OK, I have been reading all the lifts\tires\brakes stuff I can find on this site. At the end I am just totally confused. There are about 5 different manufactures for lifts all just slightly different enough to make you look at them all. I also know that Fabtech is a popular option for my style truck.

So what I need help in is if anyone knows of a basic place to start. One person gave a really good explantion of suspensions lifts using Math. Since my job is analytical by nature I work best that way. But not only a beginner info; but also real technical. This will help me better understand the trade-offs so I can chose the correct one.

Thanks.

 

you need to give everyone a little bit o' information. what year and model your truck is, 2x4 or 4x4, what you plan on doing with it, how high you want to go, how much you want to spend, how big of tires you want to run etc etc etc....

chris

 

Basicly lift kits are more or less all desinged the same.
Some kits IMO are better desinged than iothers , but it seems to come down to personal prefference.
I have never heard bad things about Fabtech, Skyjacker and Super Lift are very good kits also.
I have had Taildiaster and Tough countries and were not happy with them due to poorly engineered brackets. Both the TM and TC kits were pre- Super Duty days, maybe their stuff has improved.
NTWonline.com is a good place to start, also Super Lift.com has a lot of info on their site.
Newer companies are also producing some nice kits for the SD's, I'm sure a couple guys will chime in with what they run and why they like them.

 

I thought I put my truck info down... oops.

2001 F250 4x4 SD Extended cab short box.

I do not want a real high lift between 2 - 6", 6" being the absolute max. Wanting around the 35" tires, thus pushing me into the 4" lift range.

I do not want to give up too much of my towing capacity. Ride comfort is nice; but it is a truck overall so a harsher ride does not bother me too much.

Need more?

 

like yeti said, definitely check out www.superlift.com and www.ntwonline.com. you will learn alot about your options. 4 inch suspension and 35s would look really nice and wouldn't be too expensive.

chris

 

I would suggest going with a 4" or 6" kit if you're gonna run 35" tires. A leveling kit alone won't give you much clearance and the tires look a little too big, just my opinion. Almost everyone I talked to said they had minor rubbing with a 4" kit and 35's. Some had to remove or trim their front air dam. I went with a 6" kit so I don't have to worry about any rubbing, especially if I take it off road. I ended up going with Skyjacker because I haven't heard anything bad about their superduty lifts. Some people say go with new rear springs and some people go with rear blocks. I went with blocks because I still wanted to retain my 350 payload capacity. If you go with new rear springs you may lose some payload cap. The rear blocks are also much cheaper (about $400 - $500 cheaper). I know a few people who run rear blocks that have never had any problems and are very happy with them. Unless you are doing some serious off-roading or racing then the blocks should be fine. If you go above 6" lift though, then you need to go with rear springs, because stacking blocks too high is no good. When you stack blocks too high you may experience axle wrap (axle twists and flexes under hard acceleration). Also, you want to get a drop pitman arm if you lift the truck 4" or higher. THis corrects the steering geometry for the increased ride height. Also, here is another thing you may want to consider. Half-way through the 2002 model year Ford went from using a 1" track bar to a 3/4" track bar. This thinner track bar is prone to twisting and possible bending. I bought a Skyjacker adjustable track bar with my lift kit that will replace the stock one. The new one is 2" thick! Plus, being that it is adjustable, it should be easier to line it up with the mounting brackets during installation. Some people told me that getting the stock track bar to line back up was one of the more difficult and time consuming parts of the installation. Anyways, I'm hoping to install my lift next weekend so I'll let you know how the install goes.



2002 F-350 Crew Cab Lariat Short Bed 4x4, V10, 4:30 LS, Black w/ Med. Parchment Leather, Off-Road Pkg, Snow Plow Prep pkg, Heated Captain's Chairs, Towing Pkg, Privacy Glass, Rear Sliding Window, Power Telescopic Trailer Tow Mirrors, Auto Shift-On-The-Fly, Fog Lamps

Mods: Westin Nerf Bars, Front Side Windows Tinted, Bed-Liner, Tonneau Bed Cover, 16x10 Mickey Thompson Classic II Rims (not installed yet)

Future Mods: 6" Skyjacker Suspension Lift & 315/75 R16 BFG Mud-Terrains (coming soon), 1" Track Bar...