I bought the tuff country ez-ride lift with front springs instead of spacers. I like the lift, there isn't anything wrong with it, especially for what it costs. Here is the deal though, these lifts only consist of a few parts (coils, pitman arm, track bar bracket, control arms, rear blocks). No matter what kit you get the track bar bracket, pitman arm, coils,and blocks are all gonna be about exactly the same. So I would imagine that the only main difference is gonna be in the quality of the front control arms. The ez-ride control arms look ok to me, but they are not adjustable, and more importantly they do not have serviceable/rebuildable spherical end links. Having said that, I don't think that skjacker or superlifts are offering control arms any different than tuff country anyway. My suggestion would be... if you are gonna choose between skyjacker, superlift, or tuff country, go with tuff country to save money since the kits are all so close to the same. If you are gonna spend $1400-$1500 though, I would piece it together like I mentioned earlier.

Of course these are just my opinions...

 

Of course, even the pieces that I mentioned earlier don't compare to something like the KORE setups, but for a mild lower speed offroader I think the stuff I picked out in the earlier post would work pretty good. It is al about how much you wann spend though, cause for another 1000 or so you could get the RIZE 8"..... and on and on

littlefoot-
What does RIZE do to keep the front drive shaft from binding on their 8" lift?.. just curious

 

true words

if you're not going to do any severe rock crawling than these kits are just fine.
I have yet to see a control arm that cant have bushings replaced on them so the rebuildable part of the heim joints are no different. Sky jacker sells the bushings and sleeves for the arms and are only 40-50 bucks
as far as the heim joints for control arms. If your truck never sees pavement than you'll love them. Most people that I know of (including myself) hated them on the road.
also. adjustable control arms arent really needed. if you buy a kit the control arms that come with them are fine for the kit and I have even seen/ran 2" past what they were built for. So your paying for an option that can get you in trouble if not adjusted properly and arent really needed.
track bars and such are preference really. some are junk and some are not. Your best bet is to wait look around on like Pavement sucks and other offroad sites and piece together a lift.

and as far as the rear lift. I am a firm believer in NO BLOCKS. with the typ of torque the cummins can make it is even worse than a gasser. I have seen bad things happen with blocks.

do an AAL, shackle or leaf pack

 

as of right now i am leaning towards the superlift....

 

See, just my opinion, I never knew that you could feel the difference of the heim links on the road opposed to just bushings. Also, you can definitely buy new bushings so they are rebuildable, I wasn't really thinking about that . I do like that they have grease zerks on them though. The adjustable part is not necesarry either, other than they may be able to grow with your lift needs as time goes on.

I do agree "no blocks", I hate how they look, and I hate how I can feel the axle wrap. I would def suggest getting a new leaf pack (even though it is more $).

As far as the quality of the tuff country drop track bar bracket and pitman arm.. I'm not sure how any other company could make than any different/better.

 

A shackle actually would be sweet.. you know where I could get one GOD RAM IT?

 

Here is my 2 cents.
I love the look of the control arms with the spherical heim joints but here is the problem, there is no bushing and it's is a solid on solid joint. That equates to a very harsh ride and you will feel EVERY crack in the road!

As for the greesable controle arms? You can turn just about any controle arm into a greasable joint. Simple drill and tap and install a grease zirk. If it has one piece bushings, replace them with two piece like on the Superlift arms or just cut a 1/4" section out of the center of the one piece bushings.

As far as imploveing ride quality, if you can get your hands on the controle arm lowering bracket like on the Rize lift, it will improve the ride 100%. Less of an angle on the control arms equals smoother ride. The "Long Arm" upgrade with do the same thing but usualy there is some welding required and you lose ground clearance.

And I also agree that NO BLOCKS is the way to go. I am just having a hard time paying $700 for leaf packs!!

 

Dang! Looks like everyone is in agreement that blocks are gay and that leaf packs cost too much .

I haven't ever seen the drop control arm bracket for sale by itself yet, but you are correct, the ride would be greatly improved. Personally though, I'm not a big fan of how it looks, and during a slow trail ride you probably wouldn't notice the difference either.

Thanks for the tip on drilling and tapping the control arms for a grease zirk, I think I will do it this weekend. The tuff country arms use a two piece bushing as well.


..... I still want those top gun control arms though, cause they are sofreakin' tough looking!!

The superlift kit has blocks right?

 

Yep, cast iron pieces of rusting crap!! Just like the rest one the under side of my truck....lol
Anyone else have the rust problems? My truck is not even a year old and every single piece of the drive line has rust or is completely rusted.

 

Yep. I'd be nice if it wasn't all rusted out. I think I'm gonna get all the rust off and spray something on everything to keep it from doing it again. Maybe a couple coats of clear. That'd be kick *** I think.