newbie question about lifting

[prosnomonkey]

Hey all!
Been lurking TRS on and off for several years now and I have found some great advice and help here in the past THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!

I finally have the money to lift my truck (2002 4wd Ranger) and I have some questions.
First though, this truck is my daily driver, but I also have to use it on my jobsite, doing mass excavation for subdivisions and highways so having extra ground clearance would be really nice. I do a little light wheeling on the weekends but nothing serious (never been stuck enough to need a winch and don't plan on it)

1. I see that only two companies offer suspension lifts for the IFS Ranger, Superlift and RCD. It seems that most people do not like the Superlift and that no one has an opinion about RCD. What exactly makes superlift a low quality lift? Anyone have experience with RCD? Superlift at $1500 and RCD at $2400... I know I get what I pay for, but what is that exactly??

2. Has anyone taken their truck to a shop to get lifted? I can turn a wrench as well as the next guy (did the Warn hub conversion on my 95 B2300) but there is no way that I trust myself to tackle a suspension lift. What shops have people used? I live in Washington and Idaho (Spokane and Driggs to be exact) any reputable shops in either of those areas?

Thanks for the help!
Jeremy

 

[4x4junkie]

The Superlift kit is not that bad of a kit. Some people are down on it simply because it drops the torsion bar mount down (which robs you of some clearance), but the rest of the kit is fairly well made (unlike Superlift lifts for the earlier TTB trucks).

The RCD kit replaces the torsion bars with coilover shocks, so your breakover angle will be much better.
The RCD kit also gives you a minor gain in wheel travel, whereas the Superlift kit does not.

With your planned use I would go with the Superlift kit.

Another option you might look at is a simple bodylift. Since the performance gains from SLA IFS liftkits are rather minimal, a bodylift might make more sense for fitting bigger tires, as it's probably 1/5th the cost.


As for putting it on, it's looks fairly straightforward using common tools, although not having done a SLA truck myself, I can't really comment on the details (maybe someone else could chime in on that).


Hope that helps.

BTW, Dixon Brothers, and Trailmaster also make SLA Ranger kits too. The DB kit is $$$ though (worth it if you'll be jumping and going fast). The TM kit is something to stay well away from in any case though, it's not as well made as even the Superlift kit.