Body lift vs suspension lift

[CD97ranger]

Hello, im new here and recently inherited my father 97 Ranger XLT 4x4. Its a little low in the front, so I was thinking of leveling it. Then I figured i might as well lift it instead. Im not sure if i should do a suspension lift, or a body lift. Which is better? The truck doesnt see alot of off road. Also, if i lift it, will that take care of the low sitting front or would i still have to level it? Thanks for the input

 

[mwood1985]

depends on how high you wanna go. there are alot of suspension options for a TTB Ranger. check out the tech library. with either a body lift or a suspension alone you can clear 33's with both a body lift and a 4 inch suspension you can fit 35s. the front is gonna sit low unless you use a taller set of coils with a suspension kit. ie 6 inch coils with a 4 inch kit or use a coil spacer

 

[CD97ranger]

I dont wanna go too high, 4" would probably be max. I saw online they have lift kits with about 2" of lift, which they are just the front springs and add a leaf in the rear. Are these any good? The shocks on the truck now are pretty new, so if i dont want to replace them if i dont have to. Also if I stay below at 4" or below, is it neccesary to lengthen anything like the driveshaft or steering shaft?

 

[Scotty J.]

If you're not going to be banging away on serious off road stuff but more along the lines of "light wheeling", I'd go with a 3" body lift. You can get one for a couple hundred bucks, the big cost is to have someone install it, figure about $600.00 total. There are going to be some rusty bolts on that 97. Oh, and they'll add a couple of twist to the T-Bars to level it out for you. It'll ride a little bit rougher, but it's not like it's going to bounce your back teeth out or anything.

Here's mine before and after the 3" lift. After the lift, I put some 15" cragar soft 8's with BFG AT 33" tires.

Before:


After the lift:


New Meat:

 

[mwood1985]

they arent gonna charge him a dime to crank the t-bars on a 97. course ill charge you if you can find me a set on a 1997...

 

[Scotty J.]

they arent gonna charge him a dime to crank the t-bars on a 97. course ill charge you if you can find me a set on a 1997...

 

[camodown]

I will give you a million dollars if he can crank his t-bars on a 97

 

[bcost882]

he should just be a smart ass and weld em on to get some money haha

 

[CD97ranger]

I was thinking maybe this: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SJA-132XK/
and some coil spacers to even out the front?

 

[legoms013]

Too bad the Original Poster doesn't have t-bars now isn't it? Its a 97 like he has said before. There is a tech library here for a reason. Don't mis-lead the guy just because you have been mis-lead.

As far as lifting I'd go body lift if you only do light light offroading and do some coil spacers (steel washers, also in tech library $20 for 25 of them from my local industrial supply) and call it a day to level it out.

However, let me warn you once you put a body lift on that human thing that says "i want my truck taller, more bad ass" will set in and before you know it you'll be researching a 4" or 6" lift. I know money is tight these days, but it will be tighter if you continue to upgrade lift parts here and there piecing kits together thinking "oh im saving so much money by doing it this way". Trust me, you won't be I know from experience. But this is your truck, and I don't kno your budget so do what you want

 

[BlueLighting1999]

Screw it go with the Suspension lift! Have some fun!!!