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towing with a lifted truck doesn't look smart, what am I missing?

3K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  jetjock15 
#1 ·
I keep seeing people talk about how great it will be to put some giant lift kit and huge wheels and tires on their truck, which I suppose I can at least see what that could be good for (but do you ever actually go muddin' with it or is it always on the road?) but then they end with "and I'll be buying a great big camper/boat to tow with it" or I'll see some idiot using such a thing for towing a work trailer around town.

I guess i'm not really asking a question, other than, is this as stupid as it looks or am I missing something?
 
#3 ·
to each his own.... I don't think its stupid.

I don't go "mudding" in my truck, but its nice to have the extra clearance for some of the roads I do drive on when hunting and going to take parts to customers shops on some of these farm roads. Did I need a lift, no. I was in the market for a 6" front 4" rear lift and was told that's what I was buying (off a wrecked truck) once installed and measured out I ended up with an 8" front and 6" rear lift. The only part that looks stupid IMO opinion is that I am running 35" tires because I bought them about a month before I found the lift so they were basically brand new. Now that they are mostly shot, I will be going with some 37x13.50's.

And yes, I tow.. a lot actually. is it an "ideal" set up for towing? no. But what is the "ideal" set up? not everyone wants a dually.. or to run a smaller skinny tire. Some do and that's fine. But I also know some people with dually's slammed to the ground with a roll pan in the back, no hitch whatsoever and never have an inclination to hook to a trailer.

With the proper hitch set up it is doable and works just fine. The traction bars help, and one day I will actually make some brackets to hold the airbags too. Everyone has different opinions on how they want their truck set up.. I currently like mine, and get many compliments with it wherever I go, even with a trailer hooked up.
 
#4 ·
I agree I think it is stupid.
 
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#6 ·
6 inch lift and I tow a 5th wheel RV, skid loader, dump trailer full of material, etc. With larger tires, regearing is important and I use air bags to eliminate squat. It handles very well and predictable. To be honest, I get compliments all the time especially at camp grounds. While the truck never sees mud up to the doors, its nice to keep the body higher when travelling through fields or wooded trails (deer hunting, harvesting firewood) so the brush and sticks don't scratch so much.

I get a chuckle out of people to bought a diesel truck and most they've towed with it is a single axle trailer. However, at the end of the day if they want to buy and maintain a diesel to drive it empty as a commuter car its their right, just as they might want to lift it. This is America! The land of extremely unnecessary things! 300 channels of TV, muscle cars, A/C in most homes, private air planes, mansions, Chinese food, free porn, truck pulls and drag races, 511,000 local/state/federal politicians, bacon cheeseburgers, cigarettes, the EPA, and so on. Point is, sometimes people do things they want because they can.

Lastly, to invoke the butthurt, some people say these modifications are stupid because they are insecure about their trucks or jealous and don't have the financial or mechanical means (or really cool wives) to achieve it themselves. I have a buddy that reminds me how "wasteful" I was for getting UCF O-ring heads and how "useless" my ported intake is with a turbo. I just let it go because he can't do those things to his truck and he's just making himself feel better about his truck by ripping down other people's modded trucks.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I don't really offroad my truck, it looks cool that's about it. But if I do go offroad, back in the woods etc, the extra clearance is nice, and believe it or not, it does help in the winter, I've driven through enough snow to bottom out my truck stock, never been stuck but it was close. With the lift, I've never been stuck. On the other hand, my truck rides nicer with the lift, so even if you just wanted a ride improvement, my BDS kit was a good buy.

But I'm with gotta_gofast, This is America and you can do what you want. Nobody ever judges the sports car people for having their cars slammed to the ground, why should we have any trouble with lifted trucks. There's a mustang in town that is probably an inch or two over stock with snow tires, he probably got stuck a few times. It doesn't look weird though, most people wouldn't notice.

I've never had any issues towing my truck, it tows beatifully, and I'm hopefully soon going to install my gooseneck hitch. It should be just short enough to still use it. My buddy has the same truck, CCLB 6.4 with 6 inch lift and he tows a gooseneck regularly.
 
#9 ·
I think it's stupid too. Which is why I tow with mine lifted 7". But my quad trailer is a tire under the deck design and my hitch is level with my rear tow connection. No drop down hitch here, and my truck is also lifted to get through the snow in the winter.
When they blade the street it piles up 3' or so and I like being able to get through it plus the snow on the driveway to the house. But it doesn't snow in California anymore and that's no joke. Been a while since I've chugged up the street through 2' of snow but I'm hoping for a normal winter this year. Lol
 
#12 ·
My sister just showed me this they were talking about it in her government class http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/us/regulatory-war-fought-over-a-wyoming-familys-pond.html
Enough is enough.......... I'm still amazed that auto manufacturers still bend over for CARB and the EPA, just say we're done with the protest of the EPA would have to back off. I would think


As for lifting mines lifted to about the stock height of the 2016's and rides a million times better (factory excursion leaf springs leave only like 2 in before hitting the bump stops)
 
#15 ·
I can't count the times I was the only one at a campground because the road was to muddy, snowy or rutted for others to get there





12,000 lbs , mud tires,ground clearance and low range

Amen!!!!!!!!
I have only a 2" lift and want to go to a 4" or 6" , it never purposely goes mudding but I do need the clearance for running through the woods and pastures. I also pull trailers (tag along and goose necks). My truck is a tool and I use it!
 
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#14 ·
Umm, the original 13 colonies against the British...... Texas against Mexico.........
 
#21 ·
Well, let's see.....

Topics covered in this thread;

1. Towing with a lift kit is stupid
2. Towing with a lift kit is NOT stupid
3. 300 channels of TV
4. Bacon Cheeseburgers
5. The EPA
6. Lifted Mustangs
7. Climate Change - Specifically in California
8. The government regulates rain and snowfall
9. ZMANN likes to go camping
10. Clean Water Act violations in Wyoming
11. Auto makers should thumb their nose at federal regulatory agencies
12. Ethanol
13. Obamacare
14. The Revolutionary War
15. The Alamo
16. Trucks are tools and should be used as such
17. The Civil War
18. Brand new 6.7's ride brutally rough on stock suspension
19. Two out of three isn't bad


Political chat? Seems to me like it all ties back to the stupid lift kits. :sofa:
 
#24 ·
Guess I missed #6 :dunno:
Quote from Isaac313 in post#8 - "There's a mustang in town that is probably an inch or two over stock with snow tires, he probably got stuck a few times. It doesn't look weird though, most people wouldn't notice."


I'm not surprised you missed it. He did say that most people wouldn't notice. :sly:
 
#25 ·
Sorry for the derailment I won't add any more political stuff to the thread. But we're all friends here right?

Lifted truck and towing isn't a problem unless it's a major lift.
 
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