anyone with a lift?

[brandonwhite]

I am looking at getting a 3-5" lift on my truck and am looking for any pros/cons of the various kits on the market. Does anyone here have a lift and can tell me what is good or bad about it? I have done quite a bit of reading online and there are kits from $400-$2000 and I am a bit confused on what to get.

 

[TomGolden]

I have the Skyjacker 2 1/2" Double Flex Lift Kit. There are several different variants even among Skyjackers offerings. For example, you can get just new coil springs, a little more or go the whole route like I did. The "flex" in the double flex in my lift pertains to the control arms. A standard kit either doesn't include new arms, or if it does, they are non-adjustable. The single flex kit has adjustable arms with a heim joint at one end of each arm, my double flex kit has adjustments at both ends and a heim joint at each end of all 4 new control arms.



Then there is the difference between the Kit and the System. The kit includes only a single add-a-leaf rear spring, whereas the System comes with completely new entire rear leaf spring packs.



I got mine a little over a year ago from National Tire & Wheel, cost including shipping from Virginnia to California was around $1450, then there is the installation cost unless you do it yourself.



I love mine, I did it mainly for leveling purposes as opposed to just wanting more height.



Tom

 

[RO'neal]

Quality Lifts

There are only two brands of lift that I would put on my rig, Skyjacker and D1ck Cepek. There are many other companies out there, some of which do indeed make quality lifts but as far as our Rams are concerned nothing can touch the above mentioned.



I had the SJ 2. 5" coils on mine and it leveled the truck out perfectly and improved the ride quite a bit.



I now have the SJ 4. 5" kit and absolutely love it. I haven't had to touch it since the install. A very nice quality lift that comes with everything you need to do the job.



If you decide you want a little more lift I recommend the D1ck Cepek Extreme 6", very nice set up. Or the Skyjacker 7".



As for pros/cons the only thing I can think of is the dual shock set up on the SJ system. A lot of guys run it with no problems but I personally don't like the set up. If you want dual front shocks I recommend looking at Fabtech's set up.



Some of the others use spacers on the front coils which will get you by cheaper but personally I like the improved ride with the new springs. If you look at lifts other than these be sure that they have the correct coils to support the Cummins. I talked to several dealers that said they would work but they were the same springs they used for the gassers. Stay away from Superlift, I have seen problems with these lifts first hand and their add states "Note: lift height will vary slightly depending primarily on whether your truck has a gas engine or the heavier diesel engine. " They say that because they use the same springs for both unlike Skyjacker. I know guys running the Superlift that didn't get the advertised amount. I actually got a little extra lift with mine and SJ guarantees the coils not to sag. If they do, they will replace them but I haven't seen a case where that happened yet.



The post above pretty much sums up the flex issue. If you're not into rock crawling you don't need either of the flex options. You'll be fine with the basic kit. I got mine for $900, the flex isn't worth the extra $$ to me because I don't crawl with it.

 

[Red_Rattler]

Everyone including me seems to like Skyjacker the best, most user friendly, but I found a wealth of info at www.pavementsucks.com lotsa guys on there mainly a dodge site, and there u will find just about every kit and get many opions on what works and what doesn't Oo.

 

[Dane]

Whatever company you go with I would give this advice -



Get the replacement springs, not spacers. There is a huge difference in the ride quality going with new springs over spacers.



Get the rear springs! That 5" factory lift block in the rear is a joke. It causes incurable wheel hop. The aftermarket guys are making a ton of $ selling band-aids for the rear factory spring/lift block suspension. My rear springs made a HUGE difference.



My truck has been transformed by doing springs on all 4 corners. I can follow other stock suspension Ferd, Chebby and Dodges around bumpy corners and watch em bounce around while I barely notice the bumps. Even my wife who is VERY picky made comments about how nice the truck rides now.



One last comment - get the dual shock setup in the front. It takes two shocks to control the weight of the mighty Cummins up front.

 

[San Felipe Bob]

My set up

I have just ordered a set of front and rear spring's from National Spring in San Diego Ca.

I went with 3" of lift on the front coils and the rears will be made to replace the spacer blocks and level the truck with the front.

These guys know what they are doing.

They make you weigh your truck front and back to get the correct spring's.

They asked me a ton of questions to make sure I get the what I want.



They are famous for building race spring's.



I have the DT +1/2" longer trailing arms and the DT track bar.

Soon to have dual shocks up front too(when the spring's go in)



My current shocks are Edelbrocks "lifted" unit's.

they work ok ,and I think they will work alot better with the new spring's.

If they don't I'm going with Bilstiens next.

I have limiting straps on the front(2 each side) and rear(1 each side).

oh yeah I have Darin's steering brace and an aftermarket steering stabilizer.



I can't wait to get the spring's

I'll keep ya posted.



SFB

 

[csutton7]

I'm with RO'neal on the skyjacker or cepek lift--had I known about the cepek lift 4 years ago I would've done it instead of the 4. 5" skyjacker--I think it's the best with the skyjacker 7" being a close 2nd--whatever you do get the system with the rear springs and toss the blocks--make sure you ask if the blocks are used or not---





Dan & SFBob--got telephone #'s for your contacts on the rear springs and how much did the rear springs cost ya--chris