Maybe you’ve just bought a new truck and are ready to explore. Or maybe you have an older Jeep or rig and are thinking about souping it up in order to push the boundaries. Lift kits are the perfect way to remove your truck from the confines of the street and really see what it can do off road.
What Kind of Lift Kit is Best?
If you’re just beginning to look into different kinds of lift kits, the variety is overwhelming. To figure out what kind will best suit your needs, let’s look at them in terms of body lifts versus suspension lifts.
Body Lift
These kinds of lift kits require spacers to be installed between the bed and cab of your Jeep or truck. This pushes the vehicle’s body up higher while leaving its suspension, chassis and wheels at their original height. The lift kit will also enable you to extend the steering column shaft, lower the radiator shroud and raise the bumpers so that everything is in alignment with the raised body of the vehicle.
A suspension lift kit will leave a gap between the vehicle’s bed and its frame. Some people don’t like the way this gap looks, but there are ways to work around it. You can install tubular side steps, for instance, that will look great and help cover the gap.
The overall benefit of a body lift is that apart from the gap, it looks amazing. It will also give you increased tire clearance for heading off into the Great Unknown. You’ll maintain great ride quality and it won’t change your vehicle’s suspension geometry. Overall, a suspension lift is pretty cost effective.
Suspension Lift
For those who need a more aggressive vehicle for off-roading, it’s definitely worth investing in a suspension lift. You’ll boost your vehicle’s clearance far beyond what is possible with a body lift, giving you the ability to maneuver in places that your buddy’s truck can’t.
A suspension lift requires a lot more in terms of replacing parts, though. You’ll either need to space down the factory suspension or pull it out and replace it completely. The goal in a suspension lift is to raise your chassis, giving you increased tire clearance and an overall bigger lift than a basic body lift. You’ll install new shocks and struts, leaf springs and control arms, as well as trailing arms. You may even install new steering components and a new driveshaft.
This will give you one Godzilla of a vehicle—watch out for those underpasses and tree limbs! Your handling will be entirely different after your suspension lift. You’ll have a higher center of gravity. It will also change the overall feel of the ride. Depending on which kit you choose, it likely won’t feel as soft as before.
The type of lift kit you choose will depend on your end goal. Are you looking for a better-looking ride with a bit more wheel clearance or are you hoping to go rock crawling? No matter what you want, there is a lift kit to make it all possible.
I like what this article mentions about it being worthwhile to invest in a suspension lift for more aggressive off-road driving. It makes sense that a body lift would do little to nothings in terms of clearance. It’s something to remember because I’ve been wanting to lift my truck and I think that going with a proper suspension lift would do more for me than spacers or a body lift.