WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEVELING KITS, SUSPENSION LIFTS AND BODY LIFTS?
There are 3 primary types of lift kits, suspension lifts, leveling kits, and body lifts. Each has pros and cons to include cost, lift height, installation difficulty and vehicle performance.
Leveling Kits: From the factory, many vehicles, especially trucks are designed to with a lower ride height in the front. This is done for a number of reasons to include better aerodynamics for fuel economy as well as giving the truck a more level appearance when hauling heavy loads. In many cases the factory suspension can be quickly and easily altered to increase the ride height to level out the vehicle’s stance front-to-rear without effecting ride quality, handling or overall vehicle performance. Leveling kits also have the benefit of allowing a slightly larger wheel/tire to be installed. These kits are typically more affordable that other types of lifts and are a great solution to fit a slightly larger tire.
Suspension Lifts: These lifts modify the vehicle’s suspension by repositioning suspension + steering + drivetrain components down off the frame to allow more room for larger tires. A well-designed suspension lift kit will account for changes in the geometry to ensure factory lift handling and ride quality on road, while improving offroad performance and capability. These kits are typically based around maintaining the factory suspension design while accommodating additional lift. These typically require a bit more time to install, but achieve the best performance results. Some vehicles use solid axles, some use independent front and/or rear suspension (IFS/IRS). Some solid axle vehicles use leaf sprung suspension where others use radius arms, or multi-link suspension designs. Many trucks use independent front suspension (IFS) in a variety of configurations, some using torsion bars, some using coil springs and others with strut/coilovers. Suspension lifts typically have the biggest price tag, but offer the tallest lift heights and best on-road/offroad performance.
Body Lifts: In contrast to a suspension lift that uses taller suspension components between the frame and axles, a body lift installs between the body and frame to raise the body for a lifted appearance. Not all body lifts on the market are not created equal. In addition to the crushproof body blocks and longer mounting hardware Zone uses, many applications require addition modification to function properly once lifted. Things like steering linkage correction, radiator fan shroud relocation brackets, fuel filler neck extension, shifter extensions and bumper brackets to retain factory appearance and functionality. Its worth noting body lifts are designed for vehicles with body-on-frame construction, and are not available with unibody vehicles (i.e. Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee). Body lifts are typically offered in 1-3" lift heights and are a great cost efficient solution to get a few extra inches of lift independent from a suspension or leveling kits.
ARE BODY LIFTS BAD?
With a body lift the vehicle body is raised up off the frame and without affecting the suspension. Over the years body lifts have gotten a bad rap, thought of as a cheap/sub-par way to lift a vehicle. The truth is over the years there have been companies that cut corners and offered incomplete kits that might have accomplished lifting the body off the frame, but used low grade mounting hardware and not including correction for the steering linkage, fuel filler, fan shroud, grounding strap, bumpers and other nuances commonly needed. Additionally in the past some companies offered too tall of kits. Zone Offroad offers body lifts to comply with state and federal regulations at heights between 1.25-3” lift heights and includes all necessary hardware, brackets, hose extensions, etc needed. It should be noted that the smaller body lifts don’t require as extensive of a part list and will vary from by application.
While there are plenty of offroad performance benefits to installing a suspension lift rather than a body lift, body lifts are still a viable option and can be considered as an affordable option to gain additional tire clearance without affecting ride quality or handling characteristics. Body lift kits can be installed in combination with leveling kits or suspension lifts to help fit larger wheel/tire combos.
CAN I INSTALL THE KIT MYSELF OR SHOULD I HAVE THE DEALER INSTALL?
Ultimately that will depend on a few factors to include the install difficulty of the kit, your skill level and the tools required. Your product warranty will stay intact whether you self-install or go through one of our dealers to install the products. We give each kit a difficulty rating on the website and include step-by-step instructions to walk you through install process. If you feel comfortable to take on the job great! it will likely save you some money. If you have questions along the way our tech support department is available to help.
DO I NEED TO REGEAR MY VEHICLE WHEN LIFTING TO INSTALL LARGER TIRES?
Regearing is not a requirement when lifting your vehicle to install larger tires. Your vehicle will continue to operate with factory gearing, but may feel more sluggish during acceleration with larger tires installed. The act of regearing refers to swapping out your axles ring and pinion gears to use ones with a different number of teeth which will calculate out to a different rotation ratio (ie. changing a stock 3.07:1 to a 4.56:1). This change in the ratio will help to alleviate strain on the drivetrain allowing your vehicle to more easily rotate the larger mass of an oversized wheels/tires.
DO ZONE OFFROAD LIFT KITS COME WITH SHOCKS?
All Zone Offroad suspension lifts are designed to be complete systems and include everything you need down to the hardware packs and stickers. When shocks are necessary/recommended for a kit you will find those listed on the product page. You also have the option (not recommended) to purchase a kit without shocks in the event you plan to run a different shock option from what we have available.
WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED TO DO AN INSTALLATION MYSELF?
Short answer, it depends. In general you should have basic hand tools (sockets, ratchet, wrenches and a hammer) on hand for any install. Beyond that depending on the kit you are installing and the vehicle it is getting installed on. We include a list of any specialty tools needed under the install section of each kit page along with detailed step-by-step installation instructions to show how each of those tools will be used. In some cases, especially on older/rusty vehicles additional tools (cutoff wheel, torch, etc) are necessary to remove old parts during installation and may affect installation time.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS?
Each product page has a link to the .pdf step-by-step instruction guide.
WHICH LIFT HEIGHT IS RIGHT FOR ME?
Zone Offroad offers several lift heights and lift styles to meet your needs. Choosing the right lift height will ultimately depend on few factors:
Build Budget (taller lifts are typically have more parts and are more expensive)
Wheel/Tire Size (larger/wide sizes will require larger lifts)
Height Limitations (needs to fit in parking garages, state laws limit lift height, etc)
Depending on the vehicle you have Zone Offroad offers anywhere from 3/4" lifts all the way up to 8" kits and everything in between. Check out the lift kits available for your vehicle to see what kit options Zone Offroad has available.
WHY SHOULD I LIFT MY TRUCK OR JEEP?
There are several reasons to lifting your truck or Jeep, from improving ground clearance, allowing room for larger tires to be installed, increasing offroad capability and even simply for appearance reasons to help your ride stand out from the pack. It should be said that not all lifts are created equal and while there are numerous ways to lift your vehicle, there are pros and cons to each that will need to be considered. To dig deeper into the topic see types of lift kits
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT ZONE OFFROAD COMPANY?
For company Information and to learn about Zone Offroad®, please visit the About Page.