Lift kits?

Anyone here put a lift kit on their truck? I am interested in a small kit to gain some clearance over some of the logging trails in Northern Ontario. I want to put something in place that will be solid as a rock. I don't want something that is going to create problems for myself.

Looking forward to the opinions of the participants in this group.

Blair

Reply to
Blair Chesterton
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Kinda depends on what year/type of truck you have now. Older trucks with leaf springs are cheap and simple to life, and are way durable. If you have a newer truck with Independant Front Suspension, things are more expensive, and not really that durable - they will take some punishment, but things will be flexing and going out of alignment on you.

I did lots of online research about a year and a half ago for my 96 Yukon. I found that there were lots of lift kits out there, and many of them are not built for abuse, but are more suitable for a good looking street truck. The Pro Comp lift kit seems to be sold everywhere, but on most forums they seem to get bad reviews, so my opinion is to avoid it. I ended up going with a Dick Cepek lift kit with the Stage II kit as well. It's really is beefy all the way around.

If I were looking for a kit today, I'd definitely look at some of the newer one piece front end lift kits - like the new Rancho and Superlift kits which have one piece cross members, and slightly bigger knuckles. I'd be hesitant to get a 6" kit or more that only has the taller knuckles - I just get the feeling that it puts the driveline/CV joints on too much of an angle.

If you really want durability, then do a straight axle conversion. If you really pound on your truck, you likely won't be happy with a lift kit and IFS. It'll be out of alignment more often than not. A straight live front axle will fix that, and they are not really that diffficult to do. At first they may be more expensive, but once you have leaf springs all the way around, getting bigger springs for a higher lift or a different spring rate is cheap.

I've spent a ton on my truck now, after the lift kit, re-gearing the rear/front ends, re-calibrating the speedo, new tires/rims, etc... I used the best of parts and I'm still not happy with it. The truck looks great, but to make it perform better in the rough, I'm going with a straight front axle conversion. I wish I would have taken that path in the beginning, I would have saved myself quite a few bucks.

Reply to
dgargan

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