Help me pick a lift for my 2004 V8. Spacers or full suspen?

[Outkastbaits]

Ok been doing all kinds of research on what to do. I have a 2004 with the 4.7 v8. It has 185k miles. I'm looking go 3". Now I see all kinds of options. I'm doing the work myself, and if I go full suspension I would like to get complete front struts so I don't have to mess with spring compressors since I don't have one. I don't do any major off road. Daily driver and I surf fish so I drive on the beach quite a few times a month when it's warm. Here are my options....

Spacer lift 3/2 burtman industries roughly $280
Bilstein/toytec 3" lift roughly $1k

So it's either $1k. Or it's $280. I have higher miles on my vehicle so only thing I'm worried about is maybe having some spring sag from age.

My stock shocks feel fine yet.

Any deals out there? What should I go with? I don't want to spend more then $1000. But would love to get just the spacers and save all that money if getting the toytec kit is not worth the etra. Thanks

 

[jreask]

My 2004 Sport V8 has 240K. Just installed Daystar 2.5/1.5 spacers.
I ended up with 2.5" in front and 1" in rear. Pretty level now for less than $150.
Easy install except one of the shocks (XREAS) was stuck in the tower. Other than that, simple. NO spring compressor needed.

 

[Outkastbaits]

Awesome. I don't have XREAS so I'm ok there. As long as I don't have to disassemble the strut itself, it looks easy.

 

[unevolved]

Really comes down to whether or not you need the extra travel. Spacers will increase ride height, longer shocks and springs will increase ride height and travel. If you're not off-roading more than some occasional sand, spacers will be fine.

 

[Outkastbaits]

Yeah. Spacers are cheap and have a bit of cash to spend. So was also thinking of getting spacers up front, and then the toytec super flex coils in the back. Would that be ok? Or should I get 5100 bilstein in the rear to go with the springs? That way if I ever want to swap to full suspension, I just have to do the front.

 

[Samm25]

I only used a 1” spacer from Daystar for my leveling kit in the front. Gave me about a 2” lift in the front. It’s still raking just a tad, but SO much better than stock. Got it for $47 off of Amazon. Super cheap and easy to install. I don’t do much off roading at all so I didn’t need the full suspension lift and with 187K on my truck, I didn’t feel the need to spend $1k on a suspension lift. But, it honestly comes down to your choice.

Here’s a before an after. The running board removal helped with looks, too.

 

[Outkastbaits]

That's kind of how I feel..hate to drop $1k on a lift to get 3" of lift, when a set of $200 spacers would have done the same thing.

 

[ToplessTT]

Definitely interested in options as I’m starting to look into lift options for limited off roading [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Outkastbaits]

This is what I was thinking....

 

[unevolved]

I would stick with either spacers all around, or longer/stiffer springs all around. Could introduce some weird handling behaviors if you've got wildly different ride frequencies front/rear.

 

[Inv4drZm]

In my opinion I think spacers are mostly obsolete for our trucks. With most 4th gens in the +130k mile range a new set of shocks will be needed soon anyway. Saves you money in the long run to just replace them now in the front and use lift springs or adjustable shocks in the front. Get matching shocks in the rear and springs. Call it good.

 

[Powder_Hound]

Spacers are kind of like a band aid. Affordable and lifts the rig, but does nothing to enhance ride quality or improve suspension articulation. Look at Toytec and you’ll find 2 great options. OME will be stiffer, but less expensive than the Toytec Ultimate. Both are great affordable options and you will also be replacing springs on all 4 corners.

I ran spacers for the first 110,000 on my 04 and they were fine. However, I replaced my suspension with an OME / Toytec that fit my needs well. If I didn’t tow and needed the stiffer springs of OME and Toytec RCC2.OHD I would have probably opted for the complete Toytec Ultimate.

FWIW I’d replace the entire set up vs. going with spacers