Hey owners!

I haven't done anything to my '05 F150 Screw yet. Want to, haven't had the money, but its coming, hopefully.

I'd like to put a lift on. My question is which one?
I've heard good things about Fabtech, and Rize.....
Wanting to go with a 6" lift, I thought about a 4" Rancho lift. But centering on a 6" kit including shocks and the whatnots. With 35's
So, is it just a cost difference, personal preference?
Give me some opinions, if any of you wouldn't mind.

Also, where can I get a decent price on the kit you suggest?
I'm mechanically inclined so I can do the install.

 

A lift does sound nice, but im not trying to tell you what to do, im just offering my opinion, i know how cool a lift looks on a truck, but i would recommend going against it because it causes so many problems later with suspension and shocks and frame, so i wouldnt go with one but if you have to i would go with rise.

 

Hmm, interesting opinion, thanks.
No offense taken!!

 

Do you plan to do any offroading? That would answer most of your questions...

I'll be 100% honest, I am getting the Rize lift for the looks, and probably won't even think about going off road... I know i'll have a couple guys jump down my throat saying its a waste of money to do that but I wouldn't want to mess anything up with my truck... since its only a couple months old and only has 2500 miles on it... Plus my boufriend has the Hummer to go off road with so the truck wouldn't even compare lol

I have heard good things about Fabtech and if you don't want 6" although you said your set on, the Rancho 4" lift looks awesome on our trucks... couple members on here have it and it looks nice...

It mostly on personal preference, and how much you want to spend... My total cost for tires, wheels, and lift is somewhere between $6-$7000... So i'll need a couple tax return checks to finish my truck

Good luck on your choices, and can't wait to see pics when you get it done

 

How will you be using your truck? If it's a street ride (just for looks), you can use almost any. If you're wheeling, what kind? What kind of ride do you like, hard or soft?
A kit from any major manufacturer is likely to be good in general, but they each have their strong and weak points. And when you ask this kind of question, you're likely to get most guys answering, "I have 'brand X' and it rocks ". Doesn't tell you much, except who has what kit.
So, ask specific questions, what is it you want to know? Compare the ride to stock?
A good question that rarely gets ask - how is the back lifted? Some kits have springs, are they 6" springs, 4"? Does it use blocks? If so how tall? Do they want you to stack the factory block with their block?
By the way, stacking blocks has always been a major no-no in suspensions, until the last few years... with the cost of IFS kits being so high, everyone is looking for where they can keep costs down - some have gone to stacking blocks instead of new spring packs. I could spend a lot of time talking about why tall blocks and stacked blocks are bad, but there's lots of that info in other threads.
In the end, it is about your personal preferences and why you want a tall truck. Decide what those are and ask questions directly related to what you need to know about, like ride quality... then make an informed decision.

By the way, I'm getting ready to install a SkyJacker 6" kit and it rocks !!!

Sorry, had to throw that in after the lecture!

 

Okay! Very good!
I will be off-roading it. To what extent I'm not sure. Nothing damaging though I am sure. Probably your standard off roading, not rock crawling extreme, but not just driving down a graded dirt road with some gravel and washboards.
Ride? Yeah, I care for the stock ride, its fairly smooth. A little stiffer never hurts and I'm not afraid of that, but I don't want to be bouncin' out of the seat with every bump either.

How is the rear lifted? that is a good question! Didn't think about putting that in. But, I've always thought that giant lifted trucks are not so tough if all it has in the rear is like a 8" block under the stock leafs. I think its a weaker form of suspension IMO. My brother has a 69 ford with an 8" lift, all on arched springs, no blocks....arched springs probably aren't cheap.
Now being that I'm not looking to go monster truck high with it, a small block 2"-4" or something probably isn't a big concern. I just want it to look all tall and massive then look down and see this giant block under it. Like a short guy wearing platform shoes to look taller/tougher.

and yes, I know the question raised will get alot of opinion from people on they're own lift. But I would also hope that some, perhaps like yourself, would throw in info that will help, other than "I have this and it rocks". Perhaps I should ask for some facts to support why it rocks. Not just it looks cool, they all pretty much achieve the same look.

So skyjacker kit huh? It rocks you say?
Ha ha! j/k
I do know a little though..... Are you going with the kit that converts the rear suspension to coil springs and a four link?
You raised the question about the rear and using blocks......if you are converting the rear to coils, is that one of the reasons?

 

Rancho 4" on 35's, couldnt be happier, it does everything I need. No rubbing and no bigger than it needs to be. Dont get me wrong I would love an 8" Rize on 37's but not practical (not for me at least). All the lifts are great, with a few exceptions. It really depends on what your application is, I wanted to run 35's with ZERO issues. I found the 4" kit to be a better solution to my needs than the leveling kit. Still retains factory ride and handling and provides both the look and performance I sought. The biggest advantage to running a larger tire is the ground clearance gained. I have put my truck next to trucks with 6" Fabtechs and never really seen a discernable difference. Of course I see a difference between mine and a RIZE but a RIZE also allows for a bigger tire where as a Fabtech does not (still run 35's) With the lift on my truck I feel as if I have done nothing to my truck, same as factory. With almost any vehicle there is a difference in performance (to some extent) that you agree to live with (not a bad thing) for the look/performance gained. I dont feel that I made a compromise in any way. The extra height from a 6" would be great but I dont feel that aesthetically there is a difference in the look between 4 and 6" (IMHO) For me i'm getting to be an old man and jumping in and out of this thing is enough of a pain in the a$$ as it is. Also for me I did not want to move the steering rack....Ranchos' kit allowed for the lift without doing so, in addition to running the factory rims which I am rather fond of.

 

I'm doing the standard SkyJacker kit, which includes rear leafs with 4" lift - I'll end up leaving the the stock block, which should leave the back about 2" higher than stock - the look I like. I have not installed yet, but do have their 3" kit and have used a number of their suspensions, so my opinion -

It will ride firmer than stock, not objectionable to me and far from a harsh ride. I would characterise it as a more controlled ride.
I like the leaf springs for the back - I haul a lot of stuff and tow pretty regularly. If I went 4-link I'd have to air bag it and I really don't need the advantages of the four link for my usage. I've seen both tall blocks (4" plus) and stacked blocks kick out - I prefer to keep my axle in the middle where it belongs so the factory 2" block doesn't bother me, but anything bigger I would not use.
I like the 3" drop brackets for the front axle, overall wheel travel is increased somewhat and the diff is 3" further from bottoming out. The drop knuckles should eliminate bump steer and steering angles.

I don't anticipate the 6" ride to be a lot different from the 3", so I don't see high speed washboard passes something I will do, nor do I think this is necessarily the right suspension for them. For "light off road" - trails, light mud, I even ran Poison Spider and Fins n Feathers in Moab - I have been extremely happy with all aspects. The only problem I experienced was blowing out the front shocks, which they have redesigned and sent me replacements with no questions asked.

 

My personal favorite is of course Rize, RCD, and Fabtech. I don't think you'll be disappointed with any of these kits.

 

Just curious Thumper, what do you like about those kits? Ride quality, those types of things.

 

Well, I'm thinking Fabtech, Rize, or Procomp.
Those who have bought and done an install yourselves, where was a good price on the kit?

 

Thanks Muddy!
Nice truck!

Excellent info Bryndon!
Much preesh!

 

I couldn't agree with ThumperMX113 more. I have done a load of research for the right lift on this site, and the majority of the trucks with the Rize and Fabtech kits are most satisfied. This is why I chose to go with the 6" Fabtech. I am also going to install the 2.5" daystar leveling kit and 2" procomp AAL in the rear with block (like trook2001). I bought the lift(1500) through 4wheelparts.com along with the Edge evo-programer(440) shipped to Hawai'i for 2300 bucks, a good deal to me. Anyways, good luck on your quest for the "right" kit Mastacator. I am sure that you have chosen th right site to answer all of your questions, laters.

 

If you have the extra $$$ get the rize, but if you want to save a $1000+ you'll be happy with a Fabtech. (my 2cents)

 

All of the kits ride good and are well designed, not to mention have good customer service. Theres not too much more you can say. Honestly if I hadn't bought the 8" Rize, I would of gone with the 6" RCD.