Installing lift how hard is it?

Ok so I thought about buying a lift (maybe a three inch) and installing myself I'm not totally mechanically inclined but I've never installed a lift can anyone tell me if it's worth trying or pay someone ? I want a three inch lift what's the best?


Oh and merry Christmas !!!

 

Best is dependent on your budget and goals. Hoe much do you want to spend and what do you plan on doing with your truck???

As far as installation- I always vote for DIY- but if you aren't comfortable with mechanical work- Find a friend who is or pay up to have it installed.

 

A small three inch lift should not be to difficult to install. If you have the right tools, then all you need to do is follow the directions. Keep in mind that you will encounter problems (stuck bolts, broken bolts, etc.). These are all part of the install, and will probably happen. If you don't feel you can install the lift saftly, then take it to a mechanic, becuase you don't want to skimp on this type of thing.

I put my lift in in about 6 hours, mainly cuase it was my first time around, and it took some de-rusting to get many bolts out. I work at a garage, though, and had a nice rotary lift and Snap On tools, so this helped me greatly. Whatever you do, make sure it is done safely.

As for a good lift, I reccomend anything from Toytec. These lifts are generally looked up upon, and have a wide range of costs. Hope this helps, and good luck with the install

 

Christopher four by four convinced me on the Complete OME lift. Appears to be quality.

 

x2

x2 I am very happy with my OME. I would like to point out, the challenge is not installing the lift.. that is actually fairly easy. For me, the challenge was all the little bity things I had to do afterwards to get rid of Vibrations caused by lifting the truck. I would advise you to read all the threads in here related to Lifting in the "lifts & Suspension" topic. There is a great amount of information and posts from others that will make it a breeze.

 

If you have the right tools and can follow simple directions the install is relatively easy for most lifts. For coil spring replacement I suggest taking the parts to your local suspension shop and let them swap.

Ditto on any of the Toytec lifts- quality parts and excellent customer service.

 

yeah....RiIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

Merry Christmas Bud!!

 

Depends...lift installation itself with the right tools isn't that bad...but are you going to do other things as well?

Suspension lifts open a lot of cans of worms, potentially. A lot of people lift to add larger tires - but then you're altering your gearing ratios with respect to tire rotation and crawl ratio in 4-lo - regearing, though not necessary, is a good idea to retain power and crawl characteristics at the expense of fuel economy.

Larger tires with lift also will alter the braking characteristics of your rig, requiring longer breaking distances with the same brakes, or larger/more powerful brakes to maintain braking characteristics.

Then of course you have the potential for driveline vibes which need to be sussed out - could result in carrier bearing or differential relocation, new driveshaft, or even be completely unfixable.

Depending on how extreme you get with the modification, these items may need to be addressed or may not need to be addressed - a lot of that is the individual's preference. A shorter lift will likely require less of these ancillary items to still be satisfactory.

 

So 'professional' that you misspelled professional.

I don't take days off!!

 

JUst promise me you wont make a sprin compressor out cargo straps and a come along....

 

If you are mechanically skilled, safety minded and have a good friend that is even more of the two... I'd say do it. Remember that's just me - I like to know how my rides are put together so when shee ite happens, you can have a higher level of confidence to either fix it (hopefully on the spot) or know when you should not even attempt to drive it.

I think if you are skilled, the more you know about your truck the better - especially if you are going to take it out of AAA range!

 

Installing a lift on your truck is very difficult and costs alot of money. I wouldn't recommend it for any geek off the street, you gotta be handy with the steel, if ya know what I mean.

Only two special shops will install it for you in the entire country, and they're usually booked up this time of year. Expect to pay them about 20 grand. I do believe theres one on my street!

 

I totally agree!!! The more you know about your truck the better. It's not difficult to install the kit you just gotta take your time and not rush cause that's when things go wrong. I just finished installing a toytec 3" lift kit a couple days ago and it went really smooth, but it did take me about 6 hours cause it was my first time installing a lift. If i were to do it again i could get it done in half the time. I also rented that no good spring compressor from autozone which was worthless... i ended up taking it to a tire shop so they could compress the spring and add the spacer to the front end.

 

Good job!