playtoy871

What's the best 4 inch lift for my 94 PU?


What's the difference bewteen these two kits below? If yes, which is better?
http://store.4wheelingplus.com/prodd...od=K308&cat=83

http://www.4wheelerssupply.com/catal...oducts_id/1616

Are Rough Country lifts any good?

ewong

Ummm...

One of those kits is for a 4RUNNER and the other is for a PICKUP.
A 1990-1996 4Runner uses COIL springs in the rear
A 1985-1996 Pickup uses LEAF springs in the rear

A 1985-1989 4Runner uses LEAF springs in the rear

The "front" part of both kits are the same.

Rough Country is an established brand name lift company.

"best" lift is a rather subjective term

IMHO the "best" lift is so expensive that most people would laugh at the price... until they understand what its FOR.

Many might argue that the "BEST" lift for an IFS is SAS.

playtoy871

would you go with a lift that has rear blocks or longer springs?

nix4x4

I have a 4" rough country lift. There are some pros and cons. The pros would be that they use pretty tough components, the cost is relativley low, and, with the exception of cutting the stock front diff bolt brackets, there was no other modifying required. The cons, however, would be the bracket for the front diff really killing ground clearence, and the rear blocks.

Upgrading to a set of 33" treads helps out a little with the loss of ground clearance, and, as for the rear, you can almost stand up and not bump your head Overall, its a good quality lift, but I would opt for longer shackles and add-a-leafs instead of the blocks in the rear. Hope this helps.

FredTJ

Longer springs !!!

Lift blocks are booty fab and are basically crap.
I've seen too many trucks spit 'em out on the trail and the picture isn't pretty.
We normally won't even go on a run if someone shows up with blocks.





Fred

playtoy871

nix4x4....did you install the lift yourself? if yes, how hard is to do? i have some mechanical experience but have never dealt with a lift before.

for 100 bucks more would you go with a superlift lift kit?

ovrrdrive

A Rough Country lift is a Superlift kit with cheaper coatings. If you examine the contents of both kits, you'll notice that both kits have exactly the same pieces in them. Not just similar but exact.

As a matter of fact, I ordered a Rough Country lift right at the peak of tax return time and got a Superlift kit for the same price. If that's not proof I don't know what is.

I did install the lift myself too and had never done any front end work before. It was a little complicated but I managed to get through it pretty easily. It was kind of funny really. The passenger side would take a long time and then after figuring it out there, the drivers side would be cake. After doing the lift I gained so much confidence that last weekend I went and changed out all of my ball joints, tie rods, idler and pitman and didn't have one single problem.

A few points... Blocks are fine temporarily on the trail and for longer term if the truck is mostly street driven. Lift springs are better all the way around though and if you don't get them right away I suggest getting them eventually. Blocks aren't nearly as bad as people say and think they are though. Hell, F350's come with them front and rear from the factory.

Upgrade as many suspension parts as you can afford to during the lift. Everything is apart and it's easy to do then, will allow you to save money on another alignment later on, and the old parts will fail on you pretty quickly after the lift so you'll have to do it anyway. I did so much when I did the lift that about the only thing I replaced were the CV's because I knew they wouldn't last... As I said though, I just went back and did the rest of it and paid for another alignment.

I wish I was near you... I'd come help for free.

PS, I wouldn't pay the extra for a Superlift if I were you. Like I said, the only difference is the coatings and if you're like me you'll paint it all black anyway.

spaceycayce

I don't wanna burst the bubble but SAS!!!! If you wheel it hard enough.
1. My friends '90 4runner had 4" superlift on it and he popped his cv's everytime we went out wheeling. Broke a few other things as well, got pissed and yelled at shop and told them to rip it off. *we both got it done at same shop at different times*
2. Me- Same Kit--- On the front Popped CV's, broke brackets, I think my control arms went too. Rear I ripped about 1" hole in my rear axle housing and the kit came off of the housing it self also I had to redo my whole setup with a SAS and spring swap in the rear. ( I spent about the same for the kits, however there are a lot more add-ons like the solid axle and other fun stuff but hey I am happy for the most part)
The level trails/difficulty 1-2.....basic forest roads and the like, not really hard stuff, oh and some mud.

That being said I wouldn't recommend Superlift, but to each his own. If you don't wheel it hard enough some say don't SAS until its time. I guess my time came early.
I'd save the $$$ personally and try to do SAS but agai there are some other ways to get clearance mentioned throughout the forum if you research it enough.

fillsrunner4

Total Chaos makes a nice long travel IFS lift. Check it out if you dont want SAS but a great lift to wheel its a great and real strong setup

Bear80

HU?? The bracket lift in NO way decreases ground clearance. It mearly gives the 4" of lift. Lift and suspension should not be confused.

The real con of the bracket lift is the bolting points at the stock alignment cam bolt locations. The holes on the frame are elongated for alignment adjustment. With the lift a flat plate is provided to make up for this and is then held in place by the frame's cam tabs. This is the weak link in the lift. Then there is the added leverage on the stock steering setup, meaning idler arm which is the real weak link.

Regardless of lift type, wheel travel and the ease of it is the goal for these IFS trucks.

playtoy871

how much $$$ are we talking for a SAS?

Avenged

the kits for sas are not bad but installing it looks like a pain in the rear end

AH64ID

On my 92 p/u and my 95 4runner I had a ProComp Stage II in the front, added warn hubs and powerbarz torsion bars (only do if you have a winch/bumper). In the rear of both trucks I put in 56" leafs, Alcans on the 4runner and TG 3" springs on the p/u. The setup worked great, the extra rear flex and the rear locker made up for the low travel of the IFS.

pyromjm

for front and back playtoy, looks around 2000
at least at this site.
http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/suspension/sas.htm

nix4x4

The decrease in ground clearance comes from a 4" lift by way the front bracket. The front diff drops down and connects to the same bracket as the lower control arms. I got underneath my buddy's stock '93 4Runner with 31x10.50s, and measured the ground clearance. I did the same on my '92 with 4" lift and 31x10.50. I dont quite remember what the measurments came out to be but his had a few more inches of front gruond clearance than mine did. I'm just going off of what i measured.

AH64ID

there were other factors at hand.... Same truck with the same tires and same torsion bar settings will have the SAME ground clearance pre lift as it will post lift. You do not loose ground clearance with a 4" kit, and the breakover angle gets an amazing increase, as do the approach and departure angles.

nix4x4

That may be the case. I didnt account for things like torsion bars, tread depth, etc. All I'm saying is that, IN MY EXPERIENCE, the 4" lift killed my ground clearance in the front. As for evryone else, I can't really say. Just going off of what I've seen to be true.

bruzer

The braket lift kits will give you a better belly clearence and better departure and approach angles as well as more room for tires. They really dont give you any extra travel in the front and no extra clearece between the front tires. I have also seen the brakets for the braket lift kits break.
If you are looking for a decent lift for little money I would look at the OME if you just want a couple of extra inches. There kit allowed me to run 33's and actually gave me more upward travel in the front which helps lots.

FredTJ

Which is the case with a bl without all the expense and higher COG of a suspension lift, plus a bl allows you to push the xfer case/tranny and gas tank up higher without too much impact on the COG, something that a suspension lift doesn't allow.

For 33's a 2" bl is perfect.




Fred

AH64ID

Well std BL vs std susp lift the susp lift is going to provide a 4" increase in center ground clearance, and the equated approach/dep from 4" raised components. A 3" BL will not effect the center ground clearance at all, and you only get the amount of the BL, 3" max, at the approach/dep angles. So even if you raise the drivetrain the 3" the BL allowed you still are 1" lower than a 4" susp lift.

IME the added leverage of a body lift creats a more unstable situation than a well designed susp lift of equal height.