SUPERLIFT 3.5"

[DrizzyDrake]

Hey guys been reading the forums for a while. Oil dilution and all that. I searched for Superlift and have seen it mentioned but only when talking about other topics. I was wondering what people thought of the superlift 3.5" lift? I love that it has a diff drop, UCAs, and is much cheaper than a BDS kit which is pricy as F to us Canadians. Only downsides I could see of this lift is the original front struts, and the A/M rear struts that come with the kit. But I figure I can always upgrade struts later on when I have more money to play with. So my question is this: anyone have experience or any opinion of the Superlift 3.5" lift kit? I offroad and want max lift without going into the big boy 6" money or problems. So I have decided 3.5 is what I want. Also, I plan to get 34" Patagonias.

In b4 why not level? Because just lifting the front isn't enough. I drag hitch a bit sometimes and want an extra inch out of the lift in the rear.

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[DrizzyDrake]

https://superlift.com/3.5in-19-21-ford-ranger-4wd-lift-kit/2020/ford/ranger

 

[Frenchy]

Hey guys been reading the forums for a while. Oil dilution and all that. I searched for Superlift and have seen it mentioned but only when talking about other topics. I was wondering what people thought of the superlift 3.5" lift? I love that it has a diff drop, UCAs, and is much cheaper than a BDS kit which is pricy as F to us Canadians. Only downsides I could see of this lift is the original front struts, and the A/M rear struts that come with the kit. But I figure I can always upgrade struts later on when I have more money to play with. So my question is this: anyone have experience or any opinion of the Superlift 3.5" lift kit? I offroad and want max lift without going into the big boy 6" money or problems. So I have decided 3.5 is what I want. Also, I plan to get 34" Patagonias.

In b4 why not level? Because just lifting the front isn't enough. I drag hitch a bit sometimes and want an extra inch out of the lift in the rear.

I will agree with you that a lift kit over a leveling kit is the way to go. Also if you want a proper lift kit that gets you the right amount lift without loosing the practicality of the truck I recommend the Old Man EMU lift kit. I personally do not like the idea of a Front Diff drop because what it will do is heavily accelerate the wear on the front drive shaft. How does it do that you ask? It increases the angle of the CV joint and the cv joints in the driveshaft are not supposed to go to an excessive angle like the CV axles.

Now with that said I would recommend the Old Man EMU lift kit by ARB to you. I have this kit installes on my truck with 265/70-17's and it dies well. The front is lifted by 2.4 inches and the rear is lifted by 1.6 inches. The tires also added about 1 inch of lift from the factory tires. How well does it do off road you ask? Well the rear has more travel allowing the truck to get over obsticles with less teeter totter happening. It also has enough clearance where I havent hit objects offroad much at all. I think there was one pass in Colorado where I did hit something and it was on the transfercase skid plate.

What does the kit come with? You get new shocks and struts along with new coil and leaf springs. You even ger greasable shackles fornthe leafs.

Depending on your needs they have the standard load kit or the heavy load kit. The standard load is factory capacity and the heavy load is 1,360 lbs constant weight in the rear and springs for both heavy bumper and winch. I muself have the standard load kit.

Now for towing, something you are probably curious about to. Well i can say that it tows just fine with it. I have towed up to 5,500 lbs with it and the truck handled it well.

For the price you ask? $1,400 for the kit on both standard and heavy load. Pretty affordable if you ask me.

Here are some pictures of the truck so you can see.

 

[DrizzyDrake]

I will agree with you that a lift kit over a leveling kit is the way to go. Also if you want a proper lift kit that gets you the right amount lift without loosing the practicality of the truck I recommend the Old Man EMU lift kit. I personally do not like the idea of a Front Diff drop because what it will do is heavily accelerate the wear on the front drive shaft. How does it do that you ask? It increases the angle of the CV joint and the cv joints in the driveshaft are not supposed to go to an excessive angle like the CV axles.

Now with that said I would recommend the Old Man EMU lift kit by ARB to you. I have this kit installes on my truck with 265/70-17's and it dies well. The front is lifted by 2.4 inches and the rear is lifted by 1.6 inches. The tires also added about 1 inch of lift from the factory tires. How well does it do off road you ask? Well the rear has more travel allowing the truck to get over obsticles with less teeter totter happening. It also has enough clearance where I havent hit objects offroad much at all. I think there was one pass in Colorado where I did hit something and it was on the transfercase skid plate.

What does the kit come with? You get new shocks and struts along with new coil and leaf springs. You even ger greasable shackles fornthe leafs.

Depending on your needs they have the standard load kit or the heavy load kit. The standard load is factory capacity and the heavy load is 1,360 lbs constant weight in the rear and springs for both heavy bumper and winch. I muself have the standard load kit.

Now for towing, something you are probably curious about to. Well i can say that it tows just fine with it. I have towed up to 5,500 lbs with it and the truck handled it well.

For the price you ask? $1,400 for the kit on both standard and heavy load. Pretty affordable if you ask me.

Here are some pictures of the truck so you can see.

Is that $1400 USD? If so that's about $1700 CAD. Which is quite a lot. I still have to get tires and wheels while being budget friendly. Don't want to dig into my savings that will pay off the truck sooner. But there is a few issues I wonder about with this kit. My local dealer only sells rear lift springs (I'll get to those in a moment). For ordering from the states: I've had multiple companies cancel orders because of complications of shipping relating to covid. Now if it's straight from Australia, I wonder what the shipping cost would be? And finally, the springs. Since in the Australian market tow capacity is less, so would these springs compromise tow capacity? Because I know the springs are different for the NA market for towing. And I do tow over 5500 lbs at least once a year. Also if I remember correctly, you would have to order upper control arms separately correct (additional cost)?

Also, if the front driveshaft will be hurt so bad by a 1-2" diff drop, why would it be included in every big brand 3.5" lift? Including BDS. If my driveshaft can't handle that small angle change, there is a problem. I've personally seen more issues with CV axles in lifts with no drop in offroad scenarios vs. ones that account for the drop. Just like you don't want to have your wheel turned sharply when offroad because the axle isn't made to transmit lots of torque at improper angles. If you don't do a lot of offroad, then I would worry more about the driveshaft, but the driveshaft is easily rebuildable vs a CV when it gets noisy.

I'm in no way saying the old man emu kit is bad, but I am questioning why you seem to be so gung ho regarding old man emu on every post asking about lifts.

If you can answer my questions that would be sweet. But the main thing about this thread is regarding opinions of the superlift 3.5" lift. Which I know they are the OG's of lifts and I wondered if their new lifts are good or not and what people thought of them.

 

[Frenchy]

Is that $1400 USD? If so that's about $1700 CAD. Which is quite a lot. I still have to get tires and wheels while being budget friendly. Don't want to dig into my savings that will pay off the truck sooner. But there is a few issues I wonder about with this kit. My local dealer only sells rear lift springs (I'll get to those in a moment). For ordering from the states: I've had multiple companies cancel orders because of complications of shipping relating to covid. Now if it's straight from Australia, I wonder what the shipping cost would be? And finally, the springs. Since in the Australian market tow capacity is less, so would these springs compromise tow capacity? Because I know the springs are different for the NA market for towing. And I do tow over 5500 lbs at least once a year. Also if I remember correctly, you would have to order upper control arms separately correct (additional cost)?

Also, if the front driveshaft will be hurt so bad by a 1-2" diff drop, why would it be included in every big brand 3.5" lift? Including BDS. If my driveshaft can't handle that small angle change, there is a problem. I've personally seen more issues with CV axles in lifts with no drop in offroad scenarios vs. ones that account for the drop. Just like you don't want to have your wheel turned sharply when offroad because the axle isn't made to transmit lots of torque at improper angles. If you don't do a lot of offroad, then I would worry more about the driveshaft, but the driveshaft is easily rebuildable vs a CV when it gets noisy.

I'm in no way saying the old man emu kit is bad, but I am questioning why you seem to be so gung ho regarding old man emu on every post asking about lifts.

If you can answer my questions that would be sweet. But the main thing about this thread is regarding opinions of the superlift 3.5" lift. Which I know they are the OG's of lifts and I wondered if their new lifts are good or not and what people thought of them.

The Australian Ranger has a better towing capacity and higher payload capacity compared to the US Ranger. Also the kits for the US Ranger are different compared to the Australian Ranger. With that said you cant compare the two very much. Also with the standard load kit the factory towing capacity and payload stay the same. I run the standard load on mine since i dont have any extra stuff on the truck at this time as you can see. For ordering and shipping I went through Stage 3 Motorsports to get the kit. Shipping was free and it came strait from ARB. Now with you being in Canada I cant say what the shipping would be but perhaps there is a ARB dealer in Canada that could help you out. Also no you do not need to get upper control arms. I am still running the factory control arms and it does just fine. I was even able to get the alignment back into specifications with no problems(if i have the photo I will sent it to you).

As for the big companies that offer the diff drops. Why do they do it? Well the main reason is if you go to high in your lift the CV axles will be at thier max and can break. That is why they offer a diff drop to fix that. With that said it increases the angle of the cv on the driveshaft and that is where it becomes a problem. Now no one on here at least has reported a problem with thier truck from a diff drop but if you go to the F-150's with a front diff drop you will hear how the front drive shaft has to be replaced because the CV joint was at an excessive angle. The Ranger will do the same thing. This is going to cost you more in the long run if you ask me. And when you think about it you ar not gaining any more clearance in that area when you do a diff drop so it doesnt make much sense like the leveling kits.

Now why do I like the Old Man EMU for lift kits that are currently avalible you ask? Well even though I was experimenting with it since it was my first lift kit I was trying to find the most affordable and practical kit for the truck. Originally I was going to go with the fox kit and put either blocks or shackles on it. I was still iffy on it because I was questioning the rear for travel/ flexibility. Once Old Man EMU released thier kits i decided i would go with them since they gave a replacement Leaf for the rear. When i saw that I immediately thought how that would affect the travel for the rear vs blocks or Shackels. To me it made sense. With just blocks or shackles the leaf realy wont flex more that it was designed. A replacement leaf will flex more than the factory. That I proved when going Offroad out here in Colorado.

Now after seeing how well the Old Man EMU lift kit helped the truck out overall while keeping it practical I was really happy with it. Some have asked me why i didn't do a leveling kit. Well it is like you said. Why lift just the front? Most likely it wont be enough.

Now that doesnt mean some of the other kits are junk. I know Fox makes good stuff along with Eibach and Bilstein(I really like Bilstein). As for spacer lift kits? Sure if you want to stay on the street. Off road? I feel you are just asking for trouble.

I hope this helps.

 

[Frenchy]

I want to go ahead and put this in too. This is from Suspension experts from Australia and have a lot of good information that is general to the 4x4 world. Not necessarily specific to 1 particular vehicle.

 

[DrizzyDrake]

I want to go ahead and put this in too. This is from Suspension experts from Australia and have a lot of good information that is general to the 4x4 world. Not necessarily specific to 1 particular vehicle.

I appreciate the reply. It's interesting you share this video. They contradict about the diff drop saying it's recommended for 3"+ lifts. Also they say you should replace the front UCA because the OEM will likely bind up at max articulation and they will press on the CV when trying to get the camber back in spec. Also they contradict you by saying the packed leaf is worse for articulation than a parabolic spring which I have the parabolic now and the kit comes with a pack leaf. The only part that the video fits what your are saying is that strut spacers are a bad idea due to the bump stops not being where the strut binds up. But the kit I'm looking at uses a very small loaded spacer and a bigger spacer that is on top of the strut. So I'm really not sure why you shared a video that doesn't support what you are saying. The plan is to get coils later on down the road, but to use these until they blow.

 

[Frenchy]

I appreciate the reply. It's interesting you share this video. They contradict about the diff drop saying it's recommended for 3"+ lifts. Also they say you should replace the front UCA because the OEM will likely bind up at max articulation and they will press on the CV when trying to get the camber back in spec. Also they contradict you by saying the packed leaf is worse for articulation than a parabolic spring which I have the parabolic now and the kit comes with a pack leaf. The only part that the video fits what your are saying is that strut spacers are a bad idea due to the bump stops not being where the strut binds up. But the kit I'm looking at uses a very small loaded spacer and a bigger spacer that is on top of the strut. So I'm really not sure why you shared a video that doesn't support what you are saying. The plan is to get coils later on down the road, but to use these until they blow.

Yes the Old Man EMU kit comes with a different leaf but you also have to take into acount that the particular leaf pack is designed for more travel over the stock leaf. That does bot mean the Factory parabolic leaf is junk. It just has only so much travel.

With tge control arms at only 2.4 inches of lift I havent uad any issue and I do take my truck offroad probably to the level you do. I already have 20,000 miles on my lift and there have been no problems with the lift.

For tue Diff drop yes it is recommended past a certain degree but when you do it your area arounf the axle doesnt gain clearance and you put high load on the CV join in the driveshaft.

If you still prefer to go with the spacer kit then go ahead but I would still suggest doing it the right way the first time and not spending as much money all together. As the saying goes "you get what you pay for".

 

[DrizzyDrake]

Yes the Old Man EMU kit comes with a different leaf but you also have to take into acount that the particular leaf pack is designed for more travel over the stock leaf. That does bot mean the Factory parabolic leaf is junk. It just has only so much travel.

With tge control arms at only 2.4 inches of lift I havent uad any issue and I do take my truck offroad probably to the level you do. I already have 20,000 miles on my lift and there have been no problems with the lift.

For tue Diff drop yes it is recommended past a certain degree but when you do it your area arounf the axle doesnt gain clearance and you put high load on the CV join in the driveshaft.

If you still prefer to go with the spacer kit then go ahead but I would still suggest doing it the right way the first time and not spending as much money all together. As the saying goes "you get what you pay for".

Do you have any reference of other people saying the packed leafs in that kit are better or any reviews? I would be interested if that is true. Obviously if it has more travel then it's definitely worth it over just a block lift in the rear.

I looked at the stage 3 website and can only find a 2.5" lift, which is a level basically. Nothing higher... Have a link of the kit you use?

My plan is to be at 3.5" front and 1-2" rear. A 2.5" lift doesn't need a diff drop. I understand that. But I am saying a 3.5" lift would.

I'm done with the diff drop argument though at this point. You have you opinion based on f150 experience. Mine comes from a mechanics point of view.

 

[Frenchy]

Do you have any reference of other people saying the packed leafs in that kit are better or any reviews? I would be interested if that is true. Obviously if it has more travel then it's definitely worth it over just a block lift in the rear.

I looked at the stage 3 website and can only find a 2.5" lift, which is a level basically. Nothing higher... Have a link of the kit you use?

My plan is to be at 3.5" front and 1-2" rear. A 2.5" lift doesn't need a diff drop. I understand that. But I am saying a 3.5" lift would.

I'm done with the diff drop argument though at this point. You have you opinion based on f150 experience. Mine comes from a mechanics point of view.

I cannot speak from others I can speak from myself. I do have experience with my truck before and after the lift to say how the articulation from the leaf did make a difference. Here in Colorado there's a nice little playground called the Four Mile area and it's great for anyone starting in off-road or someone highly experienced just because why not it's a fun place to go. For me I was still pretty green to the scene and you could say I still am a little bit. I went out there with my truck stock just because I really wanted to go off road with my truck and wanted to see what it could do. While I was exploring there was one area I went through that I had to reshoot on the stock suspension because I did the whole teeter-totter from corner to corner van front to rear. Unfortunately my truck does not have a locker so I was thinking of things that might help. After I put the old man emu lift kit on I went through that same spot and went right through it where I didn't have the teeter totter. What happened? Simple I didn't max out the flex of the rear axle with the new leaf springs.

Was that helpful?

I will also state that I myself am both a certified Ford and Nissan mechanic so I'm not just some guy trying to blow smoke. Just be aware.

Here is the link to the kit i use

https://www.stage3motorsports.com/O...mu-2-Complete-Suspension-Kit-Medium-Load.html

Also here is the exact lift from the kit.

 

[DrizzyDrake]

I cannot speak from others I can speak from myself. I do have experience with my truck before and after the lift to say how the articulation from the leaf did make a difference. Here in Colorado there's a nice little playground called the Four Mile area and it's great for anyone starting in off-road or someone highly experienced just because why not it's a fun place to go. For me I was still pretty green to the scene and you could say I still am a little bit. I went out there with my truck stock just because I really wanted to go off road with my truck and wanted to see what it could do. While I was exploring there was one area I went through that I had to reshoot on the stock suspension because I did the whole teeter-totter from corner to corner van front to rear. Unfortunately my truck does not have a locker so I was thinking of things that might help. After I put the old man emu lift kit on I went through that same spot and went right through it where I didn't have the teeter totter. What happened? Simple I didn't max out the flex of the rear axle with the new leaf springs.

Was that helpful?

I will also state that I myself am both a certified Ford and Nissan mechanic so I'm not just some guy trying to blow smoke. Just be aware.

Here is the link to the kit i use

https://www.stage3motorsports.com/O...mu-2-Complete-Suspension-Kit-Medium-Load.html

Also here is the exact lift from the kit.

Ah! Thank you for the link. I saw this kit, but only saw the 2" and thought you had something else. I didn't read the description. After reading it over, I am actually intrigued. I mean the price is going to be over double the superlift kit that would only need coils later on. But I am considering the ride quality difference. I do have a lot of washboard roads where I live. But that kit will be considered. Even if it is 1" shorter in the front. The ruts are pretty deep in the crown land in the mountains here due to dudes ripping through in their 12" lifted Chevy's. I haven't had any limits personally besides dragging the front skid plate in ruts and rough approach/departure/break over angles. I've hit my front bumper, skid plate, destroyed my transfer case skid plate, and drag hitch when I drop into a mud hole or come off of a steep hill/Rockwall. However, I would like my girlfriend to go with me more and at the moment the rough roads make her feel sick, and if the suspension drives as well as they say, then it might be worth consideration. Even if nemisis5zero said it wasn't up to what he needed.

 

[Frenchy]

Ah! Thank you for the link. I saw this kit, but only saw the 2" and thought you had something else. I didn't read the description. After reading it over, I am actually intrigued. I mean the price is going to be over double the superlift kit that would only need coils later on. But I am considering the ride quality difference. I do have a lot of washboard roads where I live. But that kit will be considered. Even if it is 1" shorter in the front. The ruts are pretty deep in the crown land in the mountains here due to dudes ripping through in their 12" lifted Chevy's. I haven't had any limits personally besides dragging the front skid plate in ruts and rough approach/departure/break over angles. I've hit my front bumper, skid plate, destroyed my transfer case skid plate, and drag hitch when I drop into a mud hole or come off of a steep hill/Rockwall. However, I would like my girlfriend to go with me more and at the moment the rough roads make her feel sick, and if the suspension drives as well as they say, then it might be worth consideration. Even if nemisis5zero said it wasn't up to what he needed.

Ride quality on this kit is nice both on and offroad. I have had a few people ride in it and they liked it. I had two people tell me it was a nice balanced feel. I also remember taking my finace manager out real quick on the street amd he noticed a difference in the parking lot.

Now I going to guess you have the factory tires which are close to a 30 inch tire. I myself went to a 32 inch tire(265/70-17) and that helped with clearance and comfort as well. Can you fit 285/70-17's? Sure you can you just have to get either 1/4 inch wheel spacers or wheels that bring rhe tire out 1/4 inch. I myself do plab on going with the Firestone Destination XT's in 285/70-17 after my Bridgestone Dueler Revo 3's wear out but bigger tires help with overall clearance is the main point I'm getting at.

 

[DrizzyDrake]

Ride quality on this kit is nice both on and offroad. I have had a few people ride in it and they liked it. I had two people tell me it was a nice balanced feel. I also remember taking my finace manager out real quick on the street amd he noticed a difference in the parking lot.

Now I going to guess you have the factory tires which are close to a 30 inch tire. I myself went to a 32 inch tire(265/70-17) and that helped with clearance and comfort as well. Can you fit 285/70-17's? Sure you can you just have to get either 1/4 inch wheel spacers or wheels that bring rhe tire out 1/4 inch. I myself do plab on going with the Firestone Destination XT's in 285/70-17 after my Bridgestone Dueler Revo 3's wear out but bigger tires help with overall clearance is the main point I'm getting at.

Well my plan is to get the patigonia 34" (which are 33.4" true). Would those fit the OME kit? Reason why height matters is I have river crossings, deep mud, steep walls, and deep ruts in the crown land near me. One day I could be crossing rivers & crawling up a loose rock wall (built for controlling floods) and then the next time I could be going through mud pits & dirt trails. But then we also get snow for 7 months of the year which brings its own challenges. Right now my city has gotten 34" of snow this year. I'm already high centering my truck on snow where I am parked. Like in all honesty, I would do a 6" lift if I could afford it. But I'll settle for what I can afford. I've even considered a fox lift with some APG springs for the rear, but the old man emu kit is cheaper. I just wonder if 2.4" is enough for what I do...

 

[Frenchy]

Well my plan is to get the patigonia 34" (which are 33.4" true). Would those fit the OME kit? Reason why height matters is I have river crossings, deep mud, steep walls, and deep ruts in the crown land near me. One day I could be crossing rivers & crawling up a loose rock wall (built for controlling floods) and then the next time I could be going through mud pits & dirt trails. But then we also get snow for 7 months of the year which brings its own challenges. Right now my city has gotten 34" of snow this year. I'm already high centering my truck on snow where I am parked. Like in all honesty, I would do a 6" lift if I could afford it. But I'll settle for what I can afford. I've even considered a fox lift with some APG springs for the rear, but the old man emu kit is cheaper. I just wonder if 2.4" is enough for what I do...

I used to live in the High Rockies in Colorado but recently moved out for work. When I was up there I didn't have too much issue with a lift kit and the bigger tires. Now that's where you're at it might be a whole different story since you are in lovely Canada. Could you fit that size tire? Im sure you can but you may need to do more like change the crash bars, trim parts of the fender well, or even get a differnt wheel altogether(then again you are already planning on that one). There is a member on here that has 34's on his truck i just can remember who it is. If memory serves me right he installed the Fox leveling kit on which only brings the front up by 2 inches without adjusting. If i can find him i will try to bring him in and he couls tell you more. Also with the Old Man EMU lift it does lift the truck enough for Offroad. For crazy stupid rock crawling? Not so much but then again you shouldnt have to worry about that.

 

[Frenchy]

@Andy is the one who is running 34's last I remember. Looks like he did a 3 inch kit from icon with a bds shackle kit. Perhaps he could give some insight as do whether or not you can run 34s on the old man emu suspension kit.

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