3" bl question

[shooterdude199]

hey everybody. i have a question that may of already been answered but with the website overflowing with lift questions itd take me forever to find a thread that actually answers my question. so my question is would i be able to use the summit racing 3" body lift kit thats like 100 dollars cheaper than the pa 883 lift? and if so is it easier or harder to install? anybody done it before?

 

[jake122288]

hey everybody. i have a question that may of already been answered but with the website overflowing with lift questions itd take me forever to find a thread that actually answers my question. so my question is would i be able to use the summit racing 3" body lift kit thats like 100 dollars cheaper than the pa 883 lift? and if so is it easier or harder to install? anybody done it before?

honestly i couldnt tell you... I have a first gen X and i used the PA783 3" BL kit for it and i know that kit is actually pretty simple as long as you read the directions (which i downloaded from the PA website) but there has to be the desire behind it or it will make things so much more complicated! with my truck being 15 years old and living in iowa where rust is a real PITA, i had more issues getting out the stock body bolts and problems with the body mounts themselfs. but here is a link for a write up wioth the PA 883 http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240957

 

[shooterdude199]

well id like to make a commitment to one before i buy. i was leaning towards the pa 883 because of the amount of people who have done it successfully and the amount of directions but i dont want to come on here and find out that i couldve bought the summit racing one for 100 dollars cheaper with the same amount of work as the pa with almost identical parts

 

[jake122288]

well id like to make a commitment to one before i buy. i was leaning towards the pa 883 because of the amount of people who have done it successfully and the amount of directions but i dont want to come on here and find out that i couldve bought the summit racing one for 100 dollars cheaper with the same amount of work as the pa with almost identical parts

yea honestly i havent heard anything about any body lifts other than the PA series of kits....just do your reasearch but as a personal opinion...i like the PA!

 

[ramren16]

from what i heard is it is the same exact pa body lift kit just repackaged i am sure that there has been people on this site that have used to

 

[shooterdude199]

thats what i heard and that its cheaper. here is the link for the summit racing version. they say its for a ranger but i mean its pretty much the same thing.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-7888300/

here is the one for the sport trac:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRA-PA-70023/?image=large

please help! money vs. if it will work or not

 

[ramren16]

if it was me i would just fork up the extra money and get the sport trac kit for the direct bolt on, if you get the other one you will have to buy some new grade 8 bolts and make your own bumper brackets. it know there are instructions on this site on how to install both kits the 883 one is the one that has to be modified to fit and i would rather not have to do the extra work fabricating.just my 2 cents

 

[shooterdude199]

yeah id rather take the direct bolt on approach. i think i made up my mind and ill save the money to get the pa. thanks everybody

 

[ballsoutsho]

I just finished mine this weekend it really wasnt too bad. I bourght my PA 70023 kit from summit racing and it worked out great. The hardest part was getting the front bumper re-aligned.

 

[shooterdude199]

how do you realign it? any welding or cutting knowledge involved? i have brief welding knowledge but no cutting.

 

[ballsoutsho]

Yeah you need to do some cutting I used an angle grinder and it made quick work of it. i guess you could use a sawz-all but it would take a long time. if you dont have an angle grinder do yourself a favor and go buy a cheap one even if you think you might never use it again.

But to answer your question it just took alot of time puting the metal bumper on then the bumper cover to see how it fit then take it off and adjust the metal one then back on with the plastic one. It wasnt hard just took a few times. There was no welding involved with the kit. Its a really a pretty straight forward install.

 

[shooterdude199]

sweet. my neighbor and i were wondering if there was any welding knowledge. its that feeling that you get whenever you do something permanent to your truck. especially welding. so thats a lot of weight off of my shoulders. how long did it take yall to do?

 

[ballsoutsho]

I had a friends help and in two hours on thursday night we had everything off and out of the truck that needed to be taken off then two more hours on friday night and i had the passenger side up and then saturday morning i gave it hell for 4hrs and had the left side up and all the bolts tight the radiator remounted. Then sunday my friend helped me again and we got the bed on aligned and the seats back in and in a few more hours. then it was a matter of getting the front bumber aligned. if you dont have fog lights this wont be an issue. but just take your time and put the cover on and off alot till you get the metal bumper behind the cover where you want it.

 

[shooterdude199]

well id like to maybe get it done over the winter break. so hopefully it wont run into a busy schedule for me or my neighbors