[sAJ1420]

ive been looking everywhere for one for my truck and the cheapest that i can find is like $1400, im thinking its probably because i have IFS, but i know people with jeeps or dodges can lift theirs for like 600-800 bucks. its not fair

[mdvaldosta]

I don't know much about lifts, but theirs body lifts and theirs suspension lifts

[sAJ1420]

yea i could get a body lift fairly cheap, but then theres a big gap betweent the frame and the bed... and the suspension gets much stiffer. but if it comes down to it thats what i might do.. i want to be able to fit 35's or bigger on a 12" rim, right not i have 10"rim with 33's and their just not wide enough.

[sAJ1420]

i also bought 2" wheel spacers, but they ended up not fitting, probably a good thing though because i heard they were deadly on wheel bearings

[mdvaldosta]

damn dude 33"'s are big as is

[sAJ1420]

yea but not really on my truck.. maybe if they were mud terrain but they are a/t and are on a 17" rim, i was going to try to go with a 16x12 with 35's if i can get the body lift

[Acer2428]

Get yourself a 2" body lift if you can't afford suspension. They sell pieces to cover the gap it creates. It's cheap just to get under there with some black powdercoated sheet metal and a welder, but if you can't do that, they sell kits to make it a cleaner lift.

[sAJ1420]

how hard would it be to put a body lift on? i mean is there any special tools? can i do it myself or is it a hard job?

[Bossman351]

Body lifts require more than just the pucks (spacers) you have to extend the steering collumn, shifter linkage (if its an auto, if its a standard you have to cut the floor board around the shifter to accomodate thhe longer throw b/c you moved the body up the shifter handle) You have to make sure that all wiring has enough slack to make the lift, all your throttle cables and stuff.

A suspension lift is not that bad. You hit it in the head when you said it was probably cuz of the Independant suspension. You have to change lower a arms and add an entirely new lower crossmamber to accomodate the new stuff. Then you have to change the drag link and have it all aligned. The reason your buddies all had thiers done so cheap is because the straight axle suspension only requires lift blocks, new U bolts, and a drag link.

You could alway try putting lift blocks under the back and tightening the tortion bars under the front. Thats usualy good for 1 1/2 to 3 inches right there. Then the only thing you would have to do is add the tires and get an alignment. Of course, tightening the tortion bars will make it a little more of a stiff ride. But its a cheap lift @ 300 bux max. We did it to a Durango and went up almost 2 1/2 inches.

[99mustang232]

blocks in the back and new spindles up front or swap to st8 axle?

[WydOpen]

Not sure if you're still looking at a lift for your '98 F150, but I'd recommend RCD (Race Car Dynamics). I had one on my '98 GMC Sierra and I'm about to put one on my '05 Dodge Ram. I'm very impressed with the craftsmanship, ease of installation, and best of all...improved ride quality over stock. I think that is attributed to their selection of Bilstein shocks for their kits and instead of add-a-leafs or re-arched springs, they use blocks.

Since I'm not a big 'wheeler, blocks don't bother me. It retains ride quality, does not reduce your payload capacity, and a cheap way to raise a truck. Only other downfall besides articulation is axle wrap...but a good set of torque arms will fix that.

I'm not a fan of body lifts at all for the reasons state above. There is a reason they are cheap. IMO, they make the truck look cheap when installed.