Lifting my truck and need some experienced help.
 

I have a 1996 f250 4x4 xlt ext cab long bed with the 7.5l gas engine. I want to lift it 4-6" and put 33-35" tires on it. What is a better lift and tire size? Also when I do make the upgrade, what things will need to be changed(brakes,gears).

Cheapest would be a rough country 4 inch lift you can order extended break lines from them i know ypu need them with a 6 inch or higher.

Also they sell a sway bar drop for the front all together its pretty close to a grand.

As far as tires you can run 35s with tons of clearence. You shouldnt need to re gear with those if you dont wheel to often. Hope this helps anyone feel free to correct me on anything this is in my experience with my 96 f250

you should be able to clear 33s with no lift and you shouldnt need much to clear 35s. I would go with a 4" lift. i think 33s or 35s would look good with the 4"

Stock suspention 250s clear 35s but hit the front leafs.

33s on a 4 inch lift would look retarted in my opinion

I would go with a 4" inch life and 35's. It looks good and 4" is about the most before you have to start worrying about driveline angle and other lift-related problems.

The stock tires are about 32" so going to 33's won't change much. 35 won't really change it that much either but you will feel a little bit of power loss. I wouldn't worry about new gears until you want to go 38 or bigger. What gears are in it now?

A good lift kit will come with new front springs - NEVER use blocks on the front axle. If you can afford it, get new rear springs too. That, extended brake lines, a dropped pitman arm, and dropped sway bar mounts are about all you need.

Andym.. i priced the kit for my old truck and to ad the rear leaf instead of block its a couple hundred extra, however it does come with front leafs .

Thanks for the input. The gearing is stock and I like the 4" lift with 35" tires. Can those tires fit the stock rims or will those probably need to be upgraded. Also... If I want tk change the gearing to recoup the lost power from the tires what is the aprox cost and difficulty to install?

I would suggest new rims because youl probably want 10.50 or 12.50 in wide tires witch will rub at full turnvof the front wheels. Plus the skinny rim looks funny on a wide tire like that

Ok. That's what I was thinking. What is the difference between rough country, tuff country, or skyjacker...

from what ive heard, skyjacker will be the best out of those but ive also heard alot of good things about rough country. the rough country kits are usually the cheapest kits ive seen but thats probably the kit that im gonna use when i lift my f150. i think price is the main difference. maybe ride quality and parts quality also.

Here is the difference. 97 F250HD 5.8L 4x4. 35" tires, 16.5" x 9.5" rims, no lift (front bumper tips trimmed, add-a-leaf front suspension leveling):

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2aael5i.jpg


Same truck, with 4" Skyjacker Lift:

http://oi40.tinypic.com/301kavb.jpg

after looking at the pics, not sure if you can tell the difference, but no lift, the 35's filled the wheel-well too much. I can tell you, I debated 4" or 6" lift for about 2 years. I can not express how happy I am with the 4", from the stance of the truck, to all the potential extra $$ the 6" with any mods would have cost me.

That truck is really nice and looks 100 times better with the lift. The 35's look stuffed in there with no lift.

I lifted my 94 F250 with the 4" tuff country front springs, hinges, and drop pitman arm. The pack has fewer springs than you would hope for, but they're thick. This makes for a less than soft ride, but she handles pretty well on corners. I lifted the back with a simple shackle flip and some shim blocks to keep the pinion angle correct. The front lift ran me about a grand and the rear was $16 for some grade 8 bolts and nuts. It kept the truck at a pretty strong rake tho, so if you're looking for a level stance you might have to adjust the rear block size.

At any rate, the truck looked great with anything between 35s and 38s, but I lifted the front a little more when I put the Dana 60 in (something you should definitely consider, its worth the money if you do any kind of offroading). 38s and 37s rub the springs in sharp corners tho. Its on 37" military goodyears now and still looks great. I'd say do the 4" and find the 35s or 36s you like. You'll be glad you did.

i did the 4" skyjacker lift on my old truck came out nice could have run 35s they would have fit pretty nicely but as many people do with the 4" lift i wanted just a little more so i added 3" body so i could squeeze the military 37s. Worked out nicely ran that setup until those tires were done then ran some 35s i picked up til i sold it and the 35s actually looked good on it too

my suggestion would be make sure you dont want the 6" lift last thing you want is a grass is greener thought.

with the 4" lift you dont need to extend your brake lines or drive shaft, but your front sway bar will need extensions... or you can do as i did and delete it (before it comes up, i drove 50k miles working highway city, DC beltway and back roads loaded with rock and empty never had any issues from the body lift or deleted sway bar) for a 6" you may need to extend brake lines and front drive shaft not sure about rear shaft either to be honest.