Truck lift kits can give truck owners that feeling of being truly in charge of a massive vehicle. While some people lift their trucks for better clearance because they take their 4×4 off-road over rough terrain or they go mud bogging on the weekends, some people just like the look of a big, powerful lifted truck. If you’d like a lifted truck and you have the knowledge to do it yourself, then lift kits for trucks can help you achieve that monster truck feeling.
What Are Lift Kits
Lift kits are a popular accessory used on custom trucks, along with things like custom rims and wheels, custom paint jobs, headlights, chrome and other accessories. You don’t buy jacked up trucks directly from the manufacturer, just as there are few rim choices on cars direct from the manufacturer. These are aftermarket accessories that let you customize your vehicle to your heart’s content. Lift kits for trucks are used to lift the body or the suspension. Then bigger tires can be used, making the truck look massive.
Lift kits can make a truck handle a little less well, because it’s harder to stop a vehicle and maneuver it quickly when it has bigger tires and a higher center of gravity. The higher the vehicle, the less stable it is. That’s something to keep in mind before lifting your truck. If you do want to lift it, then you can choose from body lift kits or suspension lift kits. Which you choose will affect how high you can lift your 4×4 truck.
Installing A Body Lift Kit
Body lift kits are pretty easy to install if you’re familiar with your truck’s inner workings, like the frame and other features. If you’re comfortable working on a vehicle, you can probably install a body lift kit with few problems. The kits come with details instructions, so for someone familiar with a truck it mud shouldn’t pose too much of a challenge. If you’re unfamiliar, then have someone help you or just do it for you.
A body lift kit lifts the body of the truck off the frame up to about 3 inches maximum. You can install bigger tires if you use a body lift kit because the wheel wells will be raised. But the clearance underneath the truck won’t be affected much.
Suspension Lift Kits
Suspension lift kits cost more and do increase the clearance underneath the lifted truck. This type of kit doesn’t just lift the body, but it lifts the suspension by replacing the front and rear shocks and springs. These kits will usually lift a truck up to 6 inches. They’re more complicated to install, and might even void the warranty on your truck. And you might need to add steering stabilizers, because the vehicle’s articulation is usually affected, sometimes caused what’s known as “bump steer”.
“Bump steer” is when the wheels go over a bump or any type of irregularity and it tends to want to turn the wheels, letting them essentially steer themselves. Because of the suspension changes this can be a problem in custom trucks modified with suspension lift kits, so a stabilizer can be a great added safety feature.
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