BDS lift

[scheetz21]

well i decided just to do the lift kit.. and my local off road shop said they will sell me 6in bds kit for 812.01 out the door with camber adj. bolts, steering stabilizer,and all lift components...but they don't offer the extended trailing arms..so should i buy those? or are they even worth buying? thanks Butch

 

[4.0B2]

IMO extended arms are worth it, but can easily be made also.. and what i've seen $800 out the door is decent for that lift. i don't know much about the BDS lift

 

[Surrey]

Well the steering stabalizer isn't really needed... Some people wont touch 'em, cause they tend to hide wearing out suspension components.

How is the quality of their lifts? Most people swear by skyjacker or James Duff, most other brands have been proven too weak.
Looking at their website, it looks like the passenger side beam is a drop plate, that reuses the stock bracket... you have to modify the stock bracket if you dont want to punch a hole in your diff when you bottom out the front end. Also, the pitman arm they provide looks about 3.5" too short for 6" lift...
And the back looks like Add-a-leafs and big blocks... Big blocks and add-a-leafs are both no good for flex.

I am piecing together my lift from junkyards, and the classifieds off this site... So far I got myself brackets for $130 shipped, and 4" lift coils for $80 shipped. If I waited a bit longer I could have gotten 6" coils for only $90, but oh well. Free 2" ranger blocks from a JY, and some explorer leafs for the back... $40 for the pair. If the blocks/explorer leafs are not equal to the front with the 4" coils, Im going to get some belltech 6400 shackles, they're about $50, and then use washers on the front if needed to level it from there.

So without shocks or camber bushings, Im in for $250-300, depending if I end up needing shackles. To make 6" in the back, I think an add-a-leaf would do the trick, which are $40 from Summit...
Add $150 for shocks, $80 for camber bushings, and $200 for the FA600 extreme pitman arm you'll need anyways...

$760 for quality parts, some used some new.
edit - my dads friend owns a suspension shop, so I will not be paying that much for shocks or camber bushings, but you get the idea...

 

[scheetz21]

so it might be worth saving a lil more and do the skyjacker stage 2?? do those come with every thing you need??

 

[scheetz21]

holy crap! just to buy extended radius arms is 700 from skyjacker! why are they so much! i think for that much i dont need em lol

 

[Surrey]

Jim lists the 6" skyjacker kit without extended radius arms (which are totally worth the money spent, unless you can fab your own by the way) for only $738. That doesn't include shocks, or camber bushings, or a steering stabilizer, but gives you an idea of price.
The whole sha-bang, with new leaf springs and extended radius arms is $1556.

These kits still come with the small pitman arm though, even the 6" kit... So thats another $200 you will need to look at spending eventually - unless you do Stonecrusher or Superrunner steering.

Jim also sells just the brackets, and just the coils, and just the pitman arms, ect... So you could just piece together the parts you want/need.

You can always upgrade to extended arms later. (they provide increased wheel travel, basically.)

If this is the most you can afford, it looks like a complete kit that you wont have to screw with too much, but not all the parts are ideal. Again, I stress the need to clearance the passenger bracket if you want your diff to last more than one big bump.

 

[88_Eddie]

holy crap! just to buy extended radius arms is 700 from skyjacker! why are they so much! i think for that much i dont need em lol

yep, they're expensive anywhere you go, $500-$700 is an average price. you can buy you're own welder and metal tubing for that much (or less) and make you're own. then you've extended arms and you're own welder that you can use to make other stuff. that's what my plan is, just got the welder and i'm gettin metal tubing next week.


i got cheap ass rough country brackets/coils from another TRS members, i used some 3/16" plate and went overkill bracing them, they'll never break.

 

[Surrey]

holy crap! just to buy extended radius arms is 700 from skyjacker! why are they so much! i think for that much i dont need em lol

That is true, but this is not the cheapest option. If you cannot weld up your own at all, Stonecrusher has extensions you can buy.
http://www.stonecrushersteering.com/OTHER_PRODUCTS.html

$135+18 shipping for a pair, adds 10.5" length to your arms.