Matt9107

I've got a 2012 XLT 2wd but I hunt and off road a little. Mainly mud and some steeper hills. Is like pics of 2wd's leveled and lifted on 33s and 35s, and reviews on how it does off road. If it's not worth the leveling kit or lift kit I wanna know so I can just save the money and dress up a 4x4 later the way I want to. Thanks in advance

kchill93

I have 11' lariat 2WD. I don't hunt but go off pavement to get to trials to ride on and some fishing holes. Only time I was stuck was with the cooper highway tires and when we had a bad ice storm down here in Mississippi. 6 inches if snow wasn't even that bad.
I put on 275/60/20 (33") Toyo AT2s and they do pretty well as far as ride and some traction. You could go a little bigger and get more aggressive tread.
Also have the fox 2.0 suspension system (had a 1.5 AS level initially)
Now don't get me wrong, I am not gonna make it through crazy mud holes but that's not what my truck was bought for.










Before changing wheels

Panman03

I'm just curious. How much mud can a 2wd go through? Do you have a locker?

kchill93

i dont have a locker but In my experience as long as you have some momentum you can travel along pretty well. But the second you bog down youre kinda screwed. You can't crawl without the front tires. A little weight on the rear helps too. And always keep a tow strap handy

AricsFX

iTrader: (3)

Before this thread starts a ****storm, I wouldn't really try much mud with a 2wd. I did quite a bit of mud with my 2wd with 35 inch trail grapplers before eventually switching to a high speed desert set up, and it's no fun. Steering through mud with a 2wd is a toss up since you're really just pushing them through the mud. If you do a lot of off-roading in mud, wait for the 4wd

Matt9107

Well there's really no deep mud to really "push" the front tires through.. We mainly have a problem with slippery red clay which most 4x4s can't even get out of without getting pulled out with a truck or a winch. I've seen some good looking and mean 2wd's leveled and lifted.. I just wished a few of those guys would review how it does up like gravel and muddy hills as well as the mud like red clay.. I think I'm getting snow chains this year for the snow lol. But so far I'm thinking about just goin and buying an old f150 4x4.. Unless someone with a 2wd can really impress me

Wiggum

leveling and/or lifting your 2wd doesn't really make it any more capable than it was before it was leveled or lifted. The only thing you gain is a little ground clearance, and/or room for larger tires.

The gravel roads ... dirty/wet/slightly muddy roads, etc... they are all still the same as they were before ... your truck still has just as much power as it did before ...etc.

The biggest improvement you'll get, from a performance standpoint, is putting more aggressive rubber on the front and back tires. The better grip in back allows you to maintain traction better than before ... and the better grip up front can aid in helping your tires bite better rather than sliding as much in the sloppy conditions.

But again, to make the point ... the level/lift is NOT what is going to help you from a performance standpoint ... but it CAN make it look more aggressive.

Matt9107

This is not to start an argument, just to make my point with the level/lift.. Without at least the level, bigger tires should not even be put on the truck at least on the front in my opinion bc I can fit 275 70 18 mud tires without leveling it therefore adding maybe an additional 1 inch ground clearance as well, but then you have taken away that much suspension travel because then you didn't give it an extra inch or more to move within the fender well. I already had someone tell me that on a chevrolet, but I agree with this method. For every inch you go up in tire size, you'll need that extra inch in clearance for the tire as well. So for me it's not about just a look or stance. I don't wanna tear anything up and I want the truck to be practical for where all I go and what all I do. It's my work truck, family truck and everything else! But we love this f150!! Lol

WTF150

^nailed it.

Wiggum

you're way off on the idea of adding 1" of tire diameter taking away an inch of suspension travel. Right now, you front suspension will only move up/down a certain amount ... and the height of your tires is NOT even coming close to limiting that travel distance. You could put 33" tires on the front of your truck and be fine. You could even keep the exact same size tires, but change to an aggressive AT or even an MT tire and be fine.

Again, and I can't make this clear enough ... the BIGGER tires are not going to help you ... the LEVEL is not going to help you ...

What helps, is tires that are better suited for the sloppy conditions. That's it. Period. Paragraph. End of story.


IF you want "the look" ... which to me, it's obvious that you do ... then by all means, level the truck and add larger tires. Just remember, that's got nothing to do with the off-road performance issues that you're trying to say this thread is about.