I am considering adding some more lift to my truck, now that I finally made it 4 wheel drive.

It currently has a 3" body lift, 2" blocks under leaf springs in the rear, and 1.5" lift springs in the front end. The 4x4 conversion also gave me about an inch or so of lift. So about 5" of lift in the rear and about 5.5" in the front right now. Tires are 33x12.5x15 General Grabber AT2's on 15x10 Daytona wheels.

I am thinking about adding a 6" suspension lift to the truck. I would get rid of the rear 2" blocks, and obviously swap out the 1.5" lift springs in the front for the 6" coils. So I would really only end up about 4" higher than it already is now in the rear. And 4.5" higher than it is now in the front.

If I were to ditch the rear blocks and front coil springs and just put in a 4" suspension, I would only gain 2" in the rear, and 2.5" in the front. I know if I did that I would probably still want it bigger, so I might just opt for the 6".

Any ideas/suggestions/opinions?



Truck is getting all rust fixed and being painted either a satin or gloss black next summer. Tinting windows as well.

 

Im going 8 inches next summer, like the full deal: no blocks, lifting leaf springs, extended

radius arms, lenghten driveshaft, regearing, everything. I remember talking to a guy who

had a lifted truck and said you'll always want to go bigger, truer word have never been

spoken. I would go for it.

 

Yes, I totally agree with always wanting to go bigger. My truck basically just feels like a stock height 4x4 compared to the ride height of the newer trucks these days. I want it to really stand out that its lifted, and be like some of the other big trucks around here. 8" would be perfect for me, and I could remove the 3" body lift to make it a little safer lol. Otherwise I think I'm just going to throw in a 6". I was looking into extended radius arms vs the stock location drop brackets, seems to me like the extended rad arms are a lot better, and don't put as much stress on the front of the frame.

Nick are you going to make it 4wd as well? That would be awesome. Even if you are still going to keep it 2wd I think it would still look pretty good with that much lift though.

 

I would get a quality 6 inch suspension lift, run 35s and ditch the body lift. IMO they look tacky and cheap. Anything much bigger then 35s and those half ton axles are going to start giving you reliability issues.

When installing the drop brackets for the TTB arms make sure to reinforce the crossmember where they are bolted on. If you fail to do this you will crack the crossmember, even with mild mannered street driving.

 

Im thinking about it, I like the prerunner style it has now though

 

lol alignment shops will hate you with that TTB if you go bigger than 35s

 

Keep the body lift and so a SAS with Dana 60s.

Youll find that alot of guys who have lifted the TTB more then 4"s, they run into serious problems. Youll be fine for street driving, but once you find yourself on a trail your done for.

Stick with the body lift, build up some nice Dana's and throw them under, then you can really lift the truck properly.

just my .02¢

 

I would go no bigger than 35's since only have a 302, plus it's my daily driver lol.

No the alignment shop I go to would be glad to align it however long it takes since they are getting my money for it haha

I would love to do an SAS. I'm thinking a D44 SAS would be a lot easier than throwing a D60 under it though. Not sure how hard it would be to track down the D44 solid axle around here, they are few and far. Would probably have to get another donor truck. Yeah I agree lifting it would be so much easier, and I wouldn't have alignment issues either.

 

I'd hate to tell you to do an SAS, especially since I know you did the 4x4 conversion. You can do a 6" lift and leave the body lift, some people think it looks tacky, but since it's already there, why take it out?
I think you'd be happiest with a 6" lift with your TTB. You won't have to hunt down the straight axle, and you don't have to swap parts again. You'll also get to keep the softer ride of the TTB.

 

Yeah, and considering I literally rebuilt the entire Front TTB axle. This truck does not see a whole lot of off roading. Mainly just my daily driver for driving to work/college on a daily basis so it's mostly pavement.

I think I'm pretty set on a 6" lift along with the body lift. I would hate to take the body lift out and then put a 6" lift in because it really would not since much higher than it does right now... And I want bigger!

Given the cost of everything, I am thinking of just going with a lift that has the re-arched springs for the rear, I want to avoid the axle wrap created with large lift blocks. Not sure if I care to spend the extra on the extended radius arms, when I can do some welding to reinforce the crossmember.

 

Anything much bigger then 35s and those half ton axles are going to start giving you reliability issues.

 

Unless you plan to re-gear as well, stay away from 35's. Just advice from experience. I have a 351W with less than 30k miles on it and when it had them with 3.55 gears, it was utterly useless. Had no power, always changing gears and generally bogging down on any big hill. It sucked. The 33's are better but still not the best. And as far as throwing Dana 60's under it goes, don't bother. With all the work you did with your 4x4 conversion, you'll feel really dumb ripping it all out. And also, the Dana 60 out back will need modifying to work with your 92. No place for a VSS, and therefore no speedo input. Go with a 6" lift SYSTEM, that has all parts needed (brake lines, pitman arm ect.). Make sure its one with extended radius arms. Then get yourself some gears, at least 4.11, if not 4.56, front and rear and then 35's. No bigger unless you plan to tear that TTB up.

 

Id keep the body lift and add the 6 inch suspension lift so you would be add 9 inches of lift, and run at the smallest 35s, and regear front and back depending what gears your currently running. My friend has a 89 F150 with a 6 inch RC lift with blocks and looks good, though it barely sits higher than a 2012 Super duty with a leveling kit lol.

 

Whats the lift on your truck right now?

 

Along with fuel economy, I am going no larger than 35's

Really? Had trouble pushing 35's with a 351? My 302 does pretty good with the 33's on it now. It does like to search for gears a little though, especially on hills. So I usually just put it into regular drive going uphill. Overdrive on flat roads. Nothing beats having stock 235/75/15 tires, which is what my winter set is in the garage lol

I agree I don't really want to mess with the drivetrain since I did all that work this summer, and rebuilding it all.

Any suggestions for a lift kit? I can't seem to find any 6" kits that include both the extended radius arms and rear lift springs. I do NOT want blocks to lift the rear.

How hard to re-gear on your own? I can easily open up the differentials to gain access to the gears, I have just never messed with them before.

As I stated before, I really don't want to go any larger than 35's. I wonder what the truck would look like with the added 6" lift and just keeping the 33's. Since I just bought the current set brand new this summer. I could always sell them to upsize though. Lifted another 6" with 35's might look just right. Probably better than 33's. That will probably look a little small.

And I am considering a 351 swap in the future as well. I made this truck 4wd and lifted it, pretty sure I can handle an engine swap as well

I agree I don't really want to go through the work of removing the body lift, extensions, etc.

Wow, yeah new trucks these days sit pretty tall from the factory. They seem so big and wide too.

Nick has a 4" suspension lift, with 2" coil spacers in the front end. Giving him 6" front and 4" rear.