What do you guys think of driving LIFTED trucks for a daily driver?

I drive about 40 miles to work, and 40 miles home. I do it 4 days a week. My truck, is currently my only vehicle, other than my girlfriends car. I'll could use her car more often to drive to work... so that's an option...

but overall, do you think having a 6" suspension, 3" body lift, and 37" tires would be ok driving that distance that many days a week? Would it be ridiculous with gas compared to what i'm getting now? I drive a 2003 f150 supercrew lariat fx4 4x4 by the way.

If it will be ridiculous... i suppose i'll just get the 3" body lift, and 35" tires.....

but honestly, i want a bigger truck... so ... i'm kinda caught up in all of this.

My friends / family keep telling me to just do the body lift and 35" tires.. because my girlfriend and I are having a baby... and well, they don't see it being practical. I make a decent amount of money, so i'm not terribly worried about the extra money in gas...

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Suggestions? Should I go with the bigger lift, go with the smaller lift, or go with no lift, til after the baby is like a couple years old.

 

My truck is my daily driver and I have a 6" lift on it. Lots of guys on here have lifted their DD.

Sounds like to me then you've answered your own question. If you're truly not worried about it then fix your truck up the way you want and enjoy it.

 

Ok.. i suppose you are right.

What do you think about the baby situation though? Should I NOT lift it, because i'm having a baby? That's the way people are making me feel about it... but I don't see how having my truck lifted has any affect on the baby, or how i transport him / her.

 

to answer your question about how having a baby affects you transporting her!

i have a 17 month old daughter.. my truck is a regular cab so she sits up front with me, (air bag turned off) well alot of people dont like it but thats how it is.. they think it is unsafe for a baby to be in a lifted truck! but in reality it isnt any more unsafe then driving it stock... if you drive like an idiot then its gonna be dangerous if not you will be fine!

im on a limited budget so im only getting 33's and saving up money for my BL and 35's and gears!

alot of people dont understand lifted vehicles they think they are top heavy and have a good chance of turning over but when you lift you also widen your stance thus it stays relatively the same proportion as stock! yes it is more top heavy but if you respect your truck and wont be speeding around corners and spinning your tires around turns you will be fine!

IMHO driving a lifted truck is safer than driving a small car.

you said you arent worried about the gas or money so do it... go with the 6+3 and 38's just respect the fact that you are driving a lifted vehicle!

just so you know when you go up to 38's get 4.88 gears you wont regret it!

 

My truck is now my daily driver and I drive exactly 80 miles per day, 4 days a week too - all freeway.

I have 35's and I only lose about 1-1.5 mpg with the 35's over stock tires. I'm guessing because the RPMs are actually lower with the bigger tires and the stock 3.73 gears. I was thinking about regearing, but I run my stock tires in the winter and it would take a while to recover the amount of savings in gas to pay for the gears.

4.88 gears might not be a bad idea if you want to run 37's - it would pretty much bring you back to your stock gear ratio. If not, I don't think 35's will be all that bad.

I'd do it - your baby will be fine

 

I've been wanting to lift my supercrew for awhile now - but I also drive around 80 miles a day (5 days a week) and had 35's on my last truck and I don't want to mess with keeping the tires rotated and balanced and aligned again.

Driving 80 miles a day you'll be lucky to get 3 years worth out of those tires, you'll be filling your truck up more often, you'll have to worry about other suspension components, getting a car seat in/out, and and costs that will come up out of nowhere for repairs, just not something I would want to mess with - especially with a baby on the way (congrats, by the way! ).

I'd give the suspension lift a little bit and go for the body lift and 35's, to cure the itch, then once the baby is here and everything financially and otherwise stable again in a year or two put the suspension lift on.

Just my .02..

 

Here is my opinion...(with experience in your situation)
My wife and I had our first son about 1 yr ago. My truck is totally stock right now, but just ordered my 35s and awaiting the lift in a week or 2. I also want to go with a basic 6" with the 3" body on top of it, but for now, I am going with the basic 6", 2" leveling kit, and 5" blocks in the rear. That will give me about 8" or so of lift.
Then when these tires wear down in 3 yrs or so, I can always add the 3" body then seeing I will have ot replace the tires anyway and switch to 37-38's. By then I will have enough to put gears in too.
this way I cure the itch to have a bigger truck now, and then in a few yrs when i am sick of the 6-8", I can upgrade another 3" with the body lift and be kinda like having a new truck all over again.
Also, I will tell you that putting a baby in a lifted truck is a pain in the ***. Those running boards/bars get awfully slippery in the rain. You dont want the wife falling as she is getting into the back seat carrying a baby in her arms ot get her/him in the car seat.

My advice,, do basic 6" right now, and then in a few yrs,,,add the rest.
Or like i did,, I bought a little 4dr Saturn used for 4g and use that as my DD.

 

i have an 03 F-150 S-cab and im getting ready to drop mine off tomorrow to have my 6" suspension lift with 35"s installed and i will be driving around 50 miles a day back and forth from work monday-friday so i dont think it will be that bad either bro DO IT! lol

 

I've got an 03 with a 3" Body Lift and 35's, oh yeah and a 3 year old and 1 year old. I'm not saying either way what you should do, but my set up works perfect for me for the following reasons:

1. I average about 15-16 miles to the gallon but I also have the EDGE. That is pretty good considering my heavy foot and the rubber I'm turning. 3.73 LS gears...

2. I can still tuck a 35 on the spare rim and mount it under my bed, instead of carrying my spare in my bed.

3. The wife is only 5'2" and when I had my Dodge Ram with a 6" suspension and 3" body on 37s, she hated it. It wasn't even an extended cab though so it was going to have to go anyway. She doesn't mind driving my truck now.

4. Kids are expensive. I was lucky enough to get the "budget approval" on the set up I got now.

Personally, I would start with this kind of set up or something similar and see how you like it. You could always add a 4" suspension underneath the 3" body and keep the 35s, they'd still look good and you'd still sit an inch higher than all the guys with a 6" suspension lift. Just some things to consider.

 

Mine is a daily driver! I fill up about once a week, my fill ups usually are about 90 bucks, I drive it right down to the last fume of gas, with mixed city/highway driving. Mostly just school/home or home/work and a few in betweens...my avg. mpg is 11 or so. Ive had no problems so far, but it has only been about 2 months with the lift.

Go for it!

 

Daily Driver, the 2 downfalls for me is the 90$ a week in gas and fix-it tickets once a month.

 

Those wheels are badass, how they holdin up?


Not to sure on the impact but I have mud tires, and some have a/t's. I doubt its anything of significance mpg wise....just had that pop into my head...

 

I think that's exactly what i'll do. I'm going to get the tires with my tax returns, and put the 3" body lift on it. Then i'll take it through inspection, and then put the 6" suspension lift on it.

When the 35" tires go bad.. i'll get 37"s or 38"s..... i guess.

<--- Waiting on tax return. Soon as i get it, i'll get the tires and 3" lift on and post some pics.

 

dUDE .. sick looking truck.

How come you get tickets all the time????

 

might not be such a good idea.
I know its a broken record but once you lift a truck, you always wish you went bigger.
this being said, you could get 30k on tires (depending on the agressiveness of the tred) and that is a little under 2 yrs with your commute.
believe me, if your going big eventually, might as well do it all at once