Vehicle Lift, how high can you go carrying a camper?

[100acrehuphalump]

So how high is too high to lift a truck for carrying a camper? I understand one wouldn't want to have the COG too high so as to avoid rollover etc. but with taller tires, a leveling kit, airbags etc, what is a reasonable height beyond factory stock height? Thanks, Dan

 

[jha6av8r]

Think it will depend on how well your suspension is set up. FWC recently posted a picture from their Colorado distributor on Faceback of an installed they did on a lifted Dodge. He had a least a 6" lift.

 

[Smokecreek1]

It's to high when it falls on you! Sorry I shouldn't have said that! Whether you truck is to high or not depends on where you go and what you want to do. If you need to use a high lift with it---everything again depends on what you want to do; if you are using a high lift to move the truck , you want it to fall over--if you are changing a flat you don't! Every situation out there is different, just as every truck/camper is and you can only worry about so many things that can happen, so stop worrying and take your rig out and enjoy life !

Smoke

 

[100acrehuphalump]

I actually want to go a little higher, I just didn't know what was safe. This is still all very new too me. I am learning as I go and I ask a million questions of you wondrous and knowledgable beings, because you guys have most of the experience, which I appreciate and applaud for your opinions. I pick up the camper March 14th. I am wanting to do some vehicle mods prior to receiving it.
Thanks, Dan

 

[craig333]

I'm not a fan of big lifts. My truck is stock and the Jeep only has 2.5" lift. Safe? I suppose that depends on what you plan on doing with it.

 

[takesiteasy]

I'm not a fan of big lifts. My truck is stock and the Jeep only has 2.5" lift. Safe? I suppose that depends on what you plan on doing with it.

I agree. Most of what I have read about lifts has been negative, other than from the rock crawler types. I understand people often want larger tires and that seems to be the justification. Others just like the looks of it. From what I have read, lifts change the geometry of the drive train, often not for the better, and reduce gas mileage. Vibration and unusual wear problems often result. My Tacoma is stock TRD off-road, which is about a 2" lift over non-TRD and seems to go most places I want to go. I like that it was all designed by Toyota engineers who know a lot more about vehicles than I do. But I am not rock crawling or pushing the envelope either.

 

[PaulT]

Generally, only taller tires alter your ground clearance. The low point is likely to be bottom of your differentials. Lifting the suspension does not change that although it may alter takeoff and departure angles when entering or leaving a slope or some high center situations.

Consider the trade offs and costs and do what you want. On my Tundra TRD, I added air bags and sway bar in the rear and SumoSprings to the front as my need was to level the vehicle and control stability with the camper mounted

Pull an old Jeep CJ or Toyota Land Cruiser to do the fun stuff and save your home on wheels for the less challenging tasks. I guess I'm just getting old.

Paul

 

[JJ1]

Lifting the suspension can allow you to put on bigger tires, so in an indirect way it does raise your lowest point (usually differentials). Aside from improving approach and departure angles, it also improves breakover angle. That may be more of a help for a truck with a camper, depending on where you travel.

Lifts usually translate to more suspension travel, which is great for offroading but less great for hauling near-capacity payload. Plenty of people haul campers with lifts, though, so it's just a consideration and certainly not a deal breaker. Just make sure the suspension is stiff enough to maintain your payload rating.

I got a 2500 so I didn't have to make aftermarket mods, but this brings up another downside: the tailgate is higher than my belly when it's down. So putting a lift on your F-150 would make the camper a little harder to get into...just something to plan on if you decide on the lift.

I have a 3" lift on my Wrangler and I like it...just didn't want to do it to my truck.

 

[craig333]

I don't think you're getting older, well you are but its more a matter of gaining wisdom as you age. If I were still eighteen I'm sure I'd have a lot more stuck stories. I know a lot more about when to back off or back up now. I do like the look of a nice conservative lift. If I were made of money I'd definitely reconsider but I don't "need" a lift.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

I may do a 2-3" lift. That's all I really want. I bought new tires yesterday. I was gonna go with 32" but the local tire dealer said they didn't make the ones I wanted in an E rating, so he sold me the ones he had in stock which were 1/2 " shorter. Later that day when I got home I found out he was incorrect and I called them only to be told it would cost an additional $100. Boy am I pissed off at them. They've lost my business for good. I got Cooper Discoverer AT/3 265/70/R17 E.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

Lifting the suspension can allow you to put on bigger tires, so in an indirect way it does raise your lowest point (usually differentials). Aside from improving approach and departure angles, it also improves breakover angle. That may be more of a help for a truck with a camper, depending on where you travel.

Lifts usually translate to more suspension travel, which is great for offroading but less great for hauling near-capacity payload. Plenty of people haul campers with lifts, though, so it's just a consideration and certainly not a deal breaker. Just make sure the suspension is stiff enough to maintain your payload rating.

I got a 2500 so I didn't have to make aftermarket mods, but this brings up another downside: the tailgate is higher than my belly when it's down. So putting a lift on your F-150 would make the camper a little harder to get into...just something to plan on if you decide on the lift.

I have a 3" lift on my Wrangler and I like it...just didn't want to do it to my truck.

I'm 6'9" tall, so getting in and out should be relatively easy except for that short looking door.

 

[PaulT]

You quickly learn to face front of truck to enter and to exit that squared off hobbit entrance..

For me that made the receiver hitch mounted steps good because they are always stable & in the same place, especially useful at night. I'm only 5' 9" not 5' 21" like you.

Paul

 

[Riverrunner]

I've got about 4" on mine. Only wanted to level it 2.5" in the front but the front came out at 4.5" of lift. Every truck is a little different so be prepared. I then had to get a taller block for the back but no biggie to me. I'm running 255/85-16's which are a little over 33" which totals out to 5" of total lift. Because I have a crew cab long bed, I wanted more belly clearance (breakover). Works well for me and is not too tall although loading things in the bed is a bit more of a chore. I'd like to run a little bigger tire but I'm limited with a dually.

 

[Basin Deranged]

Suspension lifts can be a valuable tool, as stated by others here, for increasing approach angle, departure angle, and breakover angle.

Any lift over about 2" above stock unloaded height may necessitate a front differential drop on an independent front suspension vehicle. This is because the lift brings with it greater angle of drop on the axles. If the difference in height between the front differential and the front hubs causes an axle angle that is greater than the joints in the axles can gracefully handle you will find yourself breaking or prematurely wearing out the joints.

Taller lifts also can bring alignment problems as the upper control arms may be dropped far enough that the ball joint does not allow correct alignment. This is not an unsurmountable problem but will require the installation of aftermarket modified upper control arms.

Depending on the vehicle, running much larger tires may lead to problems with the tires rubbing either the wheel wells or the upper control arms especially when one front corner of the truck is heavily weighted and the wheel fully "stuffed" into the wheel well. A suspension lift will not eliminate this problem as the maximum height that the wheel can rise into the wheel well is not altered by a suspension lift. The lift will, however, require greater force (greater compression of the spring) to fully stuff the wheel, so the lift will lessen the number of times this rubbing occurs.

While it is true that a suspension lift will give you increased upward wheel travel, it will decrease your downward wheel travel by exactly that same amount unless you also install longer control arms or perform major modifications to the suspension.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

I just went from a Cooper Discoverer AT/3 235/70/R17 to a Cooper Discoverer AT/3 275/70/R17 E. I didn't really go much higher, but maybe an 1 1/2" difference.

 

[ntsqd]

To paraphrase a Land Rover driving school saying "as much as necessary, as little as possible."

I have 315/70R17's on our CTD with no lift. They only rub in tight left turns, and then only because the previous wheels with the wrong back-spacing rubbed a lot more and tore up the plastic fender liner on the left-front.

Not all or even most lifts result in more wheel travel. They're lifts, not long travel kits. Most lifts, as intended to be installed, usually maintain the stock wheel travel or may gain a tiny amount more travel.