lift kits
 

so i wanted to get yalls opinions on some things.

truck is an 03 (mods in sig)

right now it is sitting on a 6" kit spinning 37s and im starting to get tired of the terrible ride and crappy fuel econ (14-16 sometimes down to 12 at higher freeway speeds) and am thinking about changing things up a little. I do go off road about 3-5 times a month so i dont want to go back to stock with the truck.

right now the truck has traction bars on the rear end so what i was thinking about doing was using those as a 4-link and building a 4link for the front end and air riding the truck. on that note here are my questions.

1 what size lift would i need to clear 35s with no rub (maybe a little at full turn if i run wider tires)

2 spinning 35s would i see any change in fuel economy (i.e. over the long term would it be worth all the money i would end up spinning)

3 i know if i did air ride front and rear the ride quality would be WAY better but would i see any loss in ability to tow (i dont know how high load ratings go on taller bags that would fit my application)

3a would stability be an issue when towing (not talking massive loads mostly 3-5k lb on a bumper pull)

thanks

jeremy

air bags would actually improve your towing abilities, as for height you will just have to build higher brackets. would you still keep the springs or run bags all the way around? if you do bags, you could do 2 or 4 bags on the rear end and then do a 5 link. check out kelderman air ride. they have air lif kits and you could probably get some ideas off there.

kelderman is what really gave me the idea for it.

i would be ditching the leaf springs all the way around and running bags in all 4 corners (alrdy want a belt driven compressor and a 20 gallon tank so i can work out of my truck so this will be the push to make me get it.)

now i know im gunna sound like an idiot but ive never heard or or seen a 5 link. assuming its a standard 4 link with an extra point of attachment.

also dont the 6.0s have traction bars running to the front since they r coil springs. would it be possible to get the traction bar for the front of a 6.0 and mount it to my 7.3 to get the up front 4 link that im looking for without having to do a ton of fab work

a 5 link; 4 bars going forward to hold the axle front to back, then the 5th to keep the axle centered side to side. for the compressor, look at international trucks with the T444E so you can see how the compressor is mounted. i think the frames area little different on the 05's. if you're going thru all this work to do full air ride then why skimp on the trailing arms? there will be fab ork anyways... make sure you keep the sway bars on too.

was actually about to ask a question about the sway bars. was wondering if i could run limiting straps in all 4 corners and use them as a way to keep the body from rolling. thinking if this is possible it would be really helpful bc i could easily take the limiting straps off the front and rear to get full play in the suspension where as to do sway bars i would have to slide under the truck to remove them.

Might be a dumb question, but what sort of cost are you looking at for redoing the suspension and how does that compared to the projected fuel savings? Would you gain enough mpg and travel enough miles to recoop the costs associated with this change?

Or is the main driver ride comfort?

in truth its for 3 major reasons. well kinda 4.

1- fuel economy. i drive on avgerage 30-50k miles a year so getting 14-16 v getting 16+ the majority of the time would make a large difference.
2-fuel economy 2.0. lets face it for the most part its all a mental game. i have an a gps that i keep on the "trip" monitor that tells me miles driven and seeing how far i drive between fill ups doesnt make me happy so even if i gain say 1 mpg thats 30 miles over a tank 2-4 tanks a week and thats 60-120 miles extra. simply put it just makes me feel better even though there is little to no change
3 ride quality is a huge factor. i used to live in houston where the roads where a little nicer and ride quality wasnt a huge factor. now that im in huntsville (particularly out in the county) roads are terrible and ride quality is becoming an issue.
4 just like everyone theres a little piece of me that does mods to my truck just because i think it would be cool

^ i agree with all of that. as much as you drive i would want a smooth ride regardless of the road condition. you could do limiting straps as well, but say you make a right turn, the body will naturally roll to the left. so the right side will only pick up so much but the left side will still continue to drop. so think about that. i have seen quick disconnect sway bars for jeeps so maybe you could get some ideas off that. i would love to bag the rear on my 99 and maybe even the front. eventually i will but it would be more for towing.

ya. i see what your saying. didnt really think of that. ive looked around for someone that makes quick disconnect swaybars for out truck and i only found ones that work for jeeps. so it might be something that i would have to make or have made.

right now im still debating on what exactly i wanna do. thinking the first step will be to do the rear end since its much easier and use that to gauge what exactly it will take to do the front.

the big issue im having now is what compressor to run. trans does NOT have a pto but i could swap the housing and that would give me a ton of air. or i could go with the engine driven compressor and that would supply me with more than enough air. or i could run 2 viairs (probly the 480s) and that with a 20 gallon tank would give me a lot of air.

the big problem that i see is if a compressor from the first two options failed im sitting on the air in the tank and lets face it over the sound of the engine and tires at freeway speed i wont be able to hear the compressor or if i did hear it i would assume the tank is full and thats y its off. however if i run the viair compressors i know that i have a back up if something happens to one.

if and when i end up getting it done ill be sure to let you know and get you some pics and tips incase you do decide to do it. lord knows im going to run into some issue somewhere along the line

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think i may have just found an easy way to do the front. fabtech makes a coil over conversion for our trucks. going to call them tomorrow and see if they will be willing to break the kit apart and sell me just the 4link bars and mounts. if so then that would cover the really tough stuff

why not coilovers? buddy of mine sells a kit you might be interested in. this is it on his truck

Attachment 37964:tttt:

just kidding lol.

on another note, i would certainly run limit straps and sway bars. unless you do coilovers!!:humm:

i thought about doing coilovers but they are less versatile than air bags. with air bags if i am off roading in the hill country (where my dads place is) i would be able to inflate the front bags if there is something that my bumper wont clear. also the ability to make the truck "kneel" will be very helpful as i am the only one who has a lifted truck in my family so i am always having to raise the trailers to hook up (they have half tons so it can be a long way up even with an 8" drop hitch).

not that i would do this but its an idea. if i was parked illegally where i thought my truck would get towed i could drop the truck so its resting on the tires making it a pain in the ass to move. or if i was in a bad part of town i could raise the truck making it harder to get to the locks to punch them out. given the above are minor things but if it stops it from happening once it could save my ass.

before i say this next part i will admit that i am an idiot for saying and/or doing it. when at the beach or a truck show i wanna be able to control all 4 bags and make the truck dance a little to show off. yes i know that makes me more likely to blow a bag.

ha i gotcha man! airbags are fun, i have had a bagged truck in my day. only thing i dont like is SOLELY relying on air. it can really screw you. as far as making it rest on bags, i dont know if i would go that far. (just in case air does fail) it does seem like a cool idea though! keep posted on what you decide to do!

Compressor sits up top on all of them, ie wont clear the hood BUT that bracket would be a handy starting point for mounting it down low. And I think youre right about the different frames and def be better to run true full out 4 link.

As for the sway bar. We've always just used the detachable links so you can run without yet with one pin get a true sway bar back. Dont really know of any other way to do it and keep her stable on the highway

i hear ya on blowing bags. thinking i will always have a spare on board. may even go as far as getting one of those air bag jack things or an air powered jack to be able to pick the truck up by the frame and swap a bag on the side of the road it i have to

chew on this, 4 bag the rear with a inline check valve on the feed line so if you blow a bag it won't bleed back and drop the other bags. so it would be almost fail proof. (ALMOST!) but think about it, look at OTR trucks going down the road, how many have you seen with a blown bag? if you do this, i would get bags designed for trucks. not thos that are just helper bags.

thats actually a good idea.

not that it would be possible but could it also be done on the front. guessing not bc of all the steering

the front would be tricky... i know the rear would be no problem. it might take a little imaginearing but i bet you could 4 bag the front. hell if you can put 3 shocks on the front i bet you can put 4 bags up there.

had an idea. would it be possible to run a center bag on the front (over sized bag attached to a cross member) and have a piece of plate attached to the axle that it would bolt to. would have the bag tied up out of the way with the air flow to it turned off. if i do blow a bag i could use that one to lift the truck up enough that i would be able to swap out the blown bag on either side(gotta make sure its tall enough). and it wouldnt be used as part of the suspension system. not sure if the axle would handle that much weight over such a small area but if it could then that might be a good way to have a back up in case something does happen

OR, make up a temporary bracket that clamps to the axle and to the frame where you put a bag in there and lift?

this is y i post here. i have brain farts that lead me to do overly complicated things like what i said. wouldnt have thought of a temp bracket. lol

i guess 2 temporary brackets one on either side would work perfect. what would be really cool but overly expensive and way to time consuming would be to get one of those electric goose neck lifts (the leg things mind went blank and i cant thing of their name to save my life) and mount them on a 2" piece of rectangular tube and hook them up in the bumper. use that to lift the truck for anything from changing a flat to air bags and be able us use them as supports for winching things around that would drag the truck. but that would be hard and would rarely get used

a jack? LOL. that would be kinda pointless IMO. i'd say make a temp bracket for the front and one for the rear. to change a tire you will still need a jack tho.

Is the truck a f250 of f350? I fit 315/75/16 on my 02 with a truxs levveling kit.

this isn't your stanadard lift kit. this is a highy over engeneered and rather complex imaginearing job going on...

lol...it kinda is isnt it...

an update on the build. plan is to start getting money together and getting parts rdy to build the rear end sometime in the next month to month and a half

ok. do you own a good welder? or know sombody that does? and not a 110V mig. those aren't good for much. all of the main brackets i would use 3/8" plate. 1/4" is fine for gussets. remember on all load bearing parts, (especially vertically) try to incorporate a triangle shape. get good bags. i would get a double convoluted bag. those will go a little higher. if you have a butt joint, bevel the plate at a 30* angle. then leave a small gap in between. ( i'm not sure on your fabricating skills). as far as atatching the plates to the axle, that's up to you. bolt them or weld them.

ive got a buddy whos helping me wiht everything thats got a 230v hobart that should handle everything and if all else fails my aunts bf has a truck mounted stick that we could use.
im not very much of a fab guy but my buddy with the 230v mig is a good fab guy and hes done several mini trucks to he knows what it takes to mount everything and the fact that hes got a 12 valve means he understands the weight and abuse involved. so he gunna be the guy helping me fab everything. im not great on a welder to he will have to weld everything up or atleast double check me to make sure im doing it all right.

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as for bags i am thinking something along the lines of this
Firestone, Dominators, DeNominator, Slam, air bag springs
triple convolute and a higher load rating (7500lb or so) so that i can get a little softer ride by not having the bag fully inflated.

ok. as lomg as it's not a couple guys that don't have a clue. no offense but things that go like that never end well. but if he is a fab guy and has done mini trucks then that's who you want. he will know just how things go.

ya. hes my go to guy on things like this. im more than willing to admit that im an idiot and have no idea what im doing when it comes to things like this. hes actually the one who gave me the idea to do it.

well as long as some body knows what's going on. LOL. it will be ALOT easier if you pull the bed off.

just an update ordered a set of viair 480c duals and a 12 gallon tank today (along with a few other goodies) so getting started rolling. decided dual compressors running of the batteries would be best. just because if i have an engine issue (wont start) i can use the batteries to power the compressor and fill the bags to move it if needed. i realize the odds of that happening are slim to none but id rather be safe than screwed

i had 35s with NO LIFT. but now i got a leveling kit for a better stance

brandon, like a said to another user. this is a over engineered, with a gret deal of imagineering going on for a lift kit.

for the compressors, make sure you put them eithere on switched power or put a switch on them.

like fordornothing said this is an extreme custom lift to greatly increase ride comfort and while doing this i am going to lower the truck from where it sits now (still over stock slightly) to clear 35s rather than my 37s bc tires are expensive.

the compressors will be hooked up to a switch. as it stands the compressors and tank are on their way from viair and i have about another $300-$400 to spend which should be enough to get the rear end done since bags r ~100-130 per and metal for brackets air lines ect is probly gunna be another $200 (i have spare 1/2 air line and some fittings and some of the other things i will need sitting around the house)