Lift is a popular truck modification that allows you to enjoy many benefits. Perhaps the most popular is greater off-road capability due to greater ground clearance, better shock absorbers, and space for extra tires. But it’s also a major improvement to your driving experience and pickup performance. So, is it worth it to lift your truck, and how much does it cost to lift one?
This article will answer these key questions and provide you with everything you need to know to complete the project. The cost of lifting a truck depends on the type of vehicle you have, how many lifts you want, the type of lift kit you want, and whether you install the lifts yourself or hire a mechanic. Read on to learn about the benefits of lifting trucks, the different types of lifesaving kits, their features, and the cost of each, as well as the estimated total cost of a DIY elevator versus what professional services charge you.
Lift Your Truck: Is It Worth It?
There are many considerable benefits to boosting your truck, which is why so many pickup truck owners opt for this modification. Lifting your truck not only improves the appearance of the vehicle, but also your ride quality and performance:
- Aesthetics: Stronger, sportier and more aggressive looking.
- Enhanced off-road capability: The lift package offers excellent ground clearance, larger tires, better traction, and better shock absorbers, everything you need for superior off-road capability.
- Higher ride experience: Improve the overall ride experience because you sit higher and can better see everything around you.
- Superior Suspension: With superior suspension, the same mileage creates less wear. This means lower maintenance costs and higher resale value.
On the other hand, depending on how high you want to lift the truck and the type of tires you fit, getting the truck higher off the ground can mean that the vehicle is less aerodynamic and encounters more wind resistance, so you’ll get a slightly lower MPG on the highway.
Truck Lift Kits: Types and Cost
How much does it cost to lift a truck? It depends on the type of lift kit you purchase, whether you do it yourself, and other factors. So how much does a lift kit cost? We’ll look at the advantages and average price of each type of lift kit below.
Lifting kit and leveling kit
First, you’ll need to decide whether to buy a lift kit or a leveling kit, each with different benefits. A lift kit can take the entire body of your vehicle from 2 inches to 12 inches or even more (although most truck owners only want to lift their truck a few inches).
At the same time, the leveling kit will typically raise the front or rear of the pickup by about 2 inches to make it more level. Since most trucks are designed to carry heavy loads in their truck bed or tow items in the back, they are often manufactured in such a way that the rear is higher than the front. Leveling kits are most commonly used to raise the front of a truck to match the height of the rear. There are different types of leveling kits: coil spacers, strut extensions, shock absorbers, and lifting blocks.
If you have a lot of heavy accessories on one end of your vehicle (such as a winch or plow), a leveling lift will also be suitable, so you may want to lift the end a little to keep the vehicle level. They’re the perfect way to compensate for any extra weight your vehicle may be carrying at one end. If you just want to add a little glamour to your ride, they can also help you make room for bigger tires.
Usually, lift kits tend to be more expensive because leveling kits can only lift the front or rear of the truck, while lift kits lift all four corners of the vehicle. In addition, the larger the lift, the higher the cost of the lift kit.
Body Lift vs. Suspension Lift
After deciding to go with a lift kit, it’s time to choose between a body lift or a suspension lift. Weightlifting movements are less complex, but they don’t have as many benefits as suspension presses, so they’re less common.
Body lifts involve lifting the truck body off the wheels, so the body lift will make room for larger tires without having to reconfigure the truck body. The body lift is separate from the suspension components of the vehicle. Body lift kits range in price from $80 to $2,000, and it all depends on the basics or sophistication of the lift you want and the make and model of the truck.
The good news is that installation is simpler than a suspension lift, as there is no need to change the geometry of the vehicle’s suspension system. Note that this also means that if you’re planning to drive a truck for off-road travel, a body lift kit isn’t the ideal option. In this case, a suspension kit would be a better choice. However, you can add a body lift to your existing suspension lift to add a little height to your truck without changing your suspension geometry, which is not a simple project.
In short, if you’re only looking for aesthetics and higher tire clearance, then a body kit is the more economical option. Meanwhile, if you’re planning on having a pickup crawl over rocks and trek through the mud off the beaten track, then you’ll need a suspended lift because you’re willing to spend a little more.
Suspended lifts are more common because of the greater versatility of this type of lift. With a suspended lift, you’ll get more: height, ground clearance, and suspension travel. So understandably, a suspended lift usually requires more modifications to your vehicle’s original equipment depending on the height you choose, making installation more challenging than a body lift.
If you opt for a performance-enhancing suspension lift kit, you’ll spend more than a typical body lift or a regular suspension lift. You may be able to find aftermarket options for less, but it’s not like you need to do more research and choose genuine OEM parts to maintain the integrity of the factory version of your vehicle as much as possible, or you’ll run the risk of damaging your truck or having it wear out prematurely.
Price
- Leveling kits tend to cost the lowest, ranging from $200 to $1,000, depending on the make and model of your vehicle.
- Smaller truck lift kits that raise the body of the truck by just two inches typically cost between $400 and $12,000.
- A larger truck lift kit that raises the truck body by 6 inches to about 12 inches typically costs between $11,000 and $14,000.
- Body lifting kits range in price from $80 to $2,000.
- Suspended lift kits cost between $450 and $2,000. If you opt for a performance-enhancing suspension lift kit, expect to pay between $1,000 and $5,000.
Due to the high price of a typical lift kit, many kit manufacturers and distributors also offer financing plans, so you don’t have to pay the total amount upfront, but rather pay in installments over a fixed period of time. Depending on the package you choose, monthly installments can drop to between $20 and $120.
Read more
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How much does it cost to lift a truck: DIY
Now, you might be wondering if it’s possible to lift your truck in your own garage and how much a DIY project will cost. First of all, if you’ve installed packages in the past, you should only try to install them yourself. Lifting a truck, especially if you’re going to use a complex suspension kit, is no easy task. You can easily damage your vehicle, and the cost of repairing the damage will often exceed the price of the kit itself.
When deciding to install the kit yourself, be prepared for the following unforeseen costs:
- Extra tools: brackets, hydraulic jacks, impact wrenches, strut compressors, and breaker bars.
- Accidental Damage: Damaged tools and broken, spalled, or stuck bolts.
- Additional costs: Any additional costs usually depend on how many boosts you plan to make. For most trucks and SUVs, lifts over 3.5 inches become more complex. To facilitate a big lift, you’ll most likely need to make other supplemental modifications, such as changing the drivetrain, extending the brake line, adjusting the track bars, adjusting the gear ratios, and more.
The installation time of the lift kit can vary between 7 hours for a simple kit (e.g. leveling kits and small body lifts) and 15 hours (for more extensive modifications). This is a labor-intensive job, and the labor time required to install the lift kit of your choice to your specific vehicle is the most important factor in determining the cost of installation, when you go to a mechanic to get the job done. An experienced mechanic can install a kit in a matter of hours.
Once completed, given the scale of such modifications, it is better to visit a local mechanic and make sure that everything is working properly. You may need to readjust your wheels or adjust your steering components so that everything works together smoothly, and these additional costs can cost you between $80 and $200, and sometimes more, in addition to the cost of the lift kit itself.
How much does it cost to lift a truck: professional services
If you’re not a reducer and want to make sure your kit is installed correctly, you should hire a professional to do the job for you. Keep in mind that when it comes to installing a lift kit, it’s easy to make mistakes during the installation process, which can end up costing you more.
The cost of installing a lift kit or leveling kit depends on the body shop you choose and the make and model of your vehicle. In general, the setup fee is about the same as the price of the kit itself. The more complex and beneficial the kit, the more expensive it is and the more expensive it is to install.
So, if you spend a few hundred dollars on a relatively inexpensive leveling kit, it will cost you around $200 or more to install the kit. If you spend a few thousand dollars on a larger lift kit, the installation cost can easily be as high as $2,000 or more. Additionally, the mechanic may need to repair other parts of the vehicle to facilitate lifting, such as realigning the wheels, adjusting the shock absorbers, or steering components.
