Lift Kit

Welcome to trucks. I've got a great show planned for you today because I am gonna lift a truck. No, not this little Subaru. I'm gonna deal with this later on.

I'm talking big lifts on big trucks. Now, if you've picked up any kind of a truck oriented magazine lately, you know, that big lifts are really popular. I'm talking 1050

20 inches a lift now, although that's cool,

it doesn't necessarily make a good off road vehicle or a street legal vehicle since most states have laws on how high you can lift a rig.

So the question is how high can you lift your truck to give yourself a better off road rig

and not get the truck impounded at the same time.

Well, those are the things we're gonna deal with today as we take this 2002 Super duty

jack it up in the air. Now, the first question, how high should you go?

Well, a good rule of thumb is about eight inches because that'll allow you to fit a really nice size tire in here. Still keep your center of gravity fairly low

and should still keep you legal as far as headlight and bumper heights concerned. If you go any higher,

you start to get into custom components like special drive shafts, steering linkage, four links, drop brackets, et cetera,

which are not only expensive but can also compromise the safety of your rig on the road.

For our truck. We went to Super Lift and got their eight inch lift kit for the Ford Super duty. Now, this kit includes huge rear and front springs. We'll talk more about those when we put them in

all the hardware shocks, drop brackets, everything that you're gonna need to put this in. Now, we wanted a few more options to go with this kit.

So we also got from Super L

their dual steering stabilizer,

dual front shock option,

these special stainless steel and Kevlar brake lines

and of course their true speed. Now, this thing allows you to recalibrate your speedometer for bigger tires. You've got to have this.

Now, I know this looks like a lot of stuff, but believe it or not, you can install this in your garage over the weekend and I'm gonna show you how

first thing you'll need to do is get the tires off.

You'll also want to pull off the front bumper because it gives you more room to work.

Next. Unbolt the track bar from the bracket.

You're gonna need a long handled breaker bar for this because they're on tight

and then

unbolt this bracket from the frame.

Then unbolt, the sway bar and link from the frame,

remove the shock,

the shock bracket

and the stock bump stop.

Finally disconnect the drag link

from the pitman arm.

Now we are ready to get these stock leaf springs out of here. Now, the first thing we're gonna do

is put a jack under the axle to support it because it is heavy

and it's also gonna be awkward because all your weight is off to one side because the pumpkins offset.

Now, if you don't have a jack like this, that will support the whole thing properly, you're gonna have to drop it one side at a time,

remove the U bolts that hold the axle to the spring,

then

unbolt the springs and get them out of there.

The new super lift springs are these huge monsters that have the full eight inches of lift built right into them.

Now, they come with new bushings all installed and here in front, you have a military style double wrap for strength and safety.

Now, I know you're looking at these going

man, they're huge. They've got to be stiff as heck. No,

because they use 10 smaller leaves as opposed to just a couple of big thick ones.

This gives you a much smoother spring rate curve which gives you a smoother ride, less bouncing and jarring like you would expect from a big spring.

They are heavy though about 95 pounds worth of heavy. So you are gonna need an extra set of hands to help you put these on

with the new springs in place and the axle jacked up firmly against it. It is time to start bolting things together. Now, some of the new parts we're using

is this top bracket. It's for the dual shocks.

And we've got this bracket down here for the dual steering stabilizer

and it's all held together with new U bolts like a big sandwich. Now, these are just snug down for now. I'm gonna wait till I get the truck down on the ground, get the weight on the springs, then I'm gonna crank those down where they need to be

moving on. We are ready to modify our steering linkage. Now, the kit comes with this new adjuster sleeve goes right in place of the original

and it's about an inch longer to make up for the lift. Now, before you take the original piece off though,

come in here with the tape measure,

measure how much thread you've got on either side.

Then when you put the new one on, match the thread count up

and then when you bolt it all together and the truck sitting down on the ground,

your steering wheel should be pretty much centered up where it needs to be.

Finally, we'll pull the stock pitman arm

and bolt on the new dropped arm that comes with a kit

while we're in here. We're gonna put on this new track bar drop bracket and it goes right where the original one was

and it uses the original hardware. Now notice how it drops the location of the track bar down to where nothing's in a bind,

then bolt the drag link to the pitman arm

and that takes care of your linkage

and make sure that you're using a new counter pin up here.

Don't reuse those old Cotter pins.

Now notice that I don't have the track bar hooked up yet unless you're a glutton for punishment. It

is better to have the truck down on the ground with the weight on it

before you try to hook that track bar up.

Ok. Like I said before, we are using super lifts, optional dual shot kit on the front.

And since those dual shots really need something to bolt to

this bracket is what you get.

Now, it goes here on the frame,

the brake lines and stuff run around behind it

and it bolts right to existing holes. All you have to do is come in with a drill and open those up a little bit

with the bracket bolted on. It is time for the shocks

and they just slide into place

and they are bolted on with the supplied hardware. Now, as you can see, this is starting to look like something now, especially since half of my body now fits into the wheel. Well, after the break, I'm gonna finish up the front and jump on the rear

and if you wanna see what a difference, eight inches of lift can make,

you're gonna have to come back.

We are taking a 2002 super duty

and we are lifting it right to the ragged edge of what you can legally drive on the highway.

And we're doing that with a super lift eight inch lift kit.

Now, I've already almost finished the front. Everything went on pretty easy. No real surprises. So let's finish it up before we run out of time.

Now, one of the last things to hook up are the sway bar end links and just like the track bar and the Pittman arm,

they need to be dropped down. So

take this bracket that comes with the kit,

it bolts right to the frame in the stock location

using the stock hardware,

then just hook up the link. It's that easy.

Now, we are ready to talk brakes or more specifically brake lines.

Now, this is not an area you can afford to overlook if you're doing a lift, especially something this big.

Now, it is possible to come in here, modify your hard lines to where you can reuse the stock hoses. And this is why mostly companies don't include new hoses in their kits,

but you need new hoses. Why?

Well, first of all, the stock hose is too weak to do any kind of serious off roading with second of all,

it's gonna be too short. So for our new hoses, we went to Super lift and check this out.

This hose starts with a Teflon inner core.

Then that is wrapped with braided Kevlar. And over the top of that

goes your braided stainless steel outer shell

over that

is a final coating of vinyl.

These are insanely strong. They won't expand

and they are dot approved.

But the best part is

they are direct replacement for your old factory rubber hoses, which you might as well throw away because you're not gonna need those anymore

with the new brake lines in place.

We're gonna move right on to this dual steering stabilizer kit.

Now, obviously, the original stabilizer bars got to come out.

So we'll unbolt it at either end.

Then we need to come in and cut off a piece of this bracket. So

we'll get out the cut off tool and we'll take care of that

then bolt on the bracket

followed by the stabilizers

and that takes care of the front end.

Well, what do you think? Eight inches of lift?

Well, yeah, it's awesome, especially when you compare it to the rear end, which is still at stock height. Now, take a really good look at it because this is the next thing we're gonna change

after the break.

Welcome back to trucks where we are wrestling an eight inch suspension left onto our super duty here.

Now, we've already got the front taken care of all we have left to do is the rear and it's pretty simple, pretty much replacing springs and shocks and a few other things. So, hold on. Here we go

with a jack under the rear axle for support,

ah,

remove the U

bolt,

ah,

unbolt the sharks,

then unbolt the springs

and take them out.

We're getting our lift on the rear with these big old super lift springs that just like what we put on the front completely dwarf what originally came on the truck. Now,

these are set up for a full eight inches of lift

and they've got this overload spring. So you can still carry heavy loads in the rear.

You're just gonna have to lift those loads a little higher to get them into the bed. Now, installing these is very simple, just slide them into place, put them on with factory hardware

with the springs on and the axle bolted back up.

All you have to do is bolt on your new shocks and your bump stop extensions and you are almost finished.

You wanna make sure though you've got plenty of slack in your brake cables and your hoses because you don't want those binding up on you.

The last thing we're gonna do

is drop this carrier bearing on the two piece drive shaft

because on an eight inch lift,

this rear drive shaft angle is gonna be too steep and you're gonna get some vibration

dropping. That bearing down will take care of that. Now, all you have to do

is take this bracket,

bolt it on

and then bolt the bearing to that,

that takes care of the lift.

Now, we need to put on some wheels and tires that will do that lift some justice

for wheels. We went to Weald racing got what they call the mountain crusher. And these are a polished forged aluminum wheels so they're very strong then to give them a rugged outdoor look. They've got this bead lock looking out of rim and the size 16 by 10.

Now for tires, we got these huge 38 inch tall, 15.5 inch wide monsters from Interco

and they are called the TRX.

And these have a very unique tread design kind of look like big teeth

that run all the way down into the side wall. Now, I know these look like a really radical off road tire and they do really well, but this is Interco's all terrain tire,

so they should be good on the highway too. But either way

they look like they're gonna just jump out and grab you

one last thing.

A big tire like this means a lot of rolling mass. That means

your stock brakes aren't going to cut it. Fortunately

off road unlimited has an easy, easy solution in this disc brake upgrade kit for the super duty.

Now, these feature special pads

that have a much more aggressive compound that bite quicker and of course, that stops the truck better.

They use that in conjunction with a cold hardened rotor. So they won't overheat and warp like a normal rotor will. Best part is these are a direct replacement for what's on the truck. So take you just a few minutes to throw these on

and if you're gonna run some big tires, you really need to look into this,

that finishes up the lift. Wow,

eight inches of suspension lift and a 38 inch tall tire

equals right around 12 inches of total lift.

Now, if you're thinking of duplicating this project,

you need to check your state laws first because it may be too high for some states.

Now, once you have the truck back on the ground crawl underneath it, check all your nuts and bolts, make sure they're tight

and make sure you check them again after about 500 miles of driving. Now, speaking of driving,

what do you say we fire this thing up and take it out?

Yeah, good idea

that,

that

to say this truck has a commanding presence on the road is an understatement,

but it's not just looks, it's also very solid at freeway speeds

and surprisingly,

the tires are fairly quiet considering the massive size and tread design.

But this truck really comes alive when you get off road because the suspension really works

and you don't have to baby it.

The new springs are stiff but they still give you good flex

and the extra tire and ground clearance lets you go up

and over

or through places you wouldn't dream of taking a stock truck.

So if you want a big truck that you can wheel hard,

this is how to build it.

Just can't get enough of trucks. Check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

Welcome back

in the automotive world. The line between cars and trucks has gotten fuzzier with each passing year Now, like we showed you before the break, this is a truck

and of course, this is a car

and somewhere in between you have things like the Chevy avalanche, the petite cruiser

and new for 2003, the Subaru Baja.

The first thing you notice about the Baja is the body and the styling with plastic panels covering the lower half of the body giving a more aggressive flared look very similar to the avalanche.

The Baja also follows the current trend of more doors and more usable room with four full doors and enough space to carry four adults

and inside those doors. The Baja is very sporty leather bucket seats, console and round faced gauges.

The bed is tiny at first glance, but if you fold down the rear seat and open the rear panel, all of a sudden you have room to carry things like skis and kayaks, heck even bikes still need more room.

The Baha also comes with roof rails and cross bars to carry more stuff up on top and a bed extender to

in

the cargo space in the bed

under the hood. You have a 2.5 L four cylinder

that kicks out 100 and 65 horsepower. Now, while this isn't going to throw you back in the seat,

it does make the Baja

surprisingly quick and nimble now, Subaru is legendary for its all wheel drive vehicles and the Baja

is no exception, features full time

all wheel drive

and a limited slip differential in the rear, which makes this a good outdoors or recreational rig. However,

don't waste your time looking for a low range or any other serious off road features because

the Baha

doesn't have them. That's not what it was designed for, but you might be surprised what you can do with one of these things with a little persuasion.

So, is it a truck?

Not really,

is it a car?

No, not really.

So, what is it?

Well, it's the Subaru

Baha and it just might be what you're looking for.

One of the most popular modifications that people like to do to early trucks is convert the door glass to one piece. Get rid of this vent wing.

Unfortunately, that takes a lot of fabrication some time cutting of glass, a lot of time to make it look right. Well, for those of you, with the 67 through 72 Chevy truck,

you've got a shortcut with this kit from early classic enterprises now it's a one piece door glass kit, no vent wings anymore. And of course, you get door glass bracketry and all the weather stripping and seals to have this thing seal up. Look right and not leak on you. If you like the one piece look early. Classic can help you out.

As more people are getting into off roading and lifting trucks, the demand for an affordable long travel shock keeps getting greater and greater.

Well, it was no surprise when Edelbrock came out with these extreme travel remote reservoir shocks. And this takes Edel

Brock's patented IAS technology sticks it into a long travel body with a remote reservoir. Now, this not only gives you more oil capacity for cooler running,

it gives you a shock that's gonna handle it when you want to get rough with things. Now, it doesn't matter if you're lifting a truck or building a custom chassis.

Edelbrock probably got a set of these for your application.

Ok. We've all heard the urban legend about the 65 Corvette in the barn for 100 bucks and

paint that you can paint right over rust and it'll stop it.

Well, I can't help you on the Corvette, but the paint does exist and it's made by magnet paints and it's called chassis saver paint.

Now, this stuff you can literally paint right over a rusty surface. It chemically bonds, sealing out any kind of moisture or oxygen. And without those,

you don't have rust now, it dries extremely hard but remains flexible. So it's not gonna crack and chip and peel off on you

and it's also impervious to any kind of gas or fuels or salt water or acid. Heck, you name it. So, if you want to protect the bottom of your rig, keep it from rusting or keep it from ever starting.

Give Magnet paints a call and that's gonna do it for today. We will see you next week.