If you are a regular reader of my blog, you already know I have an auto repair shop. As I’ve been dealing with different car and truck owners, they tend to lift their vehicles most of the time.
I’ve been asked frequently if you can do a suspension lift and a body lift to your vehicle.
The answer is Yes! You can do both a suspension lift and a body lift at the same time for a much higher vehicle. The body lift will give it an enhanced look retaining the factory ride, while at the same time, the suspension lift will give it more ground clearance for a better and smoother ride making space for larger tires.
And today, I will guide you through all the details of doing both lifts to your vehicles.
If you are someone who doesn’t want to miss out on any advantages and has a hard time deciding on any of the two, then stay with me till the end of my article.
Combo lift – Body Lift and Suspension Lift
Suspension Lift
A suspension lift kit is very popular when it comes to lifting a vehicle. It gives your vehicle the following benefits:
Ground Clearance
A suspension lifting means more ground clearance for your vehicle and better performance in rough and tough terrain. Better ground clearance also gives you more support while you go off-road.
A 3 inches lift is enough to have better ground clearance within which you can fit bigger tires.
Better Handling
A suspension lift will change the whole capability of your suspension and give it a high performance.
It is a lot easier to handle a lifted truck, especially during turns and corners.
A lift gives your truck more control to drive faster and safer, feeling more comfortable driving it on rough terrains and highways.
Increased Visibility
A suspension lift can give your vehicle up to 9 inches of lift, allowing you better visibility. You can see things on the road and other vehicles.
As your vehicle will be taller than other vehicles on the road, you will get a better view and be able to see what’s going on around you.
Body Lift
A body lift gives your vehicle a higher ride height by adding spacers between the cab and the bed of a truck. Here’s the list of benefits you can get from body lifting:
Overall Height
A body lift will give your vehicle an overall higher ride and can take your ride higher up to 4 inches. If you install body lifting lit, the suspension will not be raised or changed.
The higher height will bring a new look to your vehicle.
You can also put in bigger tires.
Bigger Tires
As your vehicle goes higher with a body lift, it gives your vehicle more space to have bigger tires. With these bigger tires, you can improve your tough terrain and off-road experience.
Combining Suspension Lift and Body Lift
If you want to lift both the body and the suspension of your vehicle, you can use a lift kit and a leveling kit.
Lift kits are designed to raise the body from the axles to make room for ground clearance and save the tires from rubbing with the fender wells.
A leveling kit is used to raise the suspension. So basically, every leveling kit is a kind of lift kit. But only some lift kits can be used as a leveling kit.
A suspension lift is used only for the front of a vehicle. It can help with towing, controlling, and controlling difficult turns and corners.
There are many leveling kits available in the market. Combining one of these kits with a body lift will cost you fewer dollars than a suspension lift.
For instance, you can combine a 1.5 inches level lift kit with a body lift of 2.5 inches for about half the expense of a 4-inch suspension lift.
With this combination, you will get 1.5 more inches of ground clearance and 4 more inches of ride height.
You will also have better handling with this combination than the suspension lifts with a great towing ability, as the center of gravity will maneuver less.
The combination of a suspension lift and a body lift is often called a Hybrid lift. It is quite rare and can give your vehicle higher raise than a normal lift.
A hybrid lift kit lifts the body and frame of the vehicle and then adds more height by separating the body from the frame.
This hybrid lift will increase the capability of your ride, and you can handle pavements and do rock crawling in the best possible way. Problems of Combining Suspension Lift and Body Lift
Problems of Combining Suspension Lift and Body Lift
Just an aggressive-looking vehicle isn’t enough, and you will not get desired advantages if you face difficulty riding it. So you must keep in mind the problems the lifting may bring to it. Such as:
Excessive Weight
Some of my clients have complained of the heavier ride after installing a hybrid lift kit. Their cars just got too heavy due to the suspension and body lift at the same time.
The much higher raise also increased the risk of rolling over.
Pro Tip: You can add a stabilizer to your ride to avoid rollovers.
Expensive Installation
Installing a suspension lift kit along with a body lift is quite expensive as there are many parts involved.
You will also have to add the labor cost to the cost of lift kits.
I would suggest you take professional help if you want to combine the two lifts because it is very tricky, and measurements should be correct if you want a trouble-free installation.
Warranty Void
Adding any kind of aftermarket accessories to your ride can cancel your warranty.
Especially if you are lifting both the body and suspension of your truck or car, it may be a permanent change in some cases, and the vehicle cannot go back to its original condition.
So before installing a hybrid lift, you must think and decide carefully if you really want to risk the warranty or not.
Violation of Law
In some states, lifting a vehicle too high is considered illegal as they get bigger and larger than most vehicles on the streets, adding the risk of accidents and injuries.
So, you should definitely consider the laws and regulations of your state regarding lifted vehicles.
Reduced Fuel Economy
As your vehicle does more work, you will see it burn gas faster than before. As a result, you will get less fuel efficiency than before, and your mileage can also drop significantly.
