I live in Fresno, CA and I have noticed both Ford and Nissian are comming out with these trucks already lifted with 35" tires and custom chrome rims on them. First off is anybody else seeing these in other parts of the country? Secondly, would any of you with lifted rigs have bought something like this if Dodge did that with some the their trucks? I only ask because I know that I would have. I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Imagine, 6" of lift (or more), 35" tires, custom chrome wheels, and to top it off it's all covered under manufacturer warranty. The only problem that I can see (and it's kind of big) is that the mark-up on all of those extras would probably be outragous. I still would have bought something like that if it was an option. What do you all think?

 

I would be very cautious in claiming that these trucks are covered under the MANUFACTURER's warranty. The vehicles you are seeing are probably modified by the DEALER. There is a big difference in whether the warranty is offered by the manufacturer or dealer. If if is indeed warranted by the manufacturer, GET IT IN WRITING. Although verbal agreements can be binding, it is difficult to prove they exist. Read the fine print.

You also have to think of extended warranties, if you go that route. If the vehicle is lifted they will more than likely deny any claim that pertains to the driveline, if they know about it being lifted. Be sure to read the fine print.

The biggest factor in my mind is the kind of lift, brand of lift, and who installed it; as these are the biggest factors in the longevity/reliability of any lift. Again read the fine print (see a trend here)

 

You have a point on that warranty issue. I am not that familiar with Ford or Nissan, but I have to believe that the at least the dealer would be responsible if there were any sort of defects/failures relating to the lift. I mean, you buy the truck new, something breaks, dealer or manufacturer would be responsible right? If it were the dealer that had those modifications done and not the manufacturer, wouldn't the dealer stand to lose money if anything did go wrong. It doesn't sound very smart to me, but then again contracts do have very very fine print.

 

That is done around here, southeast Massachusetts. Pretty much every dealer has them.

They send them out to a local shop to get lifted. One shop does the lifts for every car dealer around. I talked to the owner. He says that if the lift is later inspected by a dealership tech most of the warranty is still in place. The factory warranty will no longer cover ball joints and such.

The shop doing the lift matches the factory warranty on all of the parts they install.

From talking to him it sounded like there was a major mark up on the lift and tires.

 

The local ford dealership here has done a few of the f-250s. They add about 10-15k for about 4k in parts and labor. Especially on those trucks. It looked good, but 50k+ for a ford? Whatevah! LOL. The bad thing is that it wasnt on the lot long before someone bought it.

I would imagine that if you took it to the same dealership for warranty stuff you wouldnt have an issue.

 

That practice is fairly popular in Utah as well, including the markup. With famous four wheelin' / rock crawling places all around they get lots of folks who want to jump on that, or at least look the part. The dealer I bought my Ram from offered me a "discount" on a "special Skyjacker kit".....ya right, friend of mine is a tech at a local Skyjacker dealership, showed me a better setup for 1/4 the dealer cost....

On warranty I'm pretty sure that the remarks others have made hold true - you'll have the lift stuff warrantied through the dealership (maybe) or the shop that installed it with other stuff through DC. I'd be warry though, from all the posts I've read DC loves to try to prove that say your life kit and bigger tires caused this or that to fail....

Just my $0.02..

 

I've noticed it a lot around here too... Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
A lot of dodge dealerships have really tricked out trucks... Huge lifts and tires and all kinds of exterior modifications...

At the dealership where I purchased my truck, I was told by the service technician that any of the demo trucks the managers drive around, all get sound out for custom exhaust and stuff like that...

 

It's called a Power Wagon and Dodge is the only one doing it.

 

When I purchesed my Ram Q.C. Hemi I saw a guy at the dealersip picking up his rig. The dealer had installed a 6 inch lift by Fabtech. He paid a premium of $7500.00 for the lift. Thats CRAZY. I installed the same lift on my truck and paid around$1600.00. I think the dealer uses a SCARE TACTIC regarding warranty. The way I look at it is this.....go with the name brand. I went with Fabtech because I called about 4 dealerships and all they install are Fabtech kits. I figured that has to be a pretty relliable kit. My truck came with stock 20's and ride is a little on the rough side, but then again this a truck.

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That truck looks great, man. That's a 6" lift? Very cool.