Ribby95

Hello everyone, I have currently found the time to start to work on my project truck. As of right now she stands as a stock 2004 f-150 Lariat Crew 4x4. I'm looking to make her off road worthy at a pocket book friendly price.

What path should i take, or what would you guys recommend? Do i just level her out or do i jack her up a good 3-6in? Any input at all and recommendations would be of great help. I wanna do it right, but small steps at a time.
Thanks!

zmadams

It all depends on what you define as " pocket book friendly" haha. Also is this your daily driver or just like a weekend truck? But a good place to start would be larger, more aggressive tires.

Ribby95

I'm looking at a fab tech 6 in suspension lift about $2,000 and some 35" tires on a 17" rim so probably a little over $3000 in spending room for now. It's a daily driver right now, but in about two months it will just be a weekend

zmadams

Well that would be a very solid place to start. However; 3 grand might be a little optimistic for a 6in lift and 35's on new rims but if you can do it for that price then go for it. And with that setup it will still be streetable if you ever need it to be.

Ribby95

Do you think 6in is overkill? should i stick with like a 3in? do you usually have to move around your exhaust when u install a suspension lift?

zmadams

It's different for everybody. For me I'm fine with running a 2.5 inch level kit and 35 inch tires. But for you, you might want to run 37 inch tires (which I think most 6 inch lifts will let you do) for more offroad ability. However; if you do go that route you would really need to spend money to regear your diffs which would likely be another $1500-$2000.
As for the exhaust I don't think a lift should interfere with it unless you have some crazy exhaust setup.

Ribby95

alright, thanks for the help!

buster096

If I were to do it again I would go with the camburg performance kit and some 33's. you will have much better offroad performance than a drop bracket lift kit. But if height is what you want then you can't beat a lift kit.