[B]WHY DO A LIFT?[B][ I have been reading all over these boards about the different lift options. Particularly for a 95 4runner. I had finally decided to do the balljoint spacers up front and found a used sway a way torsion bar set, asin manual locking hubs and of course longer shocks (if I can ever find out what length to use)< reference to the balljoint spacer/cruiser coil-longer shock P/N thread> and I picked up some land cruiser coils fj80, and was going to get some sway bar disconects and a panhard drop bracket. I think I have it pretty much covered, but then I started thinking. Am I doing all of this to get one or two more inches of ground clearence ??? Is that really going to be significant. Or do you do a lift on ifs to get more wheel travel? Help me out here guy's, how is this lift going to make my rig more trail worthy? What will I accomplish if I do this lift. I don't intend to do any rock crawling, just trail riding ,hunting and fishing. Did I mention that i'm getting an aussie for the front DTJD (i'm an old fart and don't know most of the computor language like LOL,TTT, bump, so I made up my own. Anyone want to know what that means...anyone...no...anyone, well i'll tell you any way. You know the STEVE MARTIN movie THE JERK? HILLARIOUS. Well, you know that thing he does when the new phone books arrive... I call that DOIN THE JERK DANCE, for those of you with a short mamary (sp) sorry memory it's about six lines back. MY NEW AUSSIE IS COMING..MY NEW AUSSIE IS COMING... now do you have the visual. i feel so board savey now. feel free to use DTJD if you like. Oh , bot (that stands for back on track) you can use that one too if you want. So the fact that I have waaay to much college (a five year AA degree) is starting to show. SOOO tell me, why am I going to lift my truck?

 

To fit bigger tires, Bigger tires = more ground clearance, and besides increasing offroad capability its looks cool to.

 

i lifted my truck to get more hoes. yes... i am kidding

 

I dont know? I agree with you Lifting a truck is bad. You should only do it unless it is absolutly necessary. The trucks behavior sucks after a lift and you put stresses on the suspension. For what you are doing, you dont need a lift. You should be able to do everything you need to do with no lift, 31" tires, and a rear locker. If you lift and run 33's you may gain 10% at most offroad capability. Lifting IFS will not gain you flex.

The traditional logic as to lift is in order to run a larger tire, which increases the ground clearence and the bigger the tire the smaller the obstacle (mostly). With out larger tires, lift wont gain you ground clearance, it will gain you break over angles, and approach and departure angles. But since you are increasing the angle of your a-arms you do gain front ground clearence, but that will only allow you to get into trouble because your rear axle will hang up. Flex has little to do with lift, they just happen to follow each other.

Now if you want to "look cool" then ok I cant help you....lift away

 

My lift gave me the room for some bigger tires which helped in the ground clearance department. Also, my bj spacers up front helped the IFS flex a bit more, as did my chevys in the back.

In a nutshell:
Ground clearance (with bigger tires)
Articulation

 

That's why I don't have any lift...

To clarify some of the misinformation above...

- IFS lifts (other than bracket lifts) do NOT provide room for larger tires. The compression bumpstops are still in the same place!
- IFS lifts do not provide more articulation - the bumpstops are still the same distance apart. One exception: Balljoint spacers kind of cheat this a little by movnig the arms apart to gain more droop travel (the falsely claimed merits of droop travel are for a different thread).

IFS lifts as described by what the OP wants to do can result in better approach/departure/breakover angles at static ride height, but offroad, that is rarely the situation.

 

just do a body lift and be done with it. pretty cheap too.

 

Why even do a body lift if you're only going to run 33's ... get some 33x10.50, install them on the factory rims and bolt em on the truck. MAYBE you have to beat down the pinchweld... Clearance under the axles for the cheapest possible investment.

 

cuz fat chicks cant jump?

 

lots of guys like me like the wide tire and rim look with 12.5's

 

I lifted mine cause Im 17
A 4 inch suspension lift'll get your intake 4 inches higher in the air...always a good thing for water crossings...

 

Then admit you're doing the lift for looks, there's nothing wrong with that. When it comes to facts and function, a 33x10.50 will provide the same ground clearance for less money.


Then you either need to slow down or get a snorkel.

 

true you get the same height/ground clearance but with 12.5's you get more of a contact patch, I believe that means more traction in some cases, and more flotation on soft ground. I know narrow tires are good for things too like...... well I'm sure there are things.

 

some lift to look cool. i lifted mine to get more travel and ground clearance. lift is bad. you want as much tire as possible under the smallest lift possible. lifts obviously make your truck more top heavy so its good to stay low.

i will admit i'm lifting my daily driver cause i like the way it looks/feels to drive. but the purpose of lifting is generally performance.

 

I do agree that lifting a rig too high can be an issue. If all you plan to do is some hunting and fishing then a good set of 31" tires and a locker in the rear will get you a lot of places, learning how to pick a good line will get you farther.

I lifted mine with coils in the rear to eliminate 23 years of sag and get the spring packs off of the over loads. Basically to get the comfort factor back where it needs to be. I then lifted the front with ball joint spacers to level the rig and get me a little more up travel with the low profile bumpstops. I could have fit my 31's with no mods, well actually I did for a while when saving for the lift stuff, and just wheeled the crap out of it, well I did that too actually right after the locker was installed....... I just realized I'm not making a whole lot of sense here.

Oh hell just lift as much as you need and as little as possible. Or don't lift at all if you don't need it, or something.

Crap I'm tired......

 

You know the formula for friction force?

Normal force * coefficient of friction

Note there is no factor for surface area or contact patch.

I will grant you that a 12.50 has more flotation than a 10.50, but IMHO, 10.50 is plenty of flotation for our lighter trucks.

Narrow tires RULE in snow and some mud conditions, and are generally superior on the road due to lower rolling and air resistance.

http://www.expeditionswest.com/resea...tion_rev1.html

 

YES! Picking a line and knowing when/how to throttle/steer/brake makes all the difference.

31's and locked diffs will get you where you need to go if you know how to drive

 

yeah i admit doing lifts for looks. im not the type of guy that beats on trucks. just drive on easy trails thats it. stock, these trucks are pretty low compared to other trucks. and its getting to be a pain bending down to get into my truck. hit my head couple of times already. im used to jumping in.

 

I agree with TC the whole way, out trucks are very capable out of the box unlike many other makes. Get some 33's trim a bit and bam a little taller, Its not like one needs a lift to drive on a washed road, just a brain, go slow and think ahead far. I wish i had some photos of the places i go with my truck and the old work truck.

EDIT: by the way you don't have to be a dick dewiseman.

 

+ 1 on being capable. i remember my dads old yota with a rear detriot. that thing went places in 2wd where other people with stock 4x4s in 4by couldnt