Suspension questions for beginner - Sticky?

[deeman]

First off, this is a great forum and I am glad I found it!!

I am very new to wrenching on autos. I have mastered motorcycles, small engines and outboards.

I have a very limited understanding of how to upgrade suspensions and the benefits of the options. You guys really seem to be knowledgeable on this. I have spent more than a couple of days trying to wrap my head around the BASICS and it's nearly impossible to grasp since no single thread addresses the BASICS.

I really wish this forum had a sticky to address Suspensions 101 for Dummies.
I have some questions, and I know the answers are scattered throughout the 12 pages of this forum, but it will really help beginners like me get the basics in a single post.

Here are some very typical questions I have and I am sure others have too:


1. I want to lift my 2001 and newer 2wd truck about 2". What are the options for the front and rear?

2. what are the approx cost of the options listed above?

3. How hard is it to install the various methods (please list each method and the difficulty required)

4. What are the advantages/disadvantages compared between the options?

5. What are leveling kits?

6. Will a 2" lift allow me to use bigger tires? In general, how much bigger?

 

[fordboi415]

1. it depends do you have coil springs or torsion bars? if you have coil springs you can get a set that will give you 2" of lift for about 90 bucks including shipping from a company in anaheim ca. called suspension max their website is suspensionmax.com and they work great and if you have torsion bars its almost free to lift all you need is the required torsion key to crank those bad boys and i think you can get almost 3 inches out of them and as for the back autozone has lift blocks to lift the rear and you will eed longer shocks for both the front and rear and you will also need to get an alignment.
2. the coils are about 90 bucks the blocks for the rear are about 35 bucks and the, the keys (only if you have torsion bars) are like 50 bucks and shocks will depend on who you go through.
3. the coils are pretty easy but will require some time and a second hand from a buddy took me and my cousin all of about 2 hours to install mine. the torsion keys (only if you have torsion bars) you can do by yourself and will only need the keys and a floor jack and the blocks are the easiest and will take maybe 10 mins a side and you can do that by yourself as well.
5. leveling kits usually consists of coil spacers that make your ride extremely rough and put unwanted stress upon your coil springs
4. i would stay away from leveling kits because they cause rough rides and unwanted stress is added to your coils
6. you should be able to run 31s with no problems