Lookin for some advice from all of you guys with lifts. In the coming month or two Im looking to lift my truck enough to run either 36's or 38's. Doing the research right now and have got a couple of questions.

Im pretty set on Skyjacker as Ive read alot of good things about their 4.5" lifts. Im pretty sure I dont got a need for the "long arm" kit, however, what would be better, the Class 1, Class 2.........Single Flex or Double Flex???

What about running 38's? I thought I saw in "Fourwheeler" that Skyjacker was coming out with a 6" lift. If not could I add 2" leveling kit spring spacers in the front to gain the necessary height?

Lastly, if anyone has a similar setup could you shoot me a PM as to what the final cost was? (ill be have a shop do mine)

Thanks for any advice guys
Jeff


(sorry if it takes me awhile to reply........job takes up every minute of my time these days)

 

I'm curious about the different types of Skyjacker lifts as well. I'm looking to lift mine before the end of the year.

 

You can probably fit 38's with the Skyjacker 4.5" kit, but you will need longer control arms.
(might even need them to fit 36's, depends on the truck, every one is different)

Not sure if the "double flex" arms have enough heim joint to move the axle forward enough.
I personally think our front ends are too heavy for the heim joints anyway.

Not familiar with the long arm kit, but I assume it is similiar in mounting to the Mr. Cepek long arms.
So you don't really gain any length from them.

You would definately need longer arms if you put a 2 inch spacer on top of the coils.
That will put the contrl arms pointing almost straight down.

My 315's (35") will hit the rear inside fender if I stuff it while turning.
My coils look taller than other 4.5" skyjacker kits I've seen as well.


phox

 

Phox is right, i think that the 38's will fit no prob. I love my 4.5" lift. No rubbing at all, and plenty of room to spare for 38's. Just remember to up grade your brakes. When I went from 34's to 35's, I can tell a big difference in braking distance.

I can't help you with the price, I bought my truck w/ the lift already on it, so I can't tell you the final cost.

Keep us posted,
Hunter

 

On my 98.5 I am running 5" front coils and 37 MTR's and they rub when the tire comes up while hiting a bump and turning.I think that going with longer control arms to move frontend foward is going to help my problem. I have customer who has the 4.5" Skyjacker kit w/2" spacers and doesn't have many problems running 38". Keep in mind wheel size matters in terms of how wide the wheel is.


Todd

 

Thanks for the replys guys. I dont mind a little rubbin (at least for awhile) so if I could fit 38"s with just 4.5" that would be great.

Hunter and Phox, what type of Skyjacker do yall have? Class 1 or 2 and kit or system?

anyone know the difference between Class 1 and 2?

has anyone else heard of a Skyjacker 6" or did I imagine that ?

As to wheels and tires.........would there be any probs with running a 16.5" rim? The only 38"X16s I can find are PJ's, as much as I like them they aint cheap . Id like to run Swamper TSL radials but unfortunately no 38"s for a 16" rim.

Thanks once again
Jeff

 

With my set-up and 4.5" backspacing on the wheels, I get a little rub in a hard right - no big deal though! I am pretty certain I could get 36's in there with little to no issues. 38's won't work on mine. I run 16.5" wheels and SSR's. Very happy there as well. The SSR's are 10 ply, and the load rating on the wheels is more than I will ever need with this rig.

As for the Standard, versus Single Flex, versus Double Flex - I have the standard version and was told by both Skyjacker and 4 Wheel Parts to stay away from the Flex series all together if I was going to be doing primarily pavement type driving. I am glad I did. Have heard bad things about the heims on a road truck.

Class 1 gets you one shock up front per wheel. Class 2 gets you two shocks per wheel. I went Class 2 and am really happy with that as well - stiffened the front end up very nicely. Looks pretty cool too!

Have heard nothing of the SJ 6" for a CTD equipped truck.

Matt

 

I guess mine would be a class 1 kit.

Single front shocks and add-a-leaf for the rear.

Systems have new entire spring packs in the rear I believe.

Class 2 includes the dual shock for the front?

Single flex has one heim joint on the control arms, double flex has a heim on both ends.
(for those reading the thread who don't know)

16.5" rim won't have the backspacing of the factory wheels, (actually, any aftermarket wheel won't) so the tires will stick out further and the rub (if any) will be inside rear of fender.

The only Skyjacker 6" I've heard of is for the IFS Chevy's.

Skyjacker's website is not very user friendly IMHO.


phox

 

great info guys, keep it coming.

Id really like to run 38's however it seems like Id be lookin at much larger chunk of change to do so........(PJ tires so as to keep the 16" rims, and longer control arms/leveling kt)

any other options?

 

Are there any other manufacturers who are making a 4.5" lift for out trucks?

 

Not a 4.5" lift. Dick Cepek and T Rex make lifts that accomodate the CTD.

Matt

 

i have, well, had, a tuff country 5" lift on my truck. my 315's would rub on the rear of the fender if i turned and stuffed the tire at the same time. But i had 16x10 with 4.5 backspacing so they were stickin out pretty far. i only got it to rub once. No probs with any of this setup at all. if you want this setup See classifieds, cause mine is in there. oh and the tires too.

 

i run a 5.5 (so it was called by superlift for the diesels) and 37x1250x16 SSR swampers. i can get my tires to hit my flaps hard when i hit a bump in a turn. one of there times it is going to rip my flap off. i think with a 2" spacer you would be ok ontop of the lift for 38's

 

Okay, here's the low down, end all-be all of the Skyjacker lift (pretty full of myself. huh?)

I'm running what started out as the 4.5" single flex. Heims on the axle end. No problems with the lift, but 38"s will not fit without serious rubbing, the tires will gouge on the lip at the bottom of the fender. I'm running 37" Swamper SSR's on a 16X8 rim. Earlier this year I had some custom 5.5" ciols fabricated, with a 15% softer spring rate. They ride much better than the Skyjacker coils and they cost me less than $400.

With the track bar and sway bar disconnected, full droop, I had to use a crowbar to get the springs seated. Not much downward travel left now that they're in. There's just not much left in the suspension geometry to go any more than 6" with the 4.5" kit. With a 4.5" spring and a 2" spacer, there will be NO down travel left in that suspension, it will ride like crap, and things WILL break. But the 38's will probably fit......

Another problem with stacking spacers on top of the coils is front driveline bind. Any more than 4.5" and you will most likely see it. That is why the 7" kit has a clocking ring, to rotate the T/C down. I speak from experience here.....

Having said that, Skyjacker does make a 7" kit. Pretty nice kit, but it is pricey. Comes with longer arms, transfer case/lower arm relocation bracket, transfer case clocking ring, adjustable track bar, coils, and some other goodies. I believe the upper arms are relocated the the lower arm points on the frame, and the lower arms go to the new bracket.

The 7" kit used to be available with 7" King coil overs, but they weren't selling enough of them so they quit making 'em. The 7" kit is still available as far as I know, but I never see it advertised. Last time I checked it was around $3K.

I paid about $1100 for my 4.5" single flex about 4 years ago. Figure in an aftermarket track bar, 'cause it'll eat those.

If anybody is interested in the custom coils, shoot me a PM. I'm extremely happy with them......

 

why don't you just buy the Cepek front box kit 399.00, some skyjacker 7 inch diesel coils 170.00, a DT track bar 340?, a 6 inch drop pitman arm 140.00 and some nice rear leafs of your choice ( I chose atlas springs, real nice stuff) 500.00, then a steering stabilizer if you need a new one. and some shocks of your choice. I reccomend the rancho 99012 shocks.

thats around 1500 or so, and you have new leafs and a good track bar, that you will need anyways. I think all the skyjacker full kits come with blocks and add a leafs.