All You Need To Know About Lift Kits

Sarah Edwards
3 min readJan 20, 2016

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Maintaining a vehicle is a very hefty task especially when one has a mini-truck or a SUV. For garage owners, there are different kits which could help in repairing and maintaining the vehicles. These include lift and lowering kits, suspension kits, brake kits, and other such tools. Kits are available for hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and trucks. Trucks and SUVs generally move on difficult terrains and require special care and maintenance so that they may perform in a better manner and remain in good shape.

There are some trucks which find it quite difficult to climb steep hills and move through puddles of the mud. For such unforeseen situations, one should always have a lift kit which may easily solve your problem. Lift kits are simple devices which help in raising the suspension of the vehicles. This higher suspension and high ground clearance allows these vehicles to move safely on difficult road conditions. The other big reason for having these lift kits is to raise the profile of the cars in order to install larger wheels. This also helps in avoiding the flooded waters to enter the vehicle’s interior and to ascend on steep hills.

Three varieties of Lift Kits

Lift kits are basically of three types. These include the leveling kits, suspension lift kits and body lift kits. At the same time there are lift kits for Chevy Silverado. The difference lies in the method they deploy in order to lift the suspension of trucks.

BODY LIFT KITS

These lift kits consists of blocks for raising the body of the vehicle away from frame. So, while the entire body of truck elevates, frame remain in the same position, thereby not raising the ground clearance. It doesn’t make any major difference for driving and handling these vehicles after adjusting the tires with the body lift kits. But when it comes to off-roading, body lift kits hardly make any difference and one may rather find it quite difficult to do away with moulds of stone and mud without actually raising the profile of the vehicle.

LEVELING KITS

Leveling kits could lift your vehicle to about 1–2 inches for the front wheels. These kits are suitable for increasing the diameter of tires. It could also help in improved towing and load capacity. Leveling kits are further categorized as those using coil spring spacers and others using forged tension bar keys. While the former kits are used for vehicles with coil assembly; the latter leveling kits are used for vehicles having torsion bar suspension system. This includes 4WD HD trucks. These leveling kits allow for larger tire diameter which allows them to take heavier loads.

SUSPENSION LIFT KITS

Unlike the leveling lift kits, suspension lift kits raise the whole suspension system. With the help of these kits, trucks could have much larger tires and could be driven around safely in rough and tough terrains. They provide for extra shocks and smoother drive by adding height to the vehicle body. The height of lift could be about four to six inches for both rear and front wheels.

CONCLUSION

The lift kits discussed above could be used in different situations and for different types of vehicles. For example, those planning for an adventure ride in difficult terrain could go for suspension lift kits. There are many companies out there selling these three types of lift kits. Consumers might choose from these options depending on the type of ride they have.

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Sarah Edwards

blogger, content curator, loves to read and write, a great sports fan and a true Enrique fan.