5.5 inch Lift Kit, System 16 w/Bilstein Shocks, 66-77 Ford Bronco SKU: 0116BL5-5N

5.5 System 16 with Bilstein Shocks
These systems are designed with one shock per corner. They get you the basic items needed for great articulation off-road and are also well suited for street use. Includes front coils, 14 pc. front end bushing kit, long travel shock towers, rear 11 leaf pack springs, rear spring and shackle bushing kit, rear inboard shock hoop, U-bolts and 4 Extreme shocks with boots. Trac bar drop bracket is included with 3.5" to 5.5" systems. The 5.5" coil springs are available in black, blue, red, or yellow.

The System 16 is pictured with the optional Extreme Duty U-Bolt Kit instead of the stock diameter U-Bolt Kit.

Watch Your Caster Angle
The caster angle is defined as the number of degrees backward (positive) or forward (negative) of the tilt of the king pins (Dana 30) or ball joints (Dana 44) in relation to a vertical line through the center of the front end.

Caster correction on lifts over 3.5"
These are our observations from years of building early Broncos. We know there are always exceptions to the rules, but we have noticed about 90% of Broncos with wandering problems are the result of incorrect caster. The specification for Bronco caster is +4 to +9 . When the Bronco is lifted, the caster will move in the negative direction. Properly installed degreed C-bushings will move the caster back in the positive direction. Because of the caster issue about 50% of Broncos going to a 4.5" lift and most Broncos going to a 5.5" lift will need more caster correction than the standard 7 degree C-bushing. The additional correction can be addressed in a number of ways. These three are the most common.
1. Radius arm drop brackets: Only drawback with this method is the unavoidable loss of ground clearance.
2. Long radius arms: This is the most common method of correcting caster on taller lifts. Advantages include maintaining ground clearance, additional articulation off-road and improved handling.
3. Bending the stock radius arms: We know this is old school, but long before degreed C-bushings people were lifting Broncos and bending the stock arms to achieve good caster.

WE RECOMMEND upgrading the stock diameter U-bolt kit included in this system to our Extreme Duty U-Bolt Kit for only $38.

The force and stress placed on stock components by off-roading is enormous. We noticed that we were bending the stock u-bolt plates so we set out to build some that could take abuse. We also noticed the stock 1/2" u-bolts are pretty weak. It may seem kind of simple to take a piece of thick metal and drill some holes. We have seen those types of plates. The problem is the edge of a plate like this causes a ridged pressure point and can cause the spring to break at that point. We invested in tooling that routers the edge of our plates. In doing so we are able to keep a stock type edge which compliments the spring when it's articulating. These are a must have for trail runners and rock crawlers. Keep your rear axle and springs mounted solid!

You will need to add a drop pitman arm (see below) to keep the draglink and trac bar in alignment unless you already have one or are using the inside of the frame F100 2WD steering box conversion. Call us if you have any questions.

1966 Bronco owners please be aware you may need to add rear shock mounts to your kit.This kit is designed for shocks that use eye/eye mounts. Some 66 Bronco use stud/eye mounts on the rear. The shocks in this kit are not compatible with the stud/eye mount. Just add the Rear Shock Mounts (#1451) below to solve this issue.