PA BODY LIFT QUESTIONS

[Chris Castineira]

I’m about as close as you can get from buying a PA 3” body lift but I have a few last minute questions

1) Although I am mechanically inclined I’m thinking of having the neighborhood shop install it, for one to save head aches, times, and screwing up my ST. In a ball park range how much should I expect to pay?

2) Will installing the body lift void my warranty in anyway, I’ve seen on multiple websites that it shouldn’t.

3) Will I encounter any problems down the line, i.e. drive shaft problems.

4) How much will my MPG decrease (for those who’ve done it) and is there and thing I can do in advance to stop this

5) How long will my ST be out of commission



6) Looking for some feed back from people who’ve had this done. PROS AND CONS appreciated.

All answers appreciated and THANKS A LOT TO ALL.

 

[Mat Deegan]

1) Im not sure about your area but here in so cal, the shop would charge any where from $500 and up. I did this myself and one other friend so im not so sure about the price.

2) I think if you have no more than 3" of lift then you'll have be ok.

3) so far so good, i dont have any problem with the lift and i had it done since october of last year. When you do the lift, be careful with one of the hoses (im not sure what it was but you will see it). well, it was hitting one of the pulley.

4) i dont think it would decrease your MPG. if u plan to install bigger tires, then it would.

5) If you do it yourself - about 6-7 hours (well, it took me and my buddy 2 days cuz all we had was hand tools )

if you take it to the shop - it depends on how busy they are.

6) Pros - i like the height of the truck and u cant really tell that you installed body lift on the ST. unless, u look at it real hard.

Cons - u dont really gain ground clearance just for looks only

 

[Kirk Montez]

Mat D, what size of tires you got on yoru rig?



Kirk

 

[Mat Deegan]

285/70/16 - thats with body lift and TT/SL. I dont think you can fit those tires in with just a body lift. But, TT and SL is pretty easy to do and cheap too.

 

[Dallas Starr]

I have just the PA body lift and I am runing 285/75/16's --- check my library for more pics



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Mat Deegan]

oops sorry - i just went and check they are 285/75/16s' I dont even know my tires size

 

[Sean M 2]

With 285/75/16 your MPG will decrease significantly. I have a 3" body lift with 2" TT\SL running 285/75/16 General Grabber AT2 tires. I get roughly 10mpg in the city, highway mileage wont drop as badly, although my performance suffered as well. Truck is very sluggish from takeoff. Looks awesome however. I installed mine myself, it wasnt too hard, but very labor intensive. I wouldnt pay over 500 for install tho.

 

[Dallas Starr]

get an xcal2, exhaust and intake... takes care of the performance issues.... and get the mpg back as well

 

[Mat Deegan]

Yea, with 285/75/16 ur truck might have a hard time climbing big hills. as Big D said, exhaust xcal2 and intake would take care some of performance issues. DANG!! SEAN ur rig gets 10 mpg in the city?!!! mine mpg aint that bad but im not a heavy footer either. :lol:

 

[Scott Heckler]

Chris - I just got my PA body lift delivered with in the past week. I don't have a garage so I was waiting for it to be a little warmer here in Philly before I try to install it myself. Everything I have read tells me it is not that hard to install. Getting the old bolts out will be the extent of the difficulty.

 

[Chris Castineira]

ScoTt - I live in south philly( between genos and the mummers musuem) if you wanna hook up and I'll give you a hand, im pretty good with tools and my hands. I'll watch you get a feel and some experience and if by the end i don't think its that bad ill try and do it myself. Let me know

 

[Scott Heckler]

Hey Chris - I'm up in Langhorne. I could use the help. It will be a few weeks out yet. We can do mine then we can get your's done too.

 

[Chris Castineira]

Scott thats sounds like a plan. From what everyone's been saying, it seems like it you have 2 guys you can get the job done rather easy. I check the website mostly once a day at the least a couple times a week. Just post messageup hear or shoot me an e-mail [email protected] and well talk when it warms up, defenitly in though.

 

[Sean M 2]

Matt D, yeah my mileage is horrible. Do you have an Xcal 2? I am considering getting one if I could at least get the truck back to stock performance, and hopefully get some more MPG's. If you do have it, do you think it restored you to stock performance? I'm not all that hard on the gas either, but I do alot of stop and go, and that is what really kills my mileage. The big heavy 33's need alot of gas to get them moving. Also I have 4.10 axles. Thanks!

 

[Scott Heckler]

SEAN - I will haver larger tires late this spring/summer and will see what difference it makes as far as MPG's go. I have the intake and exhaust mods along with the xcal2. I have to get my lift(s) on first. I have 255's on it now but want 33 or 35's.

 

[Sean M 2]

Scott, 35's are gonna be tough with stock gears, even with a tune I think. You may have to move up to 4.56 gears to get your performance back. My 33's are tolerable, but I feel like I'm putting a lot of stress on my drive train, especially the tranny, which as we all know is prone to failure.

 

[Scott Heckler]

SEAN - I have the 4.10 now. I'll see how it goes as I add the larger tires. If I have to go to 4.56, so be it. It's only money, right? :wacko:

 

[Sean M 2]

Scott- Ha you are absolutely right. 35's would look AMAZING though. What lift combo are you thinking of running? 3" body, 4in suspension?

 

[Mat Deegan]

SEAN,



no i dont have xcal 2 installed, yet but i do have flowmaster exhaust and k&n intake plus a little bit of performance mods. i get around 15 mpg in the city and about 17 on hwy. i drive about 3 hrs a day in traffic (about 80 miles). i burn about $100 a week but thats just because of the distance i drive. but i keep a good maintenance on my truck. but to answer you question, im not so sure but i believe that u can get close to stock or even better with the mods i have plus xcal 2. u can also get headers u know . i would like to have it but i just cant afford it right now



p.s. im not sure what gear axle i have (how do i check it btw?)

Mat

 

[Dallas Starr]

I have the 3" body, with 4.10 gears and 32.8" tires, the xcal2 and other mods got me back to stock and a little beyond as far as milage and performance. I have been running this way for a while now (about a year and a half, about 50000kms, on the tires and lift) and there have been no adverse effects on my drive train.