Lift kit brands: the ones we install and why

We install lift and leveling kits at our Tyler and Longview shops, and every one leaves aligned. The brands and builds below are ones we've worked on.

Ask ten truck guys for the best lift kit brand and you'll get eleven answers, two arguments and one guy who swears by a kit they stopped making in 2009. I'm not going to settle that fight. I'm going to tell you what we look for, what we put on trucks, and why.

What makes a lift kit brand good?

A good lift kit brand builds a complete kit for your specific truck, matches the shocks to the lift height and stands behind the parts. The logo on the box matters a lot less than whether the kit was designed for the vehicle sitting in your driveway.

Here's what we check, in order:

1. Fitment for your exact truck. Year, make, model, 2WD or 4WD and cab size all matter. A kit "for an F-150" isn't the same as a kit for your F-150.
2. A complete kit. Struts or spacers, shocks, brackets and hardware in the box. A kit that needs a second shopping trip is a kit that sits half-installed on jack stands.
3. Shocks matched to the height. Stock shocks on a tall lift ride about as smooth as a shopping cart with one bad wheel.
4. Parts you can get later. If one piece fails in year three, you want a replacement part, not a scavenger hunt.
5. A warranty with real terms. Read it before you buy, not after something squeaks.

The lift kit brands we install

We install Rough Country lift and leveling kits, and we carry McGaughys suspension parts. Between them they cover most of the trucks that roll into our Tyler and Longview shops.

Rough Country is the kit we install the most. It covers almost every truck we see, it scales from a 2 inch level to a 6 inch lift, and the shocks and struts match the kits. We wrote a full breakdown in Rough Country lift kits: an installer's honest take.

McGaughys fills in the suspension parts side for us. Call with your year, make and model and we'll tell you straight whether it's the right call for your build.

Hunter, a Longview customer, summed up the goal of all this in eight words: "Did great on my lift kit and even saved me some money!" That's the whole brief. Right kit, done well, no surprise invoice.

Lift kit brands for Jeeps

Jeeps get their own section because Jeep owners would riot if they didn't. Rough Country makes Jeep kits, and we've also put other brands on Jeeps when that's what the owner wanted.

Laurence brought his two-door Wrangler JK to Longview for a TeraFlex lift with Falcon shocks, new wheels and Toyo mud-terrain tires. His review: "my jeep drivers awesome and rides great!" Samuel's Jeep got a Rough Country 2.5 inch level and four 35 inch Toyo tires, "installed in less than a day." And Tom's Jeep Gladiator got a lift in Longview too.

The lesson from all three: the right brand is the one built for that exact Jeep and the way you drive it. A Gladiator that tows and a Wrangler that crawls rocks want different things, even if they share a grille.

Five questions to ask before you buy a lift kit

Bring these to any shop, including ours. A good shop answers all five without checking its watch.

1. Is this kit made for my exact truck? Year, make, model, drivetrain and cab.
2. What tire size will fit after the lift? And with which wheel and offset.
3. Does the price include the alignment? Every lift needs one.
4. How will it ride compared to stock? An honest shop tells you if it'll ride stiffer.
5. What happens if a part fails? Who handles the warranty, and how.

Still deciding between a body lift and a suspension lift? That's a different question, and we answered it in body lift vs suspension lift.

Lift kit brand questions

Read this next Rough Country lift kits: an installer's honest take