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Suspension Vs. Body Lift

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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 07:15 AM
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Suspension Vs. Body Lift

Hello all I'm not entirely new to the f150 scene but has been a good while since I owned one. I have a 95 f150 eddie bauer extended cab with the 5.8 in it. 3.55 gears in the rear but I would love to run a larger tire like a 33x12.5. My question being here is that all I hear around here are people praising suspension lifts but they really hate the body lifts. I also have an 89 ranger which has a 3" body lift on and never had a problem with. It seems all the ranger guys praise the body lifts but its the other way around with the f150 guys.

So whats the problem with a body lift and an f150? (am I missing something I just dont see) A decent suspension lift of 4" is gonna cost upwards of 500$ but a body lift is gonna cost upwards of 150$. So whats the pros and cons of each one? I don't plan to offroad the truck seriously just hunting fishing trips the usual I just wanna have it sittin higher with a nice set of 33's so any help is great to hear
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 08:35 AM
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mine is an f-350 and i went through a similar dilemma though; suspension or body?
suspensions pros: everything..... this is the "usable" lift of the two options actually gaining suspension "performance"

suspension cons: cost? lol there aren't any others i can bet

body lift pro's: it's cheap, stuff bigger tires under there (i ended up going this route, i am gonna hear about it, but lets just say there are too many threads that recommend against body lifts, now i know why)

body lift cons: a NIGHTMARE to put in ( in my opinion), not the body lift itself, but i uncovered some nasty **** along the way after deciding to go this route, glad i found what i did so i could fix it, but man body lifts will never go on another vehicle i own

i am happy with the END result, but it's getting there that really pissed me off, i just think in the end suspension lift is the way to go, i can bet you will get alot of responses saying the same thing: SAVE the extra bit of money and go suspension ( i wish i had)
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 08:41 AM
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Susispension lift or NOTHING, body lifts can be very dangerous essecially ina accident when the extra leverage on the bolts snap it and the chassis stops and you and the cab keep moving, it weakens the vehicals ability to protect you in a crash!!!

IN MY OPINION a 4" lift and 33's will look stupid the rear will fit 33's stock, the front can to but they will scrub and youll have to trim your bumper or space it forward, what i would do is get a simple leveling kit and lift the front end 2-3" and let it eat its cheaper than a 4" lift and will look 10x better
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 09:01 AM
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Thanks for the info guys. 77mud would you reccommend any good leveling kits for my f150? I never really researched a leveling kit in full so I'm not to sure what I'm getting into with one anybody have any good info on leveling kits?
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 09:02 AM
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its a 4x4 right?
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 09:08 AM
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yea its a 95 eddie bauer 4x4.
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 09:17 AM
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just a second on google and poped a 1.5" by rough country (new springs) and then i also poped a set of coil spacers by daystar both were like 130ish the daystar was 2"
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 09:22 AM
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yeah I saw the daystar looks like a decent kit. It says the truck must retain the factory shims to be realigned if only lifting 2". I know my truck has a extra shim on on side to align it right ow will it hurt any? I know my suspension is completely stock what came on the truck from factory so I don't think i should have problems?
 
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 09:30 AM
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i wouldnt thank so....
 
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Old Sep 13, 2011 | 07:25 AM
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Yeah, body lifts are a lousy way to lift a truck. A few other examples of why are the uglyness of the frame hanging down, having to relocate the bumpers, other stuff like the shifter and fan shroud etc have to be altered. I would never put a body lift on a truck. And if I got one that had a body lift, I'd remove it and toss it in the garbage.

I think that leveling the front with Superlift coils or F250 springs and running 32 11.50 tires would look great. By the way, you can run 32 11.50 with no lift on a 4wd. This is what I would do.

I would not go bigger than 4 inch lift (4 front / 2 rear) and 33 12.50.

I don't like the Daystar kit much at all. If its the one I think it is, it seems cheesy.

This is just an FYI. Years ago, I had a small lift on my truck. I took it all off and put all stock Ford parts back on and 31 10.50 tires. It rides and handles so much better this way.
 
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Old Sep 13, 2011 | 08:00 AM
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Wee say friends dotn let frined install body lift. Its a decent tool to top off a big truck, But to run solely body lift always looks really funny.
 
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