Problems With Having Lifted Trucks

Braking

If you lift your truck without upgrading your brake system, don't expect your truck to stop as well as it used to. The bigger tires mean heavier rotating mass, which means it will increases the stopping distance, as well as wear your stock brake components much quicker.

Handling

The closer the truck is to the ground, the better it handles. When you have a high center of gravity, your truck won't be able to take turns as fast as it used to. The very first thing to do is to slow down, then consider replacing your shocks to stiffer ones, but still, slow down.

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Faster Wear

When you alter the height of your truck, expect everything to wear much quicker. The stock brakes won't last half as long as they should, your suspension system will wear much quicker than how it's rated, and even your tires won't give you as much life as they should. The best thing to do is to upgrade all your stock systems so they can handle the new construction of your raised truck.

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Gear Ratio

When you raise your truck, you will probably upgrade your wheels to bigger ones. Your truck was engineered with certain tire sizes, when you go with bigger ones, the power going from your engine to the ground will get altered, as it will change the gear ratio. The bigger tires force your truck to feel like it's geared higher, which means it won't be as powerful as it is now, and it won't accelerate as well.

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Lights

Your truck's lights will be positioned much higher, which means they won't light up the ground as they should, instead, they will shoot the beam in an area where you don't need to light, rather than light up your actual path. 

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Rough Ride

Aside from the fact that keeping a lifted truck driving straight is a task of its own, raising your truck actually affects the ride quality. When your truck is that high off the ground, your suspension system can only do so much to absorb the vibrations and the rattles, so don't expect any comfort with a raised truck.

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Speedometer

If you get a speeding ticket and you're sure you weren't speeding, you may need to rethink your appeal. The bigger tires you will install with the lifted truck makes the speedometer read slower than the actual speed. If you change the tire sizes to an inch or two bigger, it may not affect it as much; however, if you go with much larger tires, don't expect the speedometer to read the accurate speed.

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Fuel Consumption

Since the large tires have bigger rotating mass than your stock tires, expect a drop in fuel consumption. That's not the only thing that affects the fuel consumption, installing a lift kit can be quite heavy, which means you're adding weight to your already-heavy truck, so unless you're willing to increase your fuel budget, keep your truck close to the ground.

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Visibility

If you like a good challenge, try backing-up a lifted truck in a small parking lot. Visibility is great if you like to see three cars ahead; however, if you want to see the car in front of you, this would be rather tough. Don't forget the liability that comes with hitting another car with a lifted truck, so be prepared to drive extra careful and keep the phone away from you.

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Haters Gonna Hate

Well, this one may not be as important, but no one likes a lifted truck unless they own it. No one will like your blinding lights, no one will like the illusion of being tailgated, and no one will like it when you park next to them, so if you're prepared to not make new friends, go ahead and raise your truck.

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For help with your maintenance and repair projects, please visit our how-to section in the forum.