3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

[Dylan71Bronco]

I've been wanting to move from 3.5 in suspension lift to 5.5in lift... and I figured I'd throw out the question to see what you all thought.

I'm currently running 3.5in lift with a 2 in body lift, sitting on 35's. If I step up to 5.5in lift, I'll probably also step up to 37's or 39's.

Are there any pros and cons that any of you would mention in ragards to stepping up to the 5.5in lift?

Any input is appreciated. I'd rather find out now as opposed to being surprised.

Thanks,

Dylan

[PDXBronco]

Re: 3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

Seems most people that arent stretched out front and rear are trying to stick around 3.5" SL and just cut higher. I'd possibly just add another inch on the BL and cut the flares higher to fit 37's. The 5.5" lift starts putting you in real nasty driveline angle situations, body lift would let you stay with what you've got without any driveline mods.

Also will definitely need to do an axle riser for the front with a 5.5" lift which means doing TRO if you havent yet.

[CityHick]

Re: 3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

As was said, 3.5" keeps your driveline angles better which translates into longer u-joint life, better caster, etc.

There are lots of pros and cons to each. With a 3.5" lift you have a lower center of gravity which allows you to take sidehill obstacles with less pucker factor, but that comes at the expense of lower approach, departure, and breakover angles than what a 5.5" lift affords.

My recent Rubicon trip really showed the difference in the two. I run a 5.5" lift, 2" body and 37" tires. My buddy Mark runs a 3.5" lift, 2" body, and 35" tires. He and I took mostly the same lines through the whole trail, but his rockers and rear bumper took a lot more hits than mine did. He ended up bending his (bumper-mounted) tire carrier pretty severely, and came down really hard on the rear bumper hard more times than we can count.

If you've looked at my "Rubicon Picture thread", there was one particularly nasty squeeze point where I took some body damage, part way down the Big Sluice section. That happened because I simply could not take as high of a line as he could with his lower CG. My Bronco got extremely light on the high side in that obstacle, while my buddy's rig was MUCH more stable. He could have even taken that obstacle higher and been fine... but I would have flopped my rig no doubt.

Somehow, several people on this board have managed to squeeze 37" tires under a 3.5"/2" lifted rig. I think that is the ideal configuration - the diff clearance that 37" tires afford, but a lower CG. I plan to drop at least an inch out of my suspension at some point, and I want to go with wider wheels with less backspacing. I think the combination of lower and wider will help me.

Long story short, in most situations I have no complaints about my 5.5"+2" lift with 37" tires, but I've definitely "seen the light" on going with a lower CG. I pushed my front axle forward an inch when I installed my Cage arms and my approach angle will not suffer much from dropping an inch or two. There were enough sections on the Rubicon that spooked me, to make me want to go a little lower.

5.5" lifts are great with full width axles though...

[Broncrick]

Re: 3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

3.5 coils in the front, 4.5 leafs out back, 2" bl and I can stuff 37's easily. I like low and build it for droop, My .02

[Fungus232]

Re: 3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

I'm brokering a deal right now for a very gently used 5.5" WH lift & brand new 2" body lift for my '68. I figger it'll be just about right w/ the full width axles & 40" (+ or - an inch) tires.

[TRAILBOUND]

Re: 3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

It all depends on the intended use of your bronco. For a Bronco that will see more road time than trail time or a bronco that is aimed at that classic offroad look I.e big lift and big tires. Than there really is no down side to a 5.5" lift. A rig that is designed solely for trail use but can be driven on the street would benefit from a 3.5" lift because of a slightly lower CG.
However, all this is negated because a leaf sprung vehicle using stock bracketry will have minimul droop and by design is better suited to vehicles whos intent is stuff.
A 5.5" lift will allow someone to run 35" tires and not dramatically cut up their fenders. While allowing plenty of room for up travel. Or step up to 37" tires but limit their up travel while still not having to gouge out their fenders.

All in all everything will have pros and cons but everything is mere speculation unless we know the desired intent.

[blwngsket]

Re: 3.5in lift or 5.5in lift? Pros/cons?

3.5's are way flexier than 5.5's. I'm going to get rid of my 5.5's up front and go with 3.5's. going to cut out the factory spring tower and replace it with the Ballistic adjustable tower. Much better control of vehicle hieght.