4X4 BOOT CAMP:Learning The Basics
By: Chris Hemer
Photos By: Custom Motorsports
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For the novice off-roader, lifting a truck can often be an intimidating proposition. There are a plethora of parts and kits designed to help you accomplish your goals, yes—but which one do you choose? How much should you lift the truck? And what other parts will be necessary? If you haven’t lifted a truck before, and don’t know anyone that can give you the inside scoop, making the choices necessary to achieve the look and functionality you want can be a challenge, to say the least.
So, to give you some useful guidelines, we talked to Barry Mancha at Custom Motorsports in Riverside, CA. In business since 1996, Barry has developed a reputation for building off-roaders both mild and wild, even going so far as to fabricate his own lift kits for, shall we say, unique vehicles. But with a solid background in Class 8 off-road truck racing, Barry not only understands suspension systems, he knows their limitations--which can be a great benefit to the customer who is new to the off-roading hobby.
First, let’s talk about the different ways you can lift a truck. Basically, they can all be grouped into two categories: body lifts and suspension lifts. Which one you choose often depends on your goals as well as your budget.
As the name would imply, a body lift is when the body is literally lifted above the frame in order to create more clearance for large tires. “These days, a body lift is usually only done as a last resort when you’ve run out of suspension (lift) and want a bigger tire than the one you are using,” Barry explains. “A body lift is also used on certain trucks that may not have the suspension components necessary to perform a suspension lift. Body lifts used to be an alternative for those that wanted a lifted look, but didn’t want to sacrifice the stock ride quality. But now, Suspension Lift kit manufacturers are all trying to provide a product with better ride characteristics.” A body lift is also still one of the most economical means of gaining altitude, costing around $600 for three inches of height.
Suspension lifts achieve a lift in ride height by altering the suspension system in one form or another. The mildest, least expensive form of Suspension Lift on late-model IFS trucks is to crank up the torsion bars and add lift blocks to the rear leaf springs, which can net around two-three inches of lift. Next are lift spindles, which, when combined with the correct rear lift blocks, can get you between 3-4 inches of lift. Then there’s what’s known as a full suspension lift. “A full Suspension Lift is when you drop down anything that the upper/lower Control Arms and drive axles bolt to, which raises the truck up,” Barry explains. “When you drop components like the upper control arms, lower control arms, steering drag link, front differential, etc., you’re doing a full suspension lift.”
A full Suspension Lift will yield the greatest ground clearance gains, but as you can imagine, it’s a lot of work (sometimes as much as 12 hours of labor) a lot of hardware, and a lot of money. On average, Barry says that a six-inch Suspension Lift will cost around $1500 installed—and the higher you go, the more it will cost. Suspension Lift kits can produce anything from four inches of lift all the way up to 20 inches, and can even be combined with lift spindles and custom Leaf springs to produce a true monster truck look. “We did a Denali for Travis Barker of Blink 182,” Barry recalls. “He brought that thing over here on a trailer, brand new. We lifted it 25 inches and put 44’s under it.”
As you might imagine, there are a variety of Suspension Lift kit manufacturers, and at least a couple of different ways to accomplish the same goal. The key things to look for in a kit, says Barry, are the thickness of the materials used and the quality of the hardware. “You want around 1/4-thick material, and all of the fasteners should be grade 5 or better,” he says. “We use several different kit manufacturers, including Fabtech, CST and Bulletproof, depending on the result the customer is trying to achieve.”
Barry prefers Fabtech for the bulk of his Suspension Lift jobs because he says the company has good components and a large variety of part numbers. Fabtech kits are also a little easier to install, because instead of lowering both the upper and lower control arms, the upper control arm is left alone and a raised spindle is used instead. CST and Bulletproof, who generally specialize in bigger lifts, lower both the upper and lower Control Arms in order to achieve sky-high results.
< align=right marginWidth=0 =5 =5 marginHeight=0 src="http://www.truckmoxie.com/s/google_rectangle.asp" Border=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250>Now, before you get too carried away, keep in mind that big lifts and the tires that go along with them can take their toll on IFS components like the pitman arm, upper and lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rod ends, CV boots and hub bearing assemblies. The result is accelerated wear, possibly even outright component failure—especially on lighter-duty half-ton trucks. “You can break a half ton truck with 40 inch tires by simply driving it over a curb,” says Barry. “It’ll sheer that 1/2-inch tie rod end right off.”
If you want an aggressive look without sacrificing too much longevity or reliability, Barry typically recommends a six-inch lift and no larger than a 33-inch tire. “I find that the stock components typically last around 50,000 miles on a stock truck with 27-inch tires,” says Barry. “By going to 33’s, you’ll still get about 35,000 miles before you begin to see wear, and you won’t put too much strain on the components.” By way of comparison, Barry says the stock IFS suspension components will usually only last between 10,000 and 20,000 miles with a 10-inch lift and 38’s, depending on how and where you drive.
There are other reasons to love the six-inch lift/33-inch tire combo as well. You won’t place as much strain on the transmission and brakes, and won’t require speedometer re-calibration (the speedometer will only be off 4-5 mph). Fuel economy won’t be sacrificed significantly, either; Barry maintains that a loss of 1-2 mpg is typical. And if you have the good fortune of owning a truck that is equipped with 4.10 gearing (or order a new truck equipped this way) you won’t even have to change gears to compensate for the larger diameter tires; the truck will behave similarly to one with 27-inch tires and 3.73’s.
But if you’ve really got your heart set on going big, just remember that it will cost you—that is, if you want it to last. For openers, kits designed for big lifts (10-inches or more), cost more money because they contain more robust components. Then, you’re going to have to add other pieces, which may or may not be included in the kit. “There is sooo much to consider when you go up 10 inches or more that people don’t even think about,” says Barry. “I’ve had customers come in here and accuse me of gouging them because I won’t do a big lift without all of the components necessary to get the job done correctly.”
What, exactly, are we talking about? Well, when you lift a truck 10-16 inches, the driveshafts become too short, and the angle too extreme. So, the truck will need extended drive shafts and dual constant-velocity yokes. The stock brake lines will be too short, so extended braided steel brake lines will be needed.
Ball joints can simply pop out of their sockets when big tires are used, so Barry replaces them with a uni-ball arrangement. “Instead of a ball joint, where a ball fits inside of a steel cup, a uniball is a steel ball with a grade 8 bolt through the middle of it and a steel cage around it. It will wear out eventually, but it can’t come apart.” Oh yeah, and the tie rod ends will need to be replaced with steering joints with Heim ends.
It doesn’t end there. Go to a 35-inch tire, and you will need 4.56 gearing at both ends. Bigger than that, and you’re going to need 4.88’s, speedometer recalibration of some sort (either the Superlift unit that Custom Motorsports uses or a programmer) and probably bigger brakes. “Usually, the stock brakes will still be effective at the 35 inch tire level—but much higher than that, and you’ll start to feel a reduction in braking power,” says Barry. “The problem with brake upgrades is that they require 20-inch wheels (due to the bigger rotors), so now you’re paying for brakes plus all new wheels and tires.” Expect fuel economy to diminish further due to the greater weight and rolling resistance of 35-inch plus tires, and if you’re hard on your truck, the transmission will probably wear prematurely as well.
Of course, none of this is meant to steer you away from a big lift--it’s just to give you some idea of what to expect so you aren’t caught off guard when you visit your local off-road performance center. With the right combination of parts, you can own a 4x4 that performs as good as it looks, and will last for years to come.
Custom Motorsports
Address: 12150 Severn Way
Riverside, CA. 92503
Phone: (909) 549 1740
custommotorsports.com
This ’04 HD has been fitted with a “middle of the road” suspension lift—an 8-inch CST kit. |
This Tahoe has been fitted with the most popular lift/tire combo in Custom Motorsports’ arsenal: a Fabtech six-inch suspension lift and 33-inch tires. |
When you run tires bigger than 33-inches, the bearings will wear faster. The bigger the tire, the faster the wear. |
When a stock pitman arm (right) can’t handle the stress of a big lift, Custom Motorsports replaces it with a heavier-duty unit. |
A broken tie rod end (bottom) is one of the most common failures Custom Motorsports sees on half-ton trucks with tires over 35 inches. To make sure it doesn’t happen again, the tie rod is replaced with a steel rod fitted with a Heim joint. What a difference! |
If you look closely at the ball joint on the right, you’ll note that the right edge of it is cracked. On trucks lifted 10-inches or more, Custom Motorsports replaces this part with a much stouter uniball arrangement. |
The stock yoke is fine until you get seriously lifted—then the driveline angle can prevent proper yoke articulation. |
To solve the problem, Custom Motorsports installs a dual-yoke system like this one. |
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JT2500 wrote: