Lift kits will add noticeable height to your truck. Just by glancing at them, I can know how to tell if my truck has a lift kit or not. Let me help you.
Lift kits, though, are an exception to this. They are modest in size and won’t significantly heighten you. As a result, it might be challenging to determine whether a truck has a lift kit fitted in it.
Your truck’s factory settings prevent the installation of a leveling system. For a variety of reasons, truck manufacturers don’t incorporate them. However, if you want to purchase a used truck, you might be curious about how to determine whether the truck has a lift kit fitted or not.
We attempted to provide the simplest methods in this post for determining whether or not your truck has a lift kit fitted.
What Is A Lift Kit?
Your truck or SUV has more ground clearance from the road thanks to a lift kit. How high your vehicle can sit depends on the kind of lift kit you use. The body raise kit creates an inch-wide gap between the body and the frame. You can choose how high you want your truck, SUV, or lifted Jeep to go by selecting a suspension lift kit.
Pros And Cons Of Having A Lift Kit?
The feeling of absolute power you get while gazing down at the automobiles on the road is well-known to anyone who has ever driven a truck that is perched very high above the ground. Body lift kits work by inserting a high-grade nylon spacer between the body and the frame, raising your truck or SUV two to three inches higher. Let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of elevating your vehicle or SUV.
Pros of Lift Kits
Specially designed lift kits are developed to preserve the ride quality of your truck. Lift kits are typically more affordable than suspension lifts and are not as pricey either.
Lift kits don’t call for new shocks because the shocks aren’t touched during the lift. Lift kits provide your tires with greater clearance while maintaining the factory suspension geometry and alignment, which is ideal for off-road enthusiasts.
As high as the driver finds comfortable, Beesides suspension raise kits can be used. The owner’s ability to buy larger tires is made possible by this raise. The suspension is made more articulate by this raise.
Cons of Lift Kits
Because of the nature of the work, installing lift kits takes more time. With these kits, the body must be raised and bolted back into place. The lift kit’s biggest drawback is the gaps in the fender wells and increased visibility of the frame.
Additionally, the OEM bumpers are not lifted along with the body. The frame visibility is a common issue with raise kits. Due to the changing center of gravity, this type of lift does not provide any performance benefits and may even degrade performance.
How To Tell If My Truck Has A Lift Kit?
Finding out whether your truck has a lift kit fitted or not can be difficult. That is, of course, assuming that your truck already has a raise kit fitted in it.
In that situation, you can simply compare the height of your new and old trucks by placing them side by side. It is clear that no raise kit has been placed in your new truck if the front end is lower than it was in the previous model. Otherwise, it is installed if the height is the same.
There is a problem with this rather simple method of detection. Lift kits are available in various sizes. It could happen that your new truck has a 2-inch kit while your old one has a 3-inch lift system.
The problem is that although both vehicles had lift kits fitted, one is still a little lower than the other.
There are basically two sorts of lift kits. The difference between the two is where the spacer is placed on the strut or spring assembly.
Simply look at the top and bottom of the strut or spring assembly where it connects to the lower control arm. There is an additional metal object there. If you are familiar with lift kits, you can easily identify them.
Take a picture instead and show it to a specialist if you are unfamiliar with it. Asking the owner is a simple solution if you’re buying a used or modified truck. The vehicle won’t have a lift kit installed, though, if you’re purchasing a brand-new one.
The Way To Determine The Size Of Lift Kit
If you’re purchasing a stock truck, the handbook will show the lift height. What happens, though, if a raise kit is fitted and you are unable to accurately gauge the height of the lift?
It’s actually quite easy! If you follow these easy steps, you can accurately measure the lift of your truck.
You must first gauge the distance between your truck’s frame and axle. Then, measure a stock truck of the same model using those exact dimensions. Finally, deduct your truck’s measurement from the stock truck. You now know how big your truck’s lift is.
Taking Measurements Before Installing a Kit for Your Lift
What if you are currently installing a lift kit but are unsure of the lift capacity of the kit? In that instance, calculating the amount of lift you are giving your truck or Jeep is really simple.
Measure the distance between the center of the wheel and your fender using a measuring tape first. It is crucial to emphasize that you shouldn’t measure from the ground to the fender in this situation.
This distance can change depending on how large your tires are, therefore you shouldn’t do it. Instead, measure from the center of the wheel to obtain a steady, accurate reading.
Note When Choosing Lift Kit For Your Truck
Depending on the height you want and the type of your truck, a truck raise kit may need to be installed with extra changes to your car. These changes can entail lifting the truck’s bumpers and extending the gear shift through the floorboard.
If the truck is going to get larger tires, the gearing may need to be changed to meet the change. To keep the truck’s original mileage, re-gearing might also be required. To establish whether re-gearing will be required, truck owners should give a qualified truck mechanic information on the truck model and lift kit.
Additionally, changing the suspension and tire height also affects the shock absorption system. As a result, the ride occasionally gets less comfortable. If you think you might need a new shock absorber, check for a truck lift kit that comes with one. If not, there will be an additional cost.
The three primary functions of a vehicle’s suspension are to control stability, keep tires on the ground, and smooth out bumps. The force of the forces acting on your wheels is absorbed by the spring.
Coil springs and leaf springs are the two most popular forms of springs. Both types effectively absorb energy, however after encountering a bump, shock absorbers are necessary to lessen or dampen their vibration.
The wheels should be purchased after the lift kit in order to avoid the need for a wheel adaptor/spacer when installing a new lift kit. This is so that many lift kits, which depend on a minimum rim offset, can function.
Spacers and wheel adaptors make the wheels compatible with the vehicle and its kit. They still incur additional costs, and they might not be adequate to meet a lift kit’s requirements.
Do Lift Kits Affect Performance?
It elevates the vehicle’s center of gravity, whether it’s a lift or a leveling kit. In lift kits as opposed to leveling kits, the effects of a higher center of gravity are more significant.
The greater center-of-gravity effect is more evident the higher the lift. It can change how a car reacts when making curves or turns. Strong crosswinds can also change the dynamics of the system.
Because a suspension lift kit modifies suspension components, you can experience a difference in ride quality.
A lift kit is something to think about if your job requires you to travel to some rough terrain. Greater ground clearance can be achieved by raising your car by several inches. You can use all that extra wheel travel for rock crawling if you mount some powerful, large tires.
Final Thoughts
When buying second-hand trucks, the consumers often ask how to tell if my truck has a lift kit. It’s fairly easy to tell actually. Most trucks have lift kits fitted in them in the same way as in the others. But, due to the wide range of truck types, it can be difficult to detect if a lift kit is installed. In this article we have clearly elaborated a few techniques for you to apply. Feel free to connect with us when you have any questions.