I am looking to get a 4" lift suspension lift kit for my 4x4 expedition to run 35" tires. I was thinking Trail Master but then Rancho came out with there lift. Has anyone tried either of these. How is the ride? Also how much was it all together?

 

might be a little late to respond to this topic, but:
i have a buddy with a 4" rancho on his expy with 35' superswamper tsl radials. he loves the lift, commenting on how much more thorough the lift is than others out on the market. well, thats one for rancho!

 

Go with the trailmaster kit. I put a 4" lift on my 99' f150 and it rides great. Trailmaster doesn't give you an overly stiff and harsh ride as rancho does. Their kits are less expensive and are completely bolt on. Another great thing about the TM kit is the differential drops with brackets so you driveline stays the same. The torsion bars also don't need to be adjusted and are mounted with the same factory specs.Basically all the parts on your truck bolt back on your truck with the TM brackets. You may need to put an extra add a leaf in the back to level out the truck, since expy's are heavier in the back. The kit cost me about $1100 compared to Rancho $1400-$1500.

[This message has been edited by raully (edited 03-31-2001).]

 

I have to agree with raully, I have been running the Trailmaster for almost 2 years and very pleased with it. I think all the lifts are very good, and I know a guy with the Rancho lift, and he really like it. but I have used Trailmaster before and have friends who use them and no one has ever had a problem with it.
There is a member on the board (I think its NOMO, but not sure) who had a Trailmaster installed on his Expy and had lots of trouble with it. Not sure how he got it resolved, but I do remember thinking it was the people who installed it who screwed it up.
My vote agian is for the Trailmaster. For the $$$, you can't go wrong.

Scott

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97 F-150 Black, 4x4 XLT ext.cab,sb,w/Offroad Package,
4" Suspension lift, 3" body lift,
4.56 gears w/LS,
Flowmaster 50 Series w/ duals out rear,
36x14.5x16 Parnelli Jones Dirt Grip tires,
16x10 Weld Sidewinder wheels,
Pre-Runner Bumper w/KC Daylighters & PIAA 520 Driving Lights,
Steel Horse Billet Upper and Lower Grilles,
Kodiak Sidewinder Steps,
Pro-Comp Front Skid Plate,
Summit Aluminum Diff cover,
Rancho 9000's w/in-cab remote,
Lift Lips,
Lighted FORD logo,
K&N Filter,
Superchip,
Bosch Platinum +4,
TransGo Shift kit,
Clear corner lenses,
Altezza style Tailight covers,
Bug shield,Tinted windows
Sony ES Mobile head unit,Sony ES Mobile changer,MTX Thunderform sub,Boston Acoustic Pro-Series up front, Polk in rear,PPI & Coustic Amps,Alpine Alarm

Check it out at:
http://hometown.aol.com/squanto804/scottwebpage.html
<A HREF="http://www.f150world.com/Squanto804" TARGET=_blank>
http://www.f150world.com/squanto804</A>

 

Another member to possibly contact is ronbeezy his email is ExpiOn35s@cs.com
He installed a RCD and has 35's. Do a search under suspension by user name and you'll found pics.

 

I just want to say I have been looking into lifts for about 2 years now and I was ready to go with the Trailmaster and I was talked out of it by 5 different sources. They have said after about 5000 miles the front brackets break in a high percentage of their lifts. I am sure there are some out there that will never see any problems but I ended up going with the new Rancho 4". It has less separate parts and the way it drops the front end is much better (I was told). Just my 2 cents.

Steve

 

Well I know around a dozen people who have used Trailmaster lifts (about half of them are on Fords) And not one person has had a problem. And most of them thrash there trucks pretty hard.I'm sure if there was such a problem they would have put out a recall or fixed the problem. Trailmaster would not have make themselves such a big name in suspension lifts if they built junk.

Scott

 

Every brand has their own flaws from time to time. Rancho's one piece crossmember overstresses frame, trailmaster's can have alignment problems, superlift (recall on steering stuff), pro comp had problems.

It comes down to those whose problems are of littlest significance. And those who are best and curing the problems that arise.

 

I agree with you totally. All will have good and bad points.