Blogs at Custom Offsets

Tips and Tricks For Buying Lift Kits For Your Truck If you've never bought a lift kit before, the process can be pretty intimidating. There are just so many options between the different lift kits and stock choices - do we need a carrier-bearing drop bracket? Why are all these people trying to contact me about my car's extended warranty? And most of all, what the heck is a Pitman arm? Not to worry, guys - we've got you covered. Today, we'll be helping you out just a little bit and going over some of the rookie mistakes you can make when buying your lift kit, as well as how to avoid these when you begin your search. Table Of Contents: -Don't Cheap Out On Your Suspension Kit -Only Get The Suspension Options That You Need -Understand That New Suspension Parts Won't Fix Underlying Issues -Make Sure Any Bad or Worn Parts Are Fixed Before Buying A Lift Kit Shop Aftermarket Suspension Kits and Upgrades At Custom Offsets We know a thing or two about lift kits because we've seen a thing or two about lift kits - there are over 8,300 different suspension kits and components on our website, so we know that it can be a bit daunting when you're shopping. But obviously, you've stumbled upon our blog and maybe our YouTube channel, so you can see that we'll help you make the best choice. We've got everything from leveling kits all the way up to full-on coilover conversion kits, which you can find on our website. With that said, let's get into it. Don't Cheap Out On Your Suspension Kit One of the biggest rookie mistakes we see when it comes to buying your very first lift kit is cheaping out on a few components. It's easy to hit up eBay and grab yourself a leveling kit for 50 bucks, but trust us when we say that this isn't worth it. Sure, you can save some money by being a little frugal with your lift, but typically speaking, when it comes to suspension components, you get what you pay for. Now, more affordable lift kits will be made with lighter-duty materials, and often just machined with larger tolerances as well. This means that your truck could have more play in the suspension and you could sacrifice some ride quality. Additionally, if you're just installing something like leveling keys without touching your control arms or ball joints, you could be in for a bad time, as your suspension geometry may change, which leads to quicker wear on things like ball joints (which might already be worn), wheel bearings, and more front end components. Read More: Do Lift Kits Ruin Trucks? Only Get The Suspension Options That You Need On the other side of the spectrum, another thing that a lot of us guys wish we would've known before buying our first lift kit is that you don't necessarily need every single option for your truck if you're just looking to build a nice daily driver. If you're building a truck for daily driving, often you can get away without committing to every single option available to you. With that said, one of the best bang-for-your-buck lift companies in terms of value right now is going to be Rough Country. If you're trying to hold onto your cash, a Rough Country lift will be a great option that you can scoop up right now, and always piece together the upgrades that you want later down the road, like control arms or shock upgrades. Click here to check out our full review of Rough Country's suspension lineup! A prime example here is Rough Country's Vertex line of coilovers - that's a great option that won't break the bank, considering most of RC's coilover kits come in for under $2500. Read More: Are Coilovers Worth It For Your Truck Build? Understand That New Suspension Parts Won't Fix Underlying Issues One of the biggest things we wish we could tell every single person buying their first lift kit through us is that buying a lift kit will not fix any underlying problems you're currently facing with your truck suspension. So, if you have a worn ball joint and it's chewing through tires left and right, getting a lift kit is not going to fix that problem. Lift kits are engineered and designed to lift your truck, and because of this, they aren't going to replace your factory components that they assume are good. Make Sure Any Bad or Worn Parts Are Fixed Before Buying A Lift Kit In fact, if you have ball joints, tie rods, or even wheel bearings that are starting to show signs of wear, it's safe to assume that installing a new lift kit will actually speed up the wear process - this is because with a lift kit comes bigger wheels and tires, and that puts additional stress on your truck's factory suspension components. Don't panic, though, because when you're installing a lift kit, you're going to have a bunch of this stuff already out of the truck. If you're installing anything more than a leveling kit, the chances are that you'll have the knuckle off of the truck, since you're probably replacing it with a lift knuckle. If that's the case, now is a great time to look at those ball joints, and if they show any signs of wear, just spend the extra couple hundred bucks to get them replaced. Not only is this a pretty simple process since you have everything else out of the way, but it'll also save you time and money by doing it now versus later down the road, when you'll have to take your whole truck apart and pay labor again. Get New Lift Kits For Your Truck at Custom Offsets So those are a few of the top things you need to know before pulling the trigger on a new lift kit setup for your truck. Let us know what you wish you would've known, and as always, be sure to check out our inventory - here, you can find some of the best lift and leveling kits to install on your vehicle. Also, visit our fitment gallery if you want to see how different suspension kits and upgrades will look on your specific model before you buy - we've got plenty of entries in there from drivers like you, and you can use this to make the best educated purchasing decision before you add your new lift kit to the cart. Once you're ready to pull the trigger, let us know if you have any further questions, and we're always happy to help!

Blogs at Custom Offsets

Beginners Guide To Buying Truck Lift Kits

April 12, 2022