So a local is selling what he claims to be a 5" suspension lift, but he doesn't know too much about it. This is what he told me about it "i didnt istall it myself but from what i see, the crossmember that will be included replaces the old crossmember and is bolted into the old camber/caster adjustment location which drops it about 5 inches....there is a spacing kit from the upper control arm to the steering knuckle and the brake line mount is connected there as well as the tie rod is connected to it and yes there is a diff lowering bracket also"

To me it sounds like it's basicly lowering the crossmember away from the frame and not actually going to increase suspension travel and just act as basicly a body lift. Here are some pictures, tell me what you think.

 

Looks like a Superlift 4" bracket lift.

Btw, its not the crossmember or the diff drop that gives it the lift, it's the drop brackets for the spindles.

You can to Superlifts website and download instructions that will show you the parts in the kit.

 

Exactly drop bracket lift kit. The ONLY thing added is clearance for larger tires. A more expensive total chaos kit will get you more travel.

 

You do gain substancially more suspension travel. More down-travel and esp. up-travel. Look how far from the bumpstop the lower control arm is, way further than stock. You'd need extended bumpstops to see no extra travel.

 

Here's a couple pics from the one I just put on my truck.

 

Btw, after looking at your pics again, he's missing the lower bumpstop extensions... Good way to break some stuff.

 

Yeah theres no way to get travel out of the stock IFS. Either go SAS or Total Chaos for travel.

Bracket Lift = Mall Crawler!

 

worth the money? basicly it's looking like it would cost a little more than BJ spacers, shocks, steering stabalizer. Which i was planning on doing anyways. I can easily fab up some bump stop extensions

 

This is the kit I'd get.http://downeyoff-road.com/Suspension...s/1986-95.html

Bracket lift worth it? Not in my opinion. Bracket lift=show trucks that don't perform off-road (as well as ANY other means of lift).

Oh, and a body lift wouldn't raise your center-of-gravity, as drastically as a bracket lift.

 

Depends on how much money he wants for it and what type of wheeling you do...

Anything like this inherently reduces the strength of the IFS system, making it more likely to fail if you wheel excessively hard.

If you're like me and drive mostly on the street and do mild wheeling and are just looking to jack the truck up so you can run bigger tires then they are good lifts.

However if you beat on your truck really hard or crawl rocks, I think I'd pass.

 

but the downey kit is about $2000 when all said and done, the guy is selling this lift for $500, it looks like it would in effect do the same as BJ spacers no? just much more lift.

 

If he wants $500 for it I'd pass...

The kits new sell for about $850 if it is a Superlift, but the Rough Country kits sell for $599 and they are made on the same assembly line. They just put cheaper coatings on the RC stuff. It's just as strong and is exactly the same kit. And for $599 you get blocks for the rear too.

If you get a used kit you're going to want new shocks at a minimum, and may have to buy new bolts or hardware to make it work. At $500 it just wouldn't be worth it to me to buy it used. I may give $250-300 if I really wanted it but that would be tops.

Go look around Rough Country's website and then compare their lift to the one at Superlifts site.

For the money you can't beat Rough Country.

 

Yea you can find similar lifts for about $500 new.

 

[QUOTE=MudHippy;50490291]This is the kit I'd get.http://downeyoff-road.com/Suspension...s/1986-95.html

Bracket lift worth it? Not in my opinion. Bracket lift=show trucks that don't perform off-road (as well as ANY other means of lift).

QUOTE]

Not true, look here

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f86/ah64ids-truck-85525/

 

Without compression bump stops you can bet it will definitely increase suspension travel. I would not recommend running that way, but you would not be the first person to have done so.

I would say offer $250 or walk. If you do by it, make some lower bump stop mounts a little more around 2.8" and you'll be able to safely maximize the front end travel. I had about 14" on my old '89 doing that with BJ spacers.

If you search though, you can find all the downsides to bracket style lifts

I'll see if I can find some pics of my old truck in action. That was many computers and hard drives ago so I'll have search archives.

Frank

 

If these pictures are in fact of the "locals" truck then he lives in B.C (canada)

That means no 500 doller brand new ifs lifts!

Expect another few hundred on top of that.

Looks like it has rancho steering stabilizer so maybe its a rancho system?

 

Eh, when was the last time you looked at the exchange rates?

Right now $1 US is $1.16 Canadian. Your money doesn't suck like it used to.

Ok, so how does a $580 lift sound? ($500 * 1.16)

In all reality though, about the cheapest lifts I've seen that I'd spend money on are the Rough Country lifts that are $599 here, or $694 Canadian buckaroo's.

And looking at the kit, it's definitely either a Superlift or Rough Country kit. No doubt about it.

 

Hmmm, I could see it giving a little more travel with moving the bumpstops, but I like the fact that the CV angle isnt any worse with this kit over BJ spacers.

 

Right now I'd say either the shock or the inner part of the frame are the "bumpstops".

Frank

 

Its not just the exchange rate, its the border fee's and whatnot.

Lifts are just more expensive here

I know... I have gone and looked at them