For many of us, there’s not much cooler than a big lifted truck. However, just because they look neat doesn’t mean they’re practical, as many downsides come along with them.
Why should you not buy a lifted truck? Here’s what YouTuber Scotty Kilmer of #savagescotty mentions:
- Causes premature wear and tear
- Can cause extreme damage
- Makes it harder to work on
- Makes the ride much bumpier and less comfortable
- Can affect gas mileage
The simple answer? You shouldn’t buy one that’s lifted, and you shouldn’t lift one that’s not (unless you’re prepared to pay for the upkeep). Need more convincing? Read on, Vehicle History covers the entire video in detail.
What Does it Mean to Lift a Truck?
Truck suspensions help soften the road bumps and offer a bit of ground clearance. When a truck is too low, or when someone purchases a truck and wants it to be higher up, they can use a lift kit to raise it further off the ground.
This changes the angle of the suspension and makes the truck taller. Though this might seem like a great thing to do, there are tons of reasons to avoid lifting a truck.
It Can Cause Premature Wear and Tear
When it comes to lifting a truck, it does require that the suspension be cut and altered and that the overall angles of tons of different drive elements be reangled and changed.
Lifting a truck changes the angle of the driveshaft, the angle of the steering column, the angle of the joints, and more. It can cause wear and tear over time, which is a bit more than your normal wear and tear.
Imagine that you have a piece of wire. If that wire is kept straight or in its original position, it will be stronger and will not wear out.
If you bend that wire or change the angle of that bend or joint, it will lead to wear and tear at that point. When the suspension is cut and reangled to make space for the lift kit, it causes more issues and causes premature wear and tear on the key elements that allow your truck to drive.
It Can Cause Extreme Damage
This type of alteration to the frame and suspension of your vehicle can also cause extreme damage. The constant strain on a lifted truck’s suspension can cause the driveshaft to break or have the transmission rebuilt or replaced.
The real issue is the damage and the overall strain that comes to the underside of your truck. This continuous strain can cause a great deal of damage over time and can cause you to have to do far more work on your vehicle than you would have had to do otherwise.
It Makes it Harder to Work on
Another issue is that a lifted truck will be far harder to work on in terms of working under the hood than a standard truck. When you lift a truck, it adds height to both the truck’s bottom and top.
This means that when the truck’s ground clearance is raised, it will also raise the hood height.
You may need a step stool, a step ladder, or even a regular ladder, depending on how high you have lifted the truck and how big it is. Lifting a truck makes it more difficult to get to what is under the hood unless you are very tall.
Working on a ladder or on an elevated platform of any type is dangerous. It can make it hard to focus, thereby making the work difficult as well.
It Makes the Ride Bumpier
When it comes to overall comfort, lifting a truck makes the suspension bumpier, which means you will feel every bump in the road. Not only that, but your vehicle will sway more as well.
When the suspension is taller, it needs to be more flexible so that it doesn’t snap or crack. This may not be a make-or-break for some people, but for others, the looser suspension that makes the ride bumpier may be enough of a turn-off to avoid lifting a truck.
It Can Affect Gas Mileage
Lifting suspension can affect the overall gas mileage. When you are driving a truck with lifted suspension, you are going to have to have larger tires. These tires not only cost more on their own, they also cause more friction on the road which can cause you to lose when it comes to gas mileage.
Should You Buy a Lifted Truck?
Ask yourself this question: “how would I drive this truck if I owned it?” If you pictured something straight out of Mad Max for even a moment, you probably shouldn’t buy a lifted truck.
But seriously, they look good, but the added components will put too much strain on the engine, causing it to age prematurely.
