FOR 3.5" lift install

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Frankie is a good guy, glad you're liking his stuff even it it did take a while to sort out mix and match issues.

He custom did a stinger on his base bumper for me, charged me very little for a custom job (so little I almost felt guilty - almost) and wouldn't let me send him any money till I had the bumper in my hands and was happy with it.

It is different dealing with a small (small even compared to many 80 series vendors) company where one guy is the driving force trying to get on his feet. Fast food nation, wants satisfaction NOW! I'm sure he's lost some buisness by taking the time to get stuff right, and by not having stuff on the shelf ready to ship at a moments notice - but it seems everyone who's actually dealt with him here (calling him up rather than hoping he'll have time to post here) - has had nothing but possitives to say about his products.

That said, he could use a little more work on his site, a little more explaination ect., though I'm not so hot on publishing spring rates - more along the lines of use x if you have 600lbs of armor Y if you have 300... I understand that he'd probably rather talk one on one, but socially, we've gotton away from it, if the information isn't readily available on the web, we go on to the next place it is easily accessable.
 
NorCalSam said:
I wanted to let all that are interested know in all farness to Frankie and Frankies Off-Road. I am not the average or typical 80 owner with the typical wants and needs.

F.O.R. has a 3” kit right now that Frankie feels is “dialed in” and people will love this kit. This is the highest quality and biggest band for you buck lift kit on the market today.

They are also selling a 3.5”+ version for those of you that have clearance (run tire chains etc.) concerns and or just want or need more height. This kit when combined with other parts from venders like Slee Off-Road and Landtank is a great choice too, if you have the money and patents to venture into “no mans land.”

Frankie is selling a concept of 35s tires, low center of gravity and higher quality parts ie shocks and springs. He should be commended not criticized for not providing parts that one might want that other good venders already sell such as castor plates, track bars and drive shafts. Its just good business, this way one can pick and chose what they want and when they get it. Plus it puts the highest quality spring and shock platform in there hands for less money and also he’s not producing products that others already have there for stealing bread from there table. Instead he helps these venders by recommending them to his clients.

IMHO anyone that wants a 3 to 4” lift and is not considering FOR is making a big mistake. It’s a great base system with quality parts. It has a good center of gravity. Good seat of the pants feel and the shock adapters open you up to a whole new word of better performing higher quality shocks. Not to mention the fact that his springs seem to have a higher tolerance or wider range of comfortable and performance in light to heavy trucks that other spring/shock combo simply don’t seem to have. 80 to 90% would love this kit I am a lot heavier then must so I’m pushing things a lot more than most. I want a custom setup that works for us.

I wrongfully selected his 4” front spring and thought that I could packer the rear 3.5” spring with OME packers I already had, Well as noted this didn’t work witch has left me with a level stance to start with. With the amount of weight we carry there is no way a level stance will work for us we need something like a 1/2 “ to a 1” of rake. To fix this we will most likely be going down in the front about ¼ and Frankie is working on fabing some spacers that will work with his springs they will most likely be about ½ or more. Also I will be testing other shocks because I feel that even though the ride is far superior to what I had before I am thinking that just a little stiffer shock or the ability to adjust the shock would be perfect for my application. Frankie is currently testing other shocks for this.

I have said that the FOR kit is night and day to the OME setup we had. This is my honest impression and I can tell you this because I have had both on the same rig. This doesn’t seem to set well with some people that have OME kits or springs on there rig and like it. To that I can only say, I’m sure you do. I too liked my OME kit at first too. It was much better then my 10 year wore out stock stuff and I thought it was great because I had never tried anything better.

:cheers:
Sam
Click to expand...


Nice sales pitch.
 
Walking Eagle said:
glad you're liking his stuff even it it did take a while to sort out mix and match issues.
Click to expand...

I think as time marches on more and more people need to prepare themselves for some of what Sam experienced. Hopefully not the bad new parts but things like worn rear shafts and as you pointed out mix and matching different suspension parts.

All that I can do as well as other, is claim that my part works on a stock vehicle. And as Sam has seen it doesn't play nice with HD tie rods. Not that this was unsurmountable but it was unexpected and frustrating I'm sure..


as an FYI, nobody should expect me to fly out and look at their vibration problems if they buy my plates. The planets just happen to align in Sam's favor and I was able to stop by on the company's dime.
 
I'd seen Frankie's lift in person, wheeled behind him as he flowed through the trails and I'd posted so many positive things about it. It was like seeing the lady that you see every day, but watching her move through the house like you've never seen before. My only problem was that I had never ridden his lift, only watched his 80 traverse obstacles that I was flopping back and forth on.
It was time to put my money where my mouth was... I bought the springs... right before the Cottonland Southern Cruiser Crawl.
I regretfully got to say something..... I should've bought these things months ago! I personally don't care how they are doing it, but it has made my road manners more stable and my trail manners even more stable. When I drove up the RTI ramp and my spotter said "you're done, no more droop left" I was thinking... "I can't be yet, I'm not tippy". It's friggin' awesome.
We installed the springs with my truck loaded down with my camping gear 3 days worth, 2 tents, easy up, duffle bags, pelican1600 case full of tools, rear cargo shelf.... it was level. When I unloaded at camp... level. I'm guesstimating about 400lbs worth of crap and I doubt I'll ever carry much more than that in the rear. Mind you, when I wheel here in the SouthEast, I leave all my crap at camp.
I sheepishly tell you that I only switched the springs. But am saving the dough to get the rest as soon as I can. Frankie let me drive his rig that had the entire lift.... WOW.

I echo the words.... Anyone considering lifting their 80 and not considering Frankie and his work is denying themselves of the best.
 
Land Speeder said:
I'd seen Frankie's lift in person, wheeled behind him as he flowed through the trails and I'd posted so many positive things about it. It was like seeing the lady that you see every day, but watching her move through the house like you've never seen before. My only problem was that I had never ridden his lift, only watched his 80 traverse obstacles that I was flopping back and forth on.
It was time to put my money where my mouth was... I bought the springs... right before the Cottonland Southern Cruiser Crawl.
I regretfully got to say something..... I should've bought these things months ago! I personally don't care how they are doing it, but it has made my road manners more stable and my trail manners even more stable. When I drove up the RTI ramp and my spotter said "you're done, no more droop left" I was thinking... "I can't be yet, I'm not tippy". It's friggin' awesome.
We installed the springs with my truck loaded down with my camping gear 3 days worth, 2 tents, easy up, duffle bags, pelican1600 case full of tools, rear cargo shelf.... it was level. When I unloaded at camp... level. I'm guesstimating about 400lbs worth of crap and I doubt I'll ever carry much more than that in the rear. Mind you, when I wheel here in the SouthEast, I leave all my crap at camp.
I sheepishly tell you that I only switched the springs. But am saving the dough to get the rest as soon as I can. Frankie let me drive his rig that had the entire lift.... WOW.

I echo the words.... Anyone considering lifting their 80 and not considering Frankie and his work is denying themselves of the best.
Click to expand...

:cool: I'm glad you like them...For a second there I thought you were going to say they suck!
:cheers:
 
landtank said:
as an FYI, nobody should expect me to fly out and look at their vibration problems if they buy my plates. The planets just happen to align in Sam's favor and I was able to stop by on the company's dime.
Click to expand...

well I know one sale you just lost....................:flipoff2:

I thought that was included.:doh:
 
landtank said:
as an FYI, nobody should expect me to fly out and look at their vibration problems if they buy my plates. The planets just happen to align in Sam's favor and I was able to stop by on the company's dime.
Click to expand...

What? you cheep bastard. worred about the bottom line already?:lol::beer:
 
:eek::lol:


Skrew those RED bastards!

American Made Plates
 
Update washboard road high speed test

Just a quick update for those of you that care on our new suspension from Frankie’s off-road. Frankie sent me a set of 5/8 spacers for the rear that was going to be temporary but I am really impressed with the ride and look. They helped much more then I thought they would. We are now setting at a 4” lift with a very slight front end rake. We loaded the truck up and tested it out on roads in Death Valley at high speed and it did great. It just felt so much better then it did when I was there last spring and we had much more weight this time. The bigger tires and better quality suspension components really shinned. I don’t see how we could or would want to put much more weight then we had in there and it handled it very well. We are expecting another kid so we will be getting or building a trailer so day and that will only help us with weight in the truck. I am more convinced then ever that its not the springs that need tuning it’s the shocks. Now that I have a little front rake instead of a little rear rake to start, the springs look and feel good its that the valving in the shock that should be stiffer for the weight and more importantly the weight up top that we carry on the truck. Now I know that these springs were designed for lighter valving and all but we are setting 5/8 tall and have more weight too so, I am thinking that the shock is what I need to change to make it perfect for me. I want to slow down the rate that things are moving around. I think that the fronts are 275/73 and the rears are a few percent stiffer.

I talked to Frankie and gave him my feed back on this. He said he would look at some options and get back to me. I am thinking that I need 10-15% increase in the front and like 50% in the rear but what do I know. I also think that it would be ideal if I also have adjustable shocks in the rear.

Also sunroofs SUCK! No one has spent more time and money then us trying to stop the sunroof from leaking and it still leaks! And another thing, who ever came up with the idea to put carpet in car should be taken out and shot.:bang:

One more thing, why did they stop putting gutters on cars and truck like the cruiser has. Every time I open the Tundra or the Dodge I get snow all over the seats and me head!!! That guy should be shot too.

:cheers:
 
Thanks Jack I would love to spend more time exploring Nevada.
 
Hmm, after wifey and my 6 weeks old complain about the ride of my 97 OME lifted truck.....I am seriously considering the FOR setup now!!!
 
Im really considering the FOR stuff this summer when I do lift my truck. From what Ive read the FOR seems to be more in line with the ride and handling my FJ Cruiser had with the ICON lift. On those trucks the OME was stiff and mildly uncomfortable while the ICON was nice and plush no matter the terrain.
 
landtank said:
I used the truespeed device but if you don't run two different tire sizes just get the yellow box. Romer has a nice thread detailing the install and which one to order.
Click to expand...

Mark's 4wd unit sold by Slee is dip-switched like yellow box, will allow for two sets of tires like TruSpeed and is plug-and-play. No splicing into ECU wiring. Works quite well. FWIW.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom