Can Ya'll help me out a little. I am looking for the pros & cons & differences of a body lift vs. a suspension lift. What's better and why? I wanna get a lift, but it will be a little way down the road. Thanks for the help.

p.s. If you have a 3" Suspension lift with 31's or 33's, can you post a pic. please?

 

body lift=roughly 200-300 bucks plus beer for friends to help install, only comes in 3 inch lift. it does just that lifts the body off the frame, it does not give you more suspension travel. if you jump with it and tell people, they will rip you a new a__hole.
fits 33's with no problems.

suspension lift=1200=2500 depends on brand. superlift makes a lift for torsion bars. it does lift the truck via suspension. RCD and dixon brothers makes a lift that gets rid of the torsion bar, goes to coil over shocks, heard they flex better. dont know if it was just wanting/needing a new front driveshaft but the rcd it might be optional. on superlift you have to get a new driveshaft, different angle. requires more skill to install, might have to break out the jack daniels with friends for that. I know the RCD requires welding, unsure of dixon brothers.
superlift and RCD recommend 33's and no body lift, but who follows recommendations anyway. Forgot who but someone has a RCD with body lift and 37's.


now that i wrote all that, are you 4x4 or 2wd?

if 2wd just buy some 3 inch spindles, i think they are under 400 for a kit.

 

I am 2wd :'(
I have heard a little about bl's messing up the front end, has this happened to anybody? Will spindles lift the fram like the suspension lift?

 

spindles are a form of suspension lift. the whle frame and body goes up.

 

spindle lift = 400-500 for everything you need... body lift = 200-300... to me the suspension lift is worth the extra money

 

Get a spindle lift off of ebay for 350 I got that one and Im running 31's here are some pics they arent the best if you want more let me know. By the way they are doestech 3inch spindles.

 

YOu can get a nice fabtech kit off Jusnes for 700. http://jusnesmodified.com/store/inde...ff1fecab23288d

Or TT Performance for 650 http://ttperformanceinc.com/cart/ind...40_41_42_47_68

Ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

I'm in the same boat as you...researching lifts to fit 33's for 2WD.

The doestch lift off ebay includes only the spindles and uses blocks.

The jusnes and tt performance kits come with front and rear shocks, AAL's (better than using blocks?), alignment cam and bolt kit which a lot of poeple say they don't use.

I haven't decided which way I want to go either....its cheaper for the ebay lift, but might not be once you buy everything else, cause I would want new shocks and AAL's instead of blocks.

Supposedly can't use stock wheels with Fabtech kit but can with the doestch.

Then I've heard a lot of people complaining about fabtech. Still looking around for my best option.

 

get spindles. A body lift is safe, dont worry.

Aaron

 

I don't like AAL's -- too stiff for me. Could end up with them if/when my springs sag though.

The main purpose of a lift is to clear bigger tires -- bigger tires being the most important thing for clearance. NO lift gives you more space under your diff, spindles, etc -- only tires give you that. Both suspension and body lifts supply this.

Suspension lifts also bring up your chassis giving you more potential clearance and better breakover angle, and possibly better approach and departure angle (though the latter two often improve with a body lift as well somewhat).

Suspension lifts also can be designed to improve travel, though not all do. Spindles in particular do NOT as their travel is still limited by the stock control arms and ball joints and so forth. AAL's do not improve rear travel one bit. Shocks can allow some increase in downtravel, but your downtravel will still be limited by your spring and shackle length. Uptravel is limited by the bump stop which you should set based on tire size, fender clearance, etc.

Personally, on the 2WD, I went with suspension lift and have not regretted it -- in fact I see some limitations to the body lift on people I wheel with. I used taller blocks (actually custom welded extensions to the stock blocks) and I have traction bars to help guard against the wrap that can cause.

The "proper" way to lift the rear is with appropriate lifting springs/shackles, longer shocks, and bump stop relocation. About doubles the cost of lifting the rear so you have to decide how "right" you need to do it, lol.

All in all, I think the extra clearance advantages of the suspension lift have allowed my 2WD to get through things it would not have otherwise (as in, only having a body lift).

 

 

i just did mine susp lift with fabtech for torsion bar setup and i love it way better than body lift easier to install

 

I say go with the spindles and chevy springs with new shock up front and longer shocks in rear as well as some of those air bump cans or extended Superduty bump stops.

That's just about what I plan on doing... Haven't worked out all the bugs yet, like money...lol.

 

im running a 3inch coil lift and a 3inch body lift on 33s

 

Thanks for all the help guys! If you have pics of your truck with a spindle lift, please post them. Does anybody have any idea how much a 3" Spindle kit cost installed with everything it needs?

 

Get the spindle lift, maybe we can meet up later and I'll show you what the spindle lift looks like. I can even help you install them, its not that hard. Get the spindles and crank the t-bar and get some AAL. With that you should be clearing 35 no problem. Just give me a call on my cell phone if you want to meet up.

Justin

 

A local place here tried to get me to finance $1300 buck for a fabtech lift installed.

 

The financing doesn't sound normal, but it could help alot of people out. That's alot of money I need to come up with. Did you do it?

 

uhhhhh....look at avatar....lol...no.

 

Duh! My bad!

 

A lotta people install them themselves. I think its like 400-600 for spindles and worth it.

Aaron

 

body lift is more for show... if you get a BL buy or make some gap guards cuz youll definitely see the gap. also the BL doesnt really mess up your front end, but youll probably end up getting your truck realligned more often.
a suspension lift is honestly much better for your truck. youll pay more but itll be worth it in the end. it has better looks and performance. i would go for suspension if you're gonna be off road fairly regularly, and BL if your gonna be on the road most of the time.