Is This A Safe Way To Lift My Truck?

[El Camino Man]

Hello guys! I look at your guys' lifted trucks and it makes me slightly depressed. Im a broke bastard! I work 3.5 hours a night for $8.50. Needless to say... I barely make enough to make a truck payment, let alone buy a lift kit :thumbdown:

I see that the body lift kits are basically pieces of plastic. I was wondering if I could make my own out of metal. Theyd last longer for sure but would it mess with the "bounce" of my truck? (would it be harder on my chassis).

And I also see a relatively simple way to do a suspension lift: blocks and t-bar crank. The blocks look like a piece of steel and new u-bolts. Iv got steel lying around here so I could make my own. Right? Is there anything special about the lift blocks you get off the internet? Are both of these safe ways to lift my truck? Thanks guys!

 

[klinger86]

i wouldnt make my own body lift spacers...

 

[ob269]

I have heard of people making bl out of hockey pucks though..

 

[El Camino Man]

Yea I have too lol. But those are still plastic-ish (prolly polyurethane). What about metal?

 

[Brinker88]

Use the polyuerethane hockey pucks. Dont go metal. Too much friction buildup and too heavy. I built my bro's jeep w/ hockey pucks. They dont crack or break and they're dirt cheap.

 

[El Camino Man]

Ill look em up on ebay lol

 

[El Camino Man]

Theres an auction on there now for 52 pucks for $12 w/ shipping lol. I think Ill go that route. But what about the blocks? Ill prolly end up double lifting it if I can

 

[Brinker88]

Get ahold of Rough country. The block kit with u-bolts is around $40.

 

[El Camino Man]

Wow thats cheaper than I figured itd be lol. And Id feel better about it

 

[El Camino Man]

They dont make anything for my generation

 

[Brinker88]

Yes they do. Call them up and ask them for a block kit for a 97 ford ranger. It's the same setup.

 

[El Camino Man]

Ahh gotcha. So the Rangers had the same rear suspension since day 1?

 

[Brinker88]

Pretty much as long as they have an 8.8 Only real difference is they switched to a different shackle in I believe 2009 for some odd reason

 

[El Camino Man]

I have a 2011. Will that affect me?

 

[Brinker88]

nope. Just make sure you get 3.25" wide u-bolts instead of the smaller u-bolts for the "older" rangers. You have the 31 spline axle whereas 90% of rangers have the 28 spline.

Ask rough country to give you u-bolts for an 80-96 4x4 F150 and blocks for a 3rd gen (93-97) ranger and you should be good to go bud.

 

[doyouquaxu]

edit ^ what he said

 

[El Camino Man]

Hey, you guys said I could do that hockey puck lift, so I searched around and didnt find any info on it. Do you guys know someone I can talk to thats done it before?

 

[Brinker88]

Me! Lol. Look up how many bushings are in a regular body lift, and multiply that by 3 (they're exactly an inch tall). Get bolts that are, wait for it... 3 inches longer than stock ones (grade 8) and install it.

 

[El Camino Man]

No way! Genious! Lol. What about steering extensions and such?

 

[Brinker88]

You shouldnt need steering extensions. My stock one fit.You should be good to go. Just remember you WILL need a filler neck extension. Just go to any hydraulic hose shop and they will cut it to length for you.