Construction jobsites require vehicles and equipment that can handle many conditions. A well-equipped pickup truck is essential for a crew or business owner to operate effectively on muddy jobsites, over rough terrain, hauling heavy materials, and more. As an essential tool for your business, you need a pickup truck that can keep up with the workload. It serves many purposes: an office, a trusted tool, and a place to carry additional equipment on board that will help you get tasks done quickly.
A sturdy and reliable pickup truck keeps business running smoothly and four-wheel drive is a given, because you never know where your next job may take you or what the weather will bring. A pickup truck can navigate a lot of challenging areas, but they can’t manage everything. That’s why a lifted pickup truck should be considered to meet the demands of a challenging jobsite so you can traverse all types of terrain. Some of benefits offered by a lifted truck equipped with larger tires include increased visibility along with needed ground clearance, which will reduce the risk of damage to the undercarriage when driving over rugged terrain. In addition, the larger tires will flex around obstacles like large rocks, which provides more tire contact with the ground for better traction. There are a couple of ways to lift a truck that offer different on- and off-road capabilities.
LEVELING KITS
By design, leveling kits offer a quick and easy solution to raise the front end of a truck for a level stance, plus clearance for larger tires. In most cases, leveling kits are limited to 2 inches of additional front ride height for improved appearance with a leveled stance and clearance for slightly larger tires. However, leveling kits don’t typically offer any improvement to the vehicle’s performance, and if they are not engineered properly, they will limit vehicle performance by overextending ball joints, cause clearance issues, or overextend CV axle angles. This can lead to premature wear of front-end components. If you are interested in improving off-road capability while gaining clearance for larger tires, rather than mostly street use, be certain to explore more advanced, complete suspension lift kits.
LIFT KITS
An intermediate lift kit, which is designed specifically for pickup trucks with independent front suspensions, is a step up from a leveling kit. A kit like the Adventure Series Kits from Zone Offroad provides more lift height (2-3.5 inches) over a leveling kit, while improving vehicle performance with replacement upper control arms capable of more suspension travel and differential relocation brackets to ensure you won’t overextend CV axles. Many of the Zone Offroad kits are also offered with high-performance FOX shock absorbers for improved damper control.
Lift kits should maintain the factory suspension mounting points and steering geometry while offering a more comprehensive lift package without the cost, complexity, or liability of taller lift kits. Any lift kit should be designed to work within the limitations of the factory suspension, steering, and driveline geometry while helping to increase the vehicles driving and handling capabilities with clearance for larger 33- to 35-inch tires, depending on the application.
If you want to go beyond an intermediate lift kits, there are 4- to 6-inch lift kits to fit 35- to 37-inch tires, depending on the application. These will keep your pickup truck within legal limits (check your state’s regulations) and maintain comfort for a truck capable of handling on- and off-road driving on the job or for weekend adventures. These kits are designed for bolt-on installation with only a few applications requiring minimal cutting/welding to install.
A lift kit increases the truck’s ground clearance and suspension travel while making room for larger wheels and tires that provide the ability to handle different terrains and weather conditions. A reputable experienced shop that specializes in lifted trucks can help you determine the best lift kit and tire size for your pickup truck. BDS Suspension can help you find a shop in your area.
While a lift kit is essential to improving the capability of your pickup truck, there are other things that can be done to maximize your pickup truck for work and weekend play. While developing 4-inch and 6-inch lift kits for the 2021 Ford F-150 designed to improve on-road handling and off-road capability, the engineering team at BDS Suspension was offered an additional opportunity by Ford to customize the truck.
FORD F-150 CONCEPT BUILD
The team took on the challenge of creating a dual-purpose work and recreation 2021 Ford F-150 Limited Hybrid SuperCrew 4×4 that houses an array of multi-purpose gear. While the pickup truck is considered a concept build, it is designed for real life use.
The Ford F-150 build starts underneath, with a 4-inch BDS lift system with FOX 2.5 Factory Race DSC coilovers and shocks along with a Ridetech LevelTow air bag system. Up top and in the bed, numerous other upfits make it ideal for the jobsite and outdoor adventures.
For work, it’s all business with a Miller Multimatic 255 Welder, which plugs into the 220V plug on the Pro Power On-board to allow MIG, TIG, or stick welding, depending on the situation. An accompanying Miller 30FX welding table folds for easy setup and compact storage. A Hypertherm Powermax30 Air Plasma Cutter can be used on 110V or 220V and allows cutting of various materials. Ford hand tools, air tools, and toolbox are included along with Milwaukee MX Fuel battery tools and chargers along with deep cut band saw, 5-inch grinder, magnetic drill press, hammer drill, impact gun, hand tools, and gloves. An ARB Twin Air Compressor provides reliable, pressurized air on demand to air-up tires, run power tools, or support anything that needs an air supply.
Some of the recreational gear and special features include a lightweight, ultra-strong storage solution that mounts to the bottom of the bed and integrates two lockable slide-out storage bins to store gear, tools, and more. A Yakima overhaul truck rack system with accessory mounts adds an additional dimension of storage capacity with adjustability and the Rotopax 2-gallon storage containers open up to allow dry storage for tools and other gear. An ARB Elements Refrigerator and a Grill pro 1500W Electric Grill are perfect for use on weekend adventures.
CLOSING THOUGHT
There are lots of ways to reimage and customize a pickup truck that can be used for work and other activities. A lift kit provides the capability needed for traversing challenging conditions and adding work gear such as a welder, a power saw, and other essential equipment makes it ideal for getting work done quickly and efficiently.
For More Information
For more information about vehicle lift kits, visit bds-suspension.com.
Modern Contractor Solutions, June 2021
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