Truck Norris

Don't most guys with body lifts run 35s too... And that's with all stock suspension? So wouldn't more stuff wear out?

Kochrane

I honestly have never heard anything bad about body lifts. Unless your constantly beating the crap out of the truck or doing something intentional. I've helped install two body lifts on a 1998 F150 and a 2002 F150 and both owners are still happy with them. But both don't take the trucks off road constantly and usually the only time I've heard of them taking them off road is unless they go hunting or the occasional back road venture. I wouldn't be putting one on unless if I knew I would be harming my truck in the long run.

I've had a 3" body lift on my 1994 F150 with 35" tires and never had a problem with ball joints or anything ever going out. Same on my stock 03 F150, I'm running 285/70/17's but I plan on running 33's or 35's when I get my body lift. Depends mostly on what I can afford.

All in all to the OP, depends on what your budget is. Do some research, ask questions, and if you're still not sure, ask some more.

2000fordf1504x4

I never had any problems with my 3in body lift and I ran 35s no problem

01burgscab

Because its not the suspension parts you replace that go bad it's the ball joints and wheel bearings that are still rated for stock

jousley

I just installed a 3" body lift this week on my truck and a few words of warning. Mainly, people who install body lifts successfully and without issue know what they are doing. I installed a body lift this week with my buddy who owns his own shop - and it took 3 full days. And you need to have some help as you'll be shifting the cab around for the correct alignment, will need someone to watch the cables/wires when you are installing the pucks one at a time (cab) (the bed is easy), some of the brackets for the cab bolts will fall out of place and you will need someone under there while you are trying to wrench it from above. Also, you will be cutting away frame rails (for front bumper raise), and will be welding (the crash blocks in the back).

issues we had: the summit body lift kit did not come with all the correct hardware - and we had to.... improvise a few times. the instructions on the website and with the kit are awful. tiny black and white pixelated pictures for reference. many of the steps are not explained, and they skip steps at times or don't tell you everything you need to know to accomplish the step. Our fuel filler extension was not the right size and we had to buy our own fuel hose and vent extension. the summit instructions do not outline all of the hoses/cables you need to unclip or disconnect during the lift - they missed some AC lines and some vacuum lines for my truck. Our rear bumper extension brackets were designed so the head of the bolt on the bracket butts up against the bumper bracket causing it to angle - you will have to use washers as a spacer. Our front bumper extension brackets still left a 2 inch gap between the bumper and grill - we had to mod them. lots of work.

Over all, I am not telling you not to buy a body lift kit - but just be aware it's a lot of work, and the summit kit i bought was a universal, and it had way too many issues. Overall, now that it's done my truck sits real nice - but I wouldn't do it again.

Just some words of experience, and some things that I wish I knew before I began the install. I know that others have bought other kits with a better experience... but as I'm just coming off this upgrade, thought i'd share.
J>

2000fordf1504x4

Dang it took me and my body only 8 hours to do it but my buddy had put a new cab on his because he rolled it so he really knew what he was doing

jousley

Yeah, i've seen lots of people talk about how they got their kit installed so quickly - that's why I bought the kit in the first place. I don't know if the universal kit we bought was the issue, or the good Lord was testing our patience, but we kept running into issues. I just thought it would be good to post my experience, as you never know until you get into it.
J.

2000fordf1504x4

It could have been the universal part

NubHunter

I have a 95, looking to do maybe a 3" lift mostly for looks. Any suggestions? I've never done it before. I need rear shocks already, didn't know if I could do it with those.

Kochrane

More than likely it might have been that it was a universal kit. I think Summit's and Trailmaster's kits are pretty much the same, but TrailMaster has several kits for the 97-03 year. I know that the kit for the 03 year is specific as it has certain hardware that doesn't come with other previous years. With the Trailmaster (Performance Accessories) kit, it usually takes a day if you have mechanical experience but it helps having a few people and body/cab jacks to support the cab and body while your installing the kit. It always helps to have a few hands as me and my buddy Mark found out the first time. Just the between the two of us doing it on his 98 it took us two days, and this was the first time we ever tackled anything like this. But a few years later, we helped out on another friend's F150 and had it done within a day. But once you do a few, it goes rather quickly but you also need to take your time.