MKW

I gather that most people here do not care for the bracket lifts, but I would like to know whick company makes the best/strongest bracket lift for my 89 4x4?? I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my truck and want to look at all options. I do not intentionally wheel my truck. It gets used for hunting which takes me 1hr on the highway each time to get to our land.
I'd like to run 33s as comfortable and worry free as possible and with no rubbing. I do realize that I'll need to regear.

Mike

eightnine

Why not just get a 1 or 2 inch body lift as the 33s will fit the truck stock. I'm sure someone else will chime in on the bracket lifts.

87LVRunner

It's interesting that some just don't like the bracket lift. I don't know, but I've never had issues with mine off road. I'm not ready to SAS the thing just becuase it's more money than I care to spend right now, that, and I have a Jeep to rock crawl.

With that said, I had a 1989 Toyota standard cab with a 2 inch body lift and the torsion bars adjusted for 1 inch of lift. That thing rode like a buck board. The body lift made the truck pretty top heavy, especially with the camper shell on. It was only solved when I put a full cage on the inside.

Now I have a 1987 4Runner with a Procomp Stage II lift. It's four inches compared to the three on the truck and it rides like a caddy in comparison. I paid $500 bucks for the lift off of ebay.

If you are talking mild wheeling but want something taller and are handy with the tools, I would reccomend the bracket lift. Even moderate wheeling would be fine. It the future, I will put the Downey system on, but $2K is a bit much. Here is what you could expect from a bracket lift and 33 inch tires...

MKW

87LV,
That's a nice looking Runner!
No body lifts for me.

Mike

nix4x4

Not sure why yu have a problem with a body lift, but fair enough.
Its your truck.

I have a 4" Rough Country bracket lift on my '92. It has definately served me
well, and I can't really say I've been unhappy with it.

Basically, an RC lift is nothing more/less than a Superlift kit, minus zinc coating, which will save you a few hundys. Worth the $700 IMO, but if you
want to run 33's, you might not want one that big.

They used to make a 3"
but IDK if they still do. Worth checking out.

[N8]

I don't mind my bracket lift. I don't know that I'd go the same route again, but I don't mind it, lol.

mt_goat

I like my Superlift, but I've seen the ProComp Stage II and it has better/stronger kickers.

87LVRunner

I should say, I'd go with a 1 inch body lift and I have tossed it around, but the two inch I had just made the truck feel that much more top heavy.

coheed

Not to hi-jack, but my question is, does anyone other than sky-jacker make the bracket lift with replacement rear springs instead of rear blocks?

I've seen to many blocks break under stress and flexing to trust my truck on top of them.

flashkl

I got the skyjacker kit and the drop brackets themselves are super beefy. The only thing that the pro comp stage II does better IMO is the reinforcement strut bar things. But you can always buy those separate, and besides, it'll take a helluva big impact to bend the whole shebang. As for rear lift springs, when I was doing my research, skyjacker was the only kit with them. If you want soembody else's kit, you can still get springs from someone like northwest offroad or alcan, but it's gonna be more money.

Jay351

Uhm. The body lift wouldnt make your COG as high as a bracket lift. Not even close. Probibly compairable to a 1" suspension lift..

It rode like crap because of your cranked t-bars...

Sorry, but that info is a little misleading...

87LVRunner

Well, I've had both. I personally do not like body lifts over an inch. I did it then because I could not afford anything else. To get to 4 inches, a BL and cranked torsion bars will not ride as nice as a bracket lift. (this is what I was trying to say).

If I mislead anyone into thinking a body lift made the truck ride bad then I apologize. I was saying, I got two inches out of the body lift, but to get the rest of the lift, I had to crank the torsion bars. That made the ride rough. With the bracket lift, you don't have to crank t-bars. Also, the truck was more top heavy than what I have now. Maybe because one was a truck and this one is a 4Runner???

Jay351

Well, obviously cranked torsion bars will cause the ride quality. NOT the body lift. The body lift does not affect much in terms of handling.

If you cranked the torsion bars with your bracket lift, it would ride the same way..

Thats all im tryin to say

87LVRunner

Gotcha! Me too!! Haha. I'z gots English skillz... Besides, I want a Total Chaos lift but I can't swallow the $$$ pill.

yoder519

well if you dont like body lifts.. just get some 1.5inch ball joint spacers and a 2inch add a leaf. thats what i got and i clear 33x12.50s with no rubbing at all. well when i wheel it it rubs, but pavement pounding not a bit

87LVRunner

If I was on the market right now, it's the way I would go. Back in the day, I didn't have access to the internet, no computer. Can you imagine? Today I work for Google. Haha! My 4Runner has the bracket lift on it already. I got it for $500 off ebay. Next up, will either be Downey or Total Chaos. I need something other than a SA for the desert out here.

ovrrdrive

I have a bracket lift and a body lift on my truck and I don't mind either. Different strokes...

If you're looking for a lift that doesn't use rear blocks, just buy a Rough Country lift and a separate rear kit from Trail Gear or Marlin. That should put you around $1200 but it would be a better lift that the crappy springs you'd get from Skyjacker or Superlift.

I looked long and hard at the Procomp lifts but I just couldn't bring myself to buy one. I liked the idea of the bars on the Stage 2 but the way they use the tabs to drop the front crossmember makes me worry. I think they had to add the bars to the kit to make it strong enough. The Rough Country, Superlift and Skyjacker are the only ones that use the full length brackets from what I saw.

Jay351

Mmmmmm long travel! I want the total chaos gen 2 kit. I wish I had an extra few grand layin around

I think I want a v8 more though

FUSOTECH

Sounds like you are not going to do any serious wheeling. Just use 2" add-a-leaf in rear
and crank the T-bars. Suspension Connection has add-a-leaf for $44.95.

Jay351

Body lift, dont crank the t-bars. It will ride so bad! You will loose all your downtravel.