many of our retractable tonneau covers come with remotes to open and close the tonneau automatically. Some drawbacks include the container limiting bed space and the possibility that any one of the moving or electrical parts malfunctions. We recommend the Roll-N-Lock M-Series.

We hope we were able to help you narrow down your search for your build's next upgrade! Let us know in the comments if you've tried any of the parts we mentioned or have one of your own you think we should try!