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So you've decided you want to lift your truck. Good call! Now do you want a suspension lift or a body lift? Do you know? Because the two things are very different. Let's just get into it and figure it out together, shall we?
What's a body lift?
Go outside, or to wherever your truck is right now, and crawl underneath it. What you'll see is the truck's frame and the underside of the body. The frame is what holds the suspension, engine, transmission and all that good stuff in place. Now look for the points where the cab of the truck bolts to the frame. It's usually in the corners of the cab. There should be a rubber bushing between the cab and the frame mount (but not if you're looking at the bed; those are solid mounted). That rubber (or urethane) bushing is called a cab mount, and it's where a body lift begins.
A body lift involves lifting the cab up off the frame, removing the rubber or urethane cab mounts, and replacing them with taller models. Alternatively, some body lift kits stack on top of the cab mounts, giving you the same result. A lot of things have to be adjusted to accommodate this setup. Your brake lines will have the be tweaked, as they're farther apart than usual. Hoses may need to shift under the hood, your transmission cable may need to be swapped — there's a lot to do. So while the body lift kit itself isn't expensive, the labor for putting one on isn't always cheap. In the end, you can pick up a few inches going this route.
What's a suspension lift?
In a word, this. The idea behind a suspension lift is that you are increasing the distance between the suspension and the frame such that you lift the truck up higher in the air. There are lots of ways to do this. Lift spindles will lower the mounting position of your wheel hub, lifting the truck up in the process. Taller coil springs can do the job in some models. Lift blocks on top of the axle and lift shackles out back can handle the task on some trucks. The idea is to use the suspension to add height to the truck.
And there are lots of different kinds of suspension lift kits. It's all dependent on what kind of truck you have, what drive it is and the year, but chances are pretty good we've got what you need. Just go check out the site and if you can't find it, give us a call.
Should I do a body lift or a suspension lift?
Look, there's no easy way to say this, but let's go ahead and be the bad guys here. We don't sell body lifts. They used to be a thing back in the day, but now there are substantially better lift kits out on the market. You can get a high-end suspension setup built for cruising the malls or hitting the off-road track. Some are affordable, while others are pricey. But here's the thing: You have choices nowadays.
So when you decide to get a lift kit for your truck, hit us up. Give us a call or just swing by the office. We'll set you up with what you need.
