Legitimate benefits to lifting a vehicle?

[swavescatter]

bigger tires give you more sidewall....
it also gives you bigger lugs which are also deeper.
wider tread pattern, which is more surface area.

There's a great YouTube video that dispels the myth of wide tires = more contact patch. Blew my mind but pizza cutters do just as well aired down with an elongated contact patch versus wide but thin contact patch on 12.5" tires.

Seems to come down to what look you're after but I try to avoid poke past the fenders. Narrower allows more clearance for flex as well...

 

[Gman12]

It really doesn't do much other than look better. I lifted one of my trucks and my buddy told me that it was going to change the geometry of the front end and make the front end parts wear out prematurely. I didn't really pay much attention to him but after only about 40,000 miles I had to spend some serious money to replace many of the parts he warned me about. I probably wouldn't do it again. On my current truck, I just put a leveling kit on it and bought some slightly bigger tires. Looks good and no issues.

 

[KenLee]

Easier to flip while drunk. I was an expert on this advantage for a couple decades

 

[KenLee]

no wheel spacers are not the answer. wheel spacers are the worst cheap thing you can do to get clearance for your spindles. just get proper backspaced rims.
that's like drilling out hockey pucks and using them for a body lift

I always made my own body lifts from plate and pipe

 

[nobody]

My Dad used to not believe a lift gave you any tangible or appreciable improvements. He bought a 4 Door Jeep Rubicon JKU last year with 90k on it for a screaming deal. It had brand new tires on it, stock ride height, and he put a bumper and winch on it. He (thought he) was set.

That was, until we crushed the tailpipe this summer because the departure angle on the back end sucked so bad going out a trail we had been out in our old Jeep multiple times in previous years. We bounced that back end HARD off one of the whoopties we had to go through. The old jeep had a 2 inch lift and we never had issues anywhere, including that trail. So dad spend the $750, put a 2.5" Rough Country lift on the Rubicon, and voila. Last time he went out that trail with my brother a couple weeks ago while scouting, zero issues.

There definitely is an advantage to a lift when done properly and appropriately. You CAN cause other issues, such as diminishing road-worthiness, but if you find that balance it can gain you some appreciable increased performance benefits without compromising what a stock ride height does for you.

Personally, my next rig is either a 4Runner or a Tacoma, and it will have a 2 inch lift for the reasons I've listed above.

 

[KHNC]

Its much better to do a Carolina Squat. Must work great since i see it being done all over. Go ahead and give it a shot. Your truck will look great too!

 

[sodaksooner]

Another "legitimate" reason is more suspension articulation on properly designed lifts. This keeps your tires on the ground instead of up in the air.

Lifts have downsides, but so does driving a Subaru. You do you.

Wondering how long it would take for someone to say this.

 

[CorbLand]

Legitimate benefits? Any time you ask yourself that the answer is always "reasons."

 

[justin davis]

Better clearance. Also more clearance for chains if you ever put on chains

 

[sodaksooner]

My Dad used to not believe a lift gave you any tangible or appreciable improvements. He bought a 4 Door Jeep Rubicon JKU last year with 90k on it for a screaming deal. It had brand new tires on it, stock ride height, and he put a bumper and winch on it. He (thought he) was set.

That was, until we crushed the tailpipe this summer because the departure angle on the back end sucked so bad going out a trail we had been out in our old Jeep multiple times in previous years. We bounced that back end HARD off one of the whoopties we had to go through. The old jeep had a 2 inch lift and we never had issues anywhere, including that trail. So dad spend the $750, put a 2.5" Rough Country lift on the Rubicon, and voila. Last time he went out that trail with my brother a couple weeks ago while scouting, zero issues.

There definitely is an advantage to a lift when done properly and appropriately. You CAN cause other issues, such as diminishing road-worthiness, but if you find that balance it can gain you some appreciable increased performance benefits without compromising what a stock ride height does for you.

Personally, my next rig is either a 4Runner or a Tacoma, and it will have a 2 inch lift for the reasons I've listed above.

Tell him he should put a good lift on it and not rough country. One of the worst lift kits out there for Jeeps. Mine had one on it when I bought it. 1st time we actually went out I blew 2 shocks, and the bushings wore out in less than 20k miles. Ive spent a ton of money replacing all those parts with Higher quality stuff over the years. Only thing I have left is the rear track bar bracket.

My jeep has way more lift than I wanted as ive taken a bunch of weight out of it. No rear bumper, trimmed frame rails, minimalist front bumper synthetic winch line. Its actually about 4.5" with 3.5" progressive rate springs.

All that being said, if I ever did another jeep, no lift, no larger than 35's, no extra mods. Mine sucks as an on road vehicle. I'll get any tire clearance I need from trimming.

Pic is from the first day of my deer hunt this year. only cost me $2500 when the rear end blew up on the way to CO.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I’ve got a ‘21 4Runner Venture model, one step down from the TRD Pro I believe. It’s got the rear diff locker, good skid plates, nice leather. Right now it’s got 50k miles and I plan to drive it for as long as it’ll provide reliable and trouble free operation.
I keep getting the bug to lift it whenever I see another lifted 4Runner or Tacoma running around town, they just look cool
My question though, is there really any legitimate reason to lift a truck or vehicle? I don’t purposefully go “4 wheeling” and while I’ve been in some hairy situations hunting and fishing, I’ve never thought “ damn, if only I had a 3” lift, I would go down that road”.
Aside from looking cool, and a little better ground clearance over stock, are there legitimate reasons to lift?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ground clearance. On FS roads in WY last year I was fortunate to have cab-adjustable air ride in my RAM. Being able to increase height by 2" helped with approach angle and clearance over some boulders. I would've like more "cushion" for next time and will likely install 2" Revel links level kit for the front/back This will give me an extra 2" without impacting ride quality of the air ride in "normal". Then if I have to go into OR1 or OR2 I get additional clearance.

EDIT: I forgot to mention I ditched the factory 22" rims for factory 18"s before our trip and put on some 33s for bigger sidewalls and better inflation options.

 

[nobody]

Tell him he should put a good lift on it and not rough country. One of the worst lift kits out there for Jeeps. Mine had one on it when I bought it. 1st time we actually went out I blew 2 shocks, and the bushings wore out in less than 20k miles. Ive spent a ton of money replacing all those parts with Higher quality stuff over the years. Only thing I have left is the rear track bar bracket.

My jeep has way more lift than I wanted as ive taken a bunch of weight out of it. No rear bumper, trimmed frame rails, minimalist front bumper synthetic winch line. Its actually about 4.5" with 3.5" progressive rate springs.

All that being said, if I ever did another jeep, no lift, no larger than 35's, no extra mods. Mine sucks as an on road vehicle.

Pic is from the first day of my deer hunt this year. only cost me $2500 when the rear end blew up on the way to CO.View attachment 610212

I'll talk with him about it, his old one was built by Kolob Canyon Jeep Works (or something like that) down by Zion National Park in Utah and came from a guy who had purchased it from them, so this was the first one he has "built" himself. I'll pass that info along. He has just done a little at a time as he's found deals. The bumper and winch came from a guy on the local classifieds. Turned out to be a Fab Fours full custom front bumper worth about $1800 with a Warn Zeon 8S winch (corded version of the Platinum line) worth about $1800. He paid $500 for the combo and we put it on in the garage that night in about an hour. It even came with LED trail lights installed on the bumper already. Then the lift and shock combo came along because the original shocks from '08 needed replaced, and so when we crushed the tailpipe, he figured to just go ahead and replace everything.

Shame you lost the rear end on that sexy red beast, she's a looker. What year?

 

[Wyomuleskinner]

The only benefit is you can use larger tires and get your differential (or whatever the lowest point of your drive train/suspension happens to be) higher off the ground and therefore a little more clearance.
.

 

[Westernduck]

Depends on the type of vehicle. A lift can help a jeep but ruins a truck

 

[xsn10s]

4.5" lift 33" MT's on my XJ Cherokee. Completely changes where I can go. But if you don't need the clearance or flotation of larger tires then there isn't a reason to do a lift. Good tires, lockers, lsd or just good driving technique will get you to most places. I've gone a lot of places that most won't go in a 87 Subaru or even my 98 Tahoe. Good tires and airing down for the conditions goes a long way.

 

[sodaksooner]

I'll talk with him about it, his old one was built by Kolob Canyon Jeep Works (or something like that) down by Zion National Park in Utah and came from a guy who had purchased it from them, so this was the first one he has "built" himself. I'll pass that info along. He has just done a little at a time as he's found deals. The bumper and winch came from a guy on the local classifieds. Turned out to be a Fab Fours full custom front bumper worth about $1800 with a Warn Zeon 8S winch (corded version of the Platinum line) worth about $1800. He paid $500 for the combo and we put it on in the garage that night in about an hour. It even came with LED trail lights installed on the bumper already. Then the lift and shock combo came along because the original shocks from '08 needed replaced, and so when we crushed the tailpipe, he figured to just go ahead and replace everything.

Shame you lost the rear end on that sexy red beast, she's a looker. What year?

That's a good deal. I'm all about that. Just tell him to watch his shocks and springs. They tend to go first. I run Bilsteins now and have Rock Krawler triple rate progressive springs. My lift is now kind of a frankenlift with parts from various manufacturers and some custom axle work on the front.

Thank you for the props! 2014 Just a sport S(has power windows...lol). Ive been through a ton of bumper/winch combos and finally found one I like. Its got lockers front and rear, 4.56 gears and weve wheeled it a bunch over the years. It's kind of just turned into a trail queen but we used to do quite a bit of crawling in the past. We don't do that any more really as my wife can't handle it physically since a major car accident. I mostly use it for hunting now and hauling my old military trailer for camping trips.

 

[PathFinder]

how so?

Depends on the suspension. Anything that just pushes the frame away from the suspension is silly. Drop bracket kits, spacers, blocks, etc. Adding droop with longer shocks and springs is fine. Doing so may allow you to move the resting height up, while maintaining a good ratio of up to down travel. That's what Jeep lift kits generally do, often increasing travel with longer arms.
Adding lift to resting height may also be a bit dumb. For example, on the front of an IFS Toyota doing so only limits droop. It doesn't increase tire clearance because the suspension can still go to full bump, at which time the tire will hit stuff. All while cutting CV joint life by half or more, just to look cool in town.
The ideal case is to increase both up and down travel, increase damping capacity, and perhaps slightly increase static ride height. While going up in tire size significantly.

 

[IdahoElk]

A properly lifted 4Runner with larger tires and gearing will allow you to go places that a stock runner would have a harder time or not even be able to do, that's a fact.
A properly lifted 4Runner will allow greater articulation while giving you a better on/off road ride, that's fact.
You asked about 4Runners, I've owned 5 with 4 being lifted, the stock one I would never take the places that I've taken the lifted ones.
There is however a point of diminished returns with lift and tire size on 4Runners.
While to me, my 4Runners look nice, they were built for a purpose and I couldn't care less what my neighbor driving a stock vehicle thinks.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

If you want to spend money on something you don't think you'll need, by all means go right ahead. You'll look just as cool as the other truck you have seen.

 

[tony]

Im too well endowed to drive a lifted truck.

Something not mentioned, resale. You see a baby big foot truck, and you have to ask, how ragged out is that thing? And did slim and his buddies install it right?
Theres a late model diesel F250in town. Rockers probably are to my waist and I'm 5’10”. Been sitting for sale for months. It looks nice but, the only people going to buy it is a high schooler with dumb parents, or redneck with a credit score of 300. I’m sure the price is insane for it as well.

No way I’d lift a new truck or my DD.

But if you do it. You have to put lights under it and lights inside the wheel. Plus an LED bar the bottom of your grill and drive with on day and night. This way your coolness will overwhelm everybody on the road.