I have a 94' F-150 shortbed 4x4 without the off road package and i currently am running 31x10.50 R15s with plenty of clearance. Unfortunately, there is not enough clearance for 33x12.50 R15s. I am on a tight budget and cannot afford a suspension lift. And i've heard some bad stories about body lifts. Are there any other options? Or can I even fit that size tire without a suspension lift? Any help/comments would be of great help.

 

Hate to tell you this, but you're either going to have to spring for a suspension lift or do with 31s. There is no cheap and safe way to lift a truck.

You will not be happy with the results of a body lift. I've never met anyone who has been

 

I just did the 2" pucks from Daystar for $95 bucks, and they are an easy self install.

However, it's not as cheap as it seems- you are still gonna have to spring $195 for an alignment (TTB's are time intensive, and you will need new 2 3/4* alignment cams). Of course, since my radius arm bushings were toast, I have to replace those before I can get a factory spec alignment, that's another $17 for the bushings + $10 for 7/16" grade 8 hardware (to install when you remove the factory driver side rivits)

So, 2" front done right will cost ya $290 if you are lucky and get a factory alignment without additional parts. I am into it $317 and hope I am done now.

Things are NEVER as cheap as they seem until you get through it. I am almost up to the cost of a 4" stage 1 lift!

 

Actually, now that I think about it, I sprung (no pun intended) $85 for 1.5" rear add a leafs and $110 for Edelbrock IAS shocks, so I am up to **gasp** $512.

$512 puts me in range of a complete 2-4" lift with shocks. That's depressing now that I just added it up.

I am still happy with my setup though, I kind of piece parted a good system I think.

As far as a body lift, guy at my local 4x4 shop has a 2" body lift and bushwhacker cut outs and can fully clear 33's on 8" rims.

I don't mind body lifts honestly. I have installed a TON of them on Fords and Chevy's and even though I try to avoid it, I have had them on 4 of my trucks. Not a single truck has ever had any reliability problems, and didn't look too bad. I always underestimated the clearance from a suspension lift, and had to do a body lift to get full clearance from tires (my average tire sizes were at least 37s up to 39s)

Well over a decade ago (gasp), My first truck was a 2wd 1980 F-150 that I put a 3" Performance Accesories body lift on. It cleared 33s on 8" wide rims with minor rubbing. Body lift was like $110 or so. I paid $15 to have the tranny linkage extension welded in, then I paid $60 to have a shop cut the front frame horns and weld them up 3" so there was no gap in the front bumper/grille, and I found that by flipping the rear bumper brackets, you could remove the bumper/tailgate gap afte the lift.

So, $110 + $60 + $15 = $185 total and you can fit 33s. It might require some very minor trimming to get full clearance. Never had a single problem with the truck, even after 50k plus miles. The lift lips are a nice touch, but you can get creative and find a Home Depot Solution for less then the $85 they want for em.

 

i just got a new rough country 2.5" complete suspension lift kit to put on my 1995 f-150. i got it on ebay and shipped to me for $355. This is about the cheapest i could find anywere. it includes springs, all 4 shocks, radias arm drop brackets, i beam drop brackets, rear axle blocks and all the hardware. im tying to lift my truck on a tight budget as well and this was the best way i thought to do it. According to the kit, i should be able to clear 33X12.50s with no problems. ive heard of people having problems with bumpers with body lift kits but ive never put one on. just thought you might consider a suspension lift over a body lift