What it costs to lift a truck: parts vs labor

Parts and labor, separately: a leveling kit is $100 to $1, 000 in parts plus $200 to $700 to fit. A
6-inch suspension lift is $1, 000 to $3, 000 in parts plus $800 to $2, 100 in labor. Tires, an alignment
and driveline parts land on top. That is where lift budgets overrun.

We split the bill because we are a parts yard in Toledo. We sell the hardware and we fit nothing,
so every labor number below is what somebody else charges you, never us.

What the parts cost, by how much lift you want

Typical prices for new kits from the brands that sell volume. Used changes the math and gets its
own section below.

Four things move a kit inside those ranges: brand tier, whether shocks are included or quoted
separately, 2WD versus 4WD, and independent front suspension versus a solid front axle. A 2WD
independent-front truck can buy height with taller spindles alone, which is why a 4.5-inch 2WD spindle
set costs a fraction of a 4WD bracket kit that has to relocate a front differential.

What the labor costs, and why it is not on our invoice

Shops bill $100 to $175 an hour for this work. Metro and coastal rates sit at the top of that band;
northwest Ohio sits near the bottom. Multiply the hours by your shop's rate.

Hours are an estimate and most shops charge actual. What pushes a job over quote around here is
rust (seized cam bolts, a snapped strut nut, a torsion key that will not walk off its hex) and a
salt-belt truck can add two or three hours to a job the book calls four. Ask whether the quote includes
the alignment, because frequently it does not. We do not install, align, or sub this work out, so none
of it reaches our invoice or our warranty.

How much to lift a truck 3 inches

Figure $300 to $1, 200 in parts and 4 to 6 hours of labor: $700 to $2, 250 all in, before tires and
alignment. On an independent-front half-ton, 3 inches is normally front strut spacers or new coilovers
with a 2-inch rear block or an add-a-leaf behind, so the truck keeps a little rake instead of sitting
nose-high. Three inches is also roughly the ceiling before a kit has to replace knuckles or drop the
front crossmember, which is where the labor hours double. Most half-tons clear a 33-inch tire at 3
inches, with the trimming needed varying by model and wheel offset.

How much does a 6 inch lift cost

Parts are $1, 000 to $3, 000 for a mainstream complete kit, $3, 000 to $8, 000 with remote-reservoir or
bypass shocks. Labor is 8 to 12 hours, so $800 to $2, 100. Add 35-inch tires and an alignment and a
realistic all-in figure is $3, 500 to $8, 000.

Six inches costs more than double a 3-inch kit because the front geometry has to be moved rather
than shimmed. On an independent front end that means new taller knuckles, or a bracket subframe that
lowers the differential, control arm mounts and steering rack together so the half-shaft angles stay
survivable. More parts, more bolts, more alignment work afterwards. Complete 6-inch kits for a
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 are the most common
thing we see arrive on a traded-in truck, which is why used ones reach our shelf.

How much does it cost to level a truck

$100 to $300 in spacers, or $300 to $900 if you replace the front coils or struts outright, plus 2
to 4 hours. Installed with an alignment, shops commonly land between $550 and $1, 000.

You are correcting factory rake: pickups leave the line nose-down so the stance stays flat under
load, roughly 1.5 to 3 inches of difference at the fender lips depending on model, trim, spring option
and where you put the tape. A front-only kit therefore reads as level. Two things it does not do. It
adds no payload or towing capacity, because gross vehicle weight and axle ratings are unchanged, and it
buys no suspension travel. A spacer is sold by its thickness and usually returns close to that at the
fender, but motion ratio on a torsion-bar or unequal-length-arm front end can make a 2-inch spacer
measure 1.5 on the truck. On a coil-sprung Super Duty or Ram, a taller leveling coil costs more than a
spacer and is the better answer, because you keep full shock travel instead of preloading it away.

The costs nobody quotes you

Three more have no fixed price but still bite. Extended brake hoses: past about 4 inches the factory
hose runs out of slack at full droop, and the kit is cheap next to a torn hose and a bleed. Driveline:
a two-piece rear driveshaft usually wants a carrier bearing drop, and some trucks need a driveshaft
spacer to keep enough slip-yoke engagement, skip it and you get a vibration no tire balance will cure.
Headlight aim: federal rules set a minimum lens-center height of 22 inches above the road, so lifting
never puts you under it, but the beam cut-off rises with the truck and has to be adjusted back down.
Maximum bumper and headlight heights are set state by state rather than federally, so check your own
state's limit before committing to a height. If the lift means new wheels, budget for tire pressure
sensors too, our used truck wheels and tires are worth
checking before you pay retail for a set.

How to lift a truck: the four ways to gain height

There are only four mechanisms, and the price follows from which one you pick.

• Spacers and leveling kits. A puck above the strut or in place of the coil
  isolator. Cheapest, front only, gains no travel, steepens the half-shaft angle on a 4x4.
• Taller springs or complete coilovers. You pay for the spring or the assembled unit
  and keep or improve ride quality and travel. This is how a coil-sprung front end should be lifted 2 to
  3 inches.
• A full suspension lift. New knuckles or drop brackets, matched shocks, rear leaf
  packs or blocks. The only honest route past about 3 inches, and the only one that creates real tire
  clearance at the axle.
• A body lift. Pucks between the frame and the cab and bed. Buys wheel-well
  clearance for a few hundred dollars, gains nothing under the axle, changes no geometry. Often stacked
  on a small suspension lift.

Tires are the fifth lever people forget: half of any diameter increase shows up as ride height, so
33s to 35s lifts the body an inch on its own. Doing the work yourself, ordinary caution matters here,
a loaded coil spring stores enough energy to kill, the truck goes on stands and never on a jack, torque
specs on suspension fasteners are not advisory, and bolted joints want a re-torque after the first few
hundred miles. Fitment is per generation, not per nameplate: a kit for one
Ford F-150 generation will not bolt to the next.

Buying used lift parts: where it saves money and where it does not

Our suspension and lift shelf runs 107 listings. Of
those, 13 are complete kits between 3 and 7 inches, Rough Country and Pro Comp 6-inch kits for
Silverado and Sierra 1500, a TCS 7-inch spindle kit, a Pro Comp 4-inch Super Duty kit, 4.5-inch 2WD
F-150 lift spindles. The rest is components: Fox, King, ICON, Eibach, Carli and Bilstein coilovers and
shocks, uniball and adjustable upper control arms, leaf packs, helper and leveling springs, air spring
kits, plus a few lowering kits for people who want the opposite.

What used buys you is brand tier, a take-off set of premium coilovers lands near the price of a new
budget kit, and that is the trade worth making. Condition is stated on every listing and we do not blur
it: a few are still sealed in the box and say so, most are take-offs pulled off a built truck and say
that instead. Where used does not save money is wear items. A weeping coilover seal, a shock that has
lost its charge, a cracked bushing. That is a rebuild bill wearing a bargain price. Read the condition
line and the photos, and ask if they do not settle it; our guide to
judging used part condition covers what to look at.

Shipping is already in the listed price to all 50 states and there is no card checkout here. You
reply to the listing, we send an invoice, and you pay by wire, Zelle, Apple Cash, Chime or Cash App.
Returns are 30 days with no restocking fee. Our 90-day warranty covers the
part only, never installation labor, because we never touched it. Fitment questions go to
(419) 295-3565.