suspension lifts?

[Billy Toppless]

besides body lifts wuts the cheapest way to lift up my truck for 35's

with no fender triming

anyone know?

cuz this is the cheapest ive found a susp. lift so far and its still a little outta my budget

http://www.4wheelparts.com/PDT52839.aspx

can i do a one inch susp. lift with a 3in body lift and be alright to mud still?

 

[Broncobill78]

besides body lifts wuts the cheapest way to lift up my truck for 35'swith no fender triming

anyone know?

cuz this is the cheapest ive found a susp. lift so far and its still a little outta my budget

http://www.4wheelparts.com/PDT52839.aspx

can i do a one inch susp. lift with a 3in body lift and be alright to mud still?

There'd really be no point in doing a 1" suspension lift w/a 3" body lift. That's a LOT of work for a minimal gain. You'd be better off waiting a bit and doing the 4" susp lift if you're going to ***** around with the suspension. Unfortunately the TTB trucks just kinda **** ya with the cost of the lift. A solid axle truck runs maybe $400 for a 4" kit but it's a much *simpler* kit that doesn't have as many engineered parts (coils & blocks, that's about it)

You're going to face a choice here. You can run the body lift & that will give you most of the clearance you need (don't get airborne and you shouldn't crumple any sheetmetal) but that's ALL you'll get, the clearance. A suspension lift will not only give you the clearance to run the tires but it will ALSO give you more suspension travel which translates into a suspension that articulates better and provides more traction over more terrain.

Now maybe if you're looking at running 38's or 40's later on then you could look at this as a two-part installation where you're putting in the body lift now and add the suspension lift later. I KNOW that it's easy to get impatient to run the tires you want so I won't address *that* aspect, but *if* you can wait & save a bit I think you're generally better off to install the suspension lift instead of the body lift, but as I said, I know that the susp lifts are just a whole lot more $$$.

If 35's are your ultimate goal then you've got to decide what you want under the truck long-term. The body lift will help as far as the fact that it *doesn't* provide any increase in susp travel so you're less likely to wrinkle your fenders (and you can always install longer bumpstops to help with that) but on the other hand the susp lift might be a better base to build on as well as the fact that replacing 20yr old suspension parts isn't a bad idea anyways & you'll probably get a better ride out of the deal. There's a good chance you'll be replacing coils & leafs *anyways* in the upcoming years and the lift is a good way to get the tire clearance you want as well as rehabbing your entire suspension.

 

[Billy Toppless]

There'd really be no point in doing a 1" suspension lift w/a 3" body lift. That's a LOT of work for a minimal gain. You'd be better off waiting a bit and doing the 4" susp lift if you're going to ***** around with the suspension. Unfortunately the TTB trucks just kinda **** ya with the cost of the lift. A solid axle truck runs maybe $400 for a 4" kit but it's a much *simpler* kit that doesn't have as many engineered parts (coils & blocks, that's about it)
You're going to face a choice here. You can run the body lift & that will give you most of the clearance you need (don't get airborne and you shouldn't crumple any sheetmetal) but that's ALL you'll get, the clearance. A suspension lift will not only give you the clearance to run the tires but it will ALSO give you more suspension travel which translates into a suspension that articulates better and provides more traction over more terrain.

Now maybe if you're looking at running 38's or 40's later on then you could look at this as a two-part installation where you're putting in the body lift now and add the suspension lift later. I KNOW that it's easy to get impatient to run the tires you want so I won't address *that* aspect, but *if* you can wait & save a bit I think you're generally better off to install the suspension lift instead of the body lift, but as I said, I know that the susp lifts are just a whole lot more $$$.

If 35's are your ultimate goal then you've got to decide what you want under the truck long-term. The body lift will help as far as the fact that it *doesn't* provide any increase in susp travel so you're less likely to wrinkle your fenders (and you can always install longer bumpstops to help with that) but on the other hand the susp lift might be a better base to build on as well as the fact that replacing 20yr old suspension parts isn't a bad idea anyways & you'll probably get a better ride out of the deal. There's a good chance you'll be replacing coils & leafs *anyways* in the upcoming years and the lift is a good way to get the tire clearance you want as well as rehabbing your entire suspension.

alright thats sounds smart

maybe ill just save up and go with the suspention lift cuz i do i really only need about 8 hundread more bucks and that should cover the lift and the tires

i got like a grand saved up now

for the rear is it better to do add a leaf or do blocks?

i heard the add a leaf is a stiffer ride?

 

[Broncobill78]

alright thats sounds smartmaybe ill just save up and go with the suspention lift cuz i do i really only need about 8 hundread more bucks and that should cover the lift and the tires

i got like a grand saved up now

for the rear is it better to do add a leaf or do blocks?

i heard the add a leaf is a stiffer ride?

Once again it depends on the kit & manufacturer. The flat out best way to go is with a kit that includes a new rear spring pack. However, since that's also the most expensive option the next best thing will be an add-a-leaf. The last option will be the lift block. Lift blocks are cheap, but that's about the nicest thing I can say about them. You have to keep up on the torque for the spring U-bolts because of the lever action exerted by the block. By moving the spring pack away from the axle tube you create a lever-effect that gets magnified every time you go into forward or reverse and it tends to loosen the U-bolt nuts. Loctite helps but don't apply it until everything has been in place for a few months and the U-bolts have stretched as much as they're going to. Once everything has stretched, retouque it all down nice & tight then apply threadlocker to keep it that way but even then I've seen the lever action break the threadlock and loosen the nuts. Sometimes you almost have to go the the Loctite heavy duty red (the one that takes a torch to remove) to keep the damn things tight, but if you don't the nuts back off & you wind up rocking the block everytime you go into gear and it doesn't take very long to round off the spring pad and *now* you've got problems.

As far as the add-a-leaf giving you a stiffer ride, well, maybe. Depends on what kind of shape the spring pack is in to start with and you should also be able to pickup "softride" leafs that lift without stiffening the ride. I know you can get a softride spring pack and combined with softride coils you actually DO get a very nice ride out of it.

To me, that's one of the benefits of going with the susp lift. The newest Bronco out there is almost a dozen years old and it's a safe bet that most of the ones on the road today have worn suspensions. Replacing everything and upgrading all of the springs & bracketry really does improve the ride & road handling. I was amazed the first time I yanked the coils & leafs from my truck & replaced them with a SkyJacker softride kit. The improvement in how it *felt* was dramatic, the ride was a LOT better and it handled much better both on & off road. Coils & leafs don't last forever but most people don't give them a second thought and just keep replacing one set of shocks after another until they sell or junk the car/truck. After 10-15yrs most trucks can use a new set. It's also the time to go thru the whole suspension & replace all those dead rubber bushings & upgrade to poly bushings that will perform better & last a LOT longer. A lot of times it's worth doing a suspension lift just to get in there & replace all those bushings, you'd be amazed at what a difference THAT can make.

While I'm thinking about it, ck with one of the other guys who have recently installed suspension lifts & get their take on the whole thing. I think 2NDTOUR89 just installed one.

I dunno how you're fixed for tools & work area but if you need a hand or a place to work just let me know, glad to help out & you know I keep the cold ones handy.

 

[Justshootme84]

I agree with Broncobill78 110% and think his advice is excellent!!! The "cheapest" 4' susp lift kit runs about $450, while labor to install it will run on avg $500. Add $1000 for rims and 35" tires, alignment after the lift and it's hard to do it for less than $2500. If you like to do some offroad driving on weekends or hit the mud bog when it rains, you'll have a better experienced with the proper lift kit and tires. If you're not worried about trimming or cutting the fender openings, that's the cheapest way to fit taller tires. It can be done to look really clean if you take your time. I had a 6" Skyjacker lift kit on my 84 Bronco for a few years before doing the SAS, and have 3" cut out of the front fenders on my 78 Bronco trail rig.

LAStly, as for the rear axle consider a shackle flip vs new leafs or blocks. The stock set-up has the shackle above the leaf springs, which limits flex. By flipping the shackle below the leafs, it allows much more range of movement. You can use the Sky Mfg kit, or some stock spring hangers a I did on the 84 Bronco. JSM84

 

[noahsdad86]

check with either toughcountry or roughcountry one of them has a less exspensive suspension kit for the bronco. 4wheel parts is a nice store but very exspensive compared to just ordering stuff online from the manufacturer.

 

[4X4RedNeck]

Try this. I have had very good luck with this Rough Country lift. Very good brand.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product...0008403/c-10614

 

[Broncobill78]

Try this. I have had very good luck with this Rough Country lift. Very good brand.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product...0008403/c-10614

Good call. JC Whintey carries a lot of brand names but they take a lot of flak for the junk parts they carry. They usually have some of the BEST prices available. They're really be doing themselvs a favor if they stopped selling dingleballs & blue fuzzy fur to cover your dashboard, but in the meantime there are a lot of good bargains to be had thru them if you take the time to look.

 

[Billy Toppless]

Good call. JC Whintey carries a lot of brand names but they take a lot of flak for the junk parts they carry. They usually have some of the BEST prices available. They're really be doing themselvs a favor if they stopped selling dingleballs & blue fuzzy fur to cover your dashboard, but in the meantime there are a lot of good bargains to be had thru them if you take the time to look.

alright thanks alot guys

thats great info

when i have the money i will post pictures of the lift with tires

and dave ull probly be getting a call for lift help and ill bring a pack or two lol