lifting a truck

[WA hunter14]

can someone give me the basics on lifting a truck? how to decide how big of lift? what is some good brands? what else you have to do to your truck if anything other than just putting the kit on? wether to get suspension or body lifts or both?

[Grizzly95]

What year, make, and model? How do you use the truck now? Camper, trailering?

[Smossy]

What year, make, and model? How do you use the truck now? Camper, trailering?

Ill bite, we're wondering the same question.
2005 Ford Explorer, Daily Driver, next to no towing, Hunting/Trapping/Fishing Rig.

[WA hunter14]

What year, make, and model? How do you use the truck now? Camper, trailering?

1978 f250 no towing or camper just daily driver and hunting truck

[Rrich2278]

Not sure what you have but I put a 6 in suspension lift on mine with 35's and 18in wheels.

[Smossy]

Not sure what you have but I put a 6 in suspension lift on mine with 35's and 18in wheels.

And what did that run you? We want to lift our's to give us a safer ride when were out and about, Clearance is a problem right now with 20" rims and low profile tires
My girls ex husband was a pure tool, I cant stand the wheels on there now.

[HuntandFish]

I used to have a 77' great trucks! With a solid axle there is not much to it. That year of truck doesn't have the greatest rear end and driveline U-joint strength, I would go with 6" of lift and 35" tires at a maximum.  How big of lift should be dictated by the tire size you want to run, tire size should be dictated by what you want to do with the truck. I am guessing since you asked this question you are just doing it for looks and mild off road performance, I would go with a 4" lift with 33" tires. Make sure to spend the xtra (cheap lift anyway with the solid axle) and get new spring packs that have the added height built in and not do the blocks. Body lifts should only be done if more height is needed when you cannot raise the suspension anymore due to variouse reasons, another reason for body lifts could be for engine mods where clearance and air flow are an issue. Obviously there is allot that goes into the final decision here so the more information on how you use the truck, current mods and other pertinent info will help guide you in the right direction. One thing you may want to check is the rear end gearing you have, as this really does influence how tall of tires you should use without having to change gearing.

I would love to see some before and after pics, I get sentimental with the old fords, the one I usd to have holds a special place in my heart and I will one day be getting another one and turning it into a wheeler as well!

Regards,
H&F

[WA hunter14]

thank you for the input, i love 70's fords i looked for one for a long time before i found one. its disapointing to here that i couldnt lift it higher if im gonna spend the money id really want to do a good job at it like a 6-8 inch lift and get close to 40'' tires. but oh well i spend alot of time in the woods especially at odd times of the year when no one else it out there and obviously rely on my vehicle so anything questionable would be a no go.

[HuntandFish]

Not sure what you have but I put a 6 in suspension lift on mine with 35's and 18in wheels.

And what did that run you? We want to lift our's to give us a safer ride when were out and about, Clearance is a problem right now with 20" rims and low profile tires
My girls ex husband was a pure tool, I cant stand the wheels on there now.
[/quote

Lifting a explorer is going to make your rig more dangerous IMO, due to its short wheel base, put a 2" body lift and some 31" tires or 33" and cut the fenders. This way you keep the center of gravity low. But ya rims and low pro tires do make you look like a D-bag....

[Rrich2278]

Too much money!! That also has a lot to do with the brand of tires and wheels. Mine was $5000+. I had everything done at Les. You'll find that a lot of people will disagree with the quality of work they do, but I have had zero issues. They can tell you, based off the vehicle you have what size tires you could put on with a 6 or 9 in lift and still be safe.. I wish I had the ability todo that type of work myself and I'm sure I could have saved a lot.
I don't tow anything, just day to day street driving and hunting trips..

[Smossy]

Not sure what you have but I put a 6 in suspension lift on mine with 35's and 18in wheels.

And what did that run you? We want to lift our's to give us a safer ride when were out and about, Clearance is a problem right now with 20" rims and low profile tires
My girls ex husband was a pure tool, I cant stand the wheels on there now.

Lifting a explorer is going to make your rig more dangerous IMO, due to its short wheel base, put a 2" body lift and some 31" tires or 33" and cut the fenders. This way you keep the center of gravity low. But ya rims and low pro tires do make you look like a D-bag....

Well as far as safety I meant like off roading or dirt roads, With our low pro's they have almost NO traction and are flat. Completely ridiculous. Wheel base? What's that? Im just wanting to get the girls rig actually usable instead of a boring truck.

[HuntandFish]

Guys put 8" of lift and 40's on that year of truck all the time. One of the things that can end up going with no real warning on that year is a U-joint (just carry a spare in the glove box, I used to...), and maybe a catastrophic tranny failure, most other things will wine, clunk or make some other noise at you for awhile before it goes. And just know that when you do lift an old truck like that it is not if but when you will be working on it, they really weren't set up for the wide tall tires like today's trucks are in my opinion.... I have had late seventies, late eighties, early nineties, late nineties, and new trucks, most were lifted, but all had there issues due to being lifted...but I do tend to beat the H**LL out of my rigs as well so you may experience different results

Regards,
H&F

[jeepasaurusrex]

Too much money!! That also has a lot to do with the brand of tires and wheels. Mine was $5000+. I had everything done at Les. You'll find that a lot of people will disagree with the quality of work they do, but I have had zero issues. They can tell you, based off the vehicle you have what size tires you could put on with a 6 or 9 in lift and still be safe.. I wish I had the ability todo that type of work myself and I'm sure I could have saved a lot.
I don't tow anything, just day to day street driving and hunting trips..

Was that an IFS truck?  No way that should of cost that much with a solid axle truck.

Look for a lift that uses rear springs, rather than lift blocks. Lift blocks tend to increase the axle wrap. Front lift blocks are a super no-no. They are illegal in all 50 states as well.

Don't forget to re-gear the axles to match the size of tire. I see it all the time..  A person lifts a rig, adds larger tires, then complains about the lack of power. The first thing they want to do is increase their HP. 99% of the time, a simple gear swap will bring the rpm range back into the operating range of the engine and they will be fine.

[jeepasaurusrex]

I like the lift/stance of this truck. Not too much lift and tire. But enough to be functional.

[whacker1]

Looks like the choices are 6.5 or 9 inch with SuperLift

http://www.superlift.com/pc_product_detail.asp?key=CC5C6C7D0D48482182DDDFE084FEE3EA

It looks like some of the higher end brands of lifts no longer stock their 70's model pickup lifts

these pickups look great with 35's and 37's.