Cost of Susp Lift vs SOA

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huntsonora

huntsonora

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Windsor, CO
Can anybody shed some light on the cost differences between an OME suspension lift and a SOA lift. Also, is it possible to find somebody to do a SOA lift for you or is that rare. I know that I do not possess the ability to do a SOA but I can do the Susp lift as I have done 2 on Jeeps I have previously owned.

From what I have read I feel that I would rather have the SOA unless its impossible to find somebody to do it for you or the cost is just outrageous.


Thanks for your thoughts,

Drummond
 
finding someone to spring over your truck would be in the 3,000 to 3,500 range. Doing it yourself would keep it at or under a 1000. One guy on here said he did it for like 17 bucks. As for the cost of OME I think, I think its somewhere around 1,500 but im not sure( I never priced them, I just know they are not cheap)
 
I'll have to decide once my current rubber is used up, but for somebody like me that doesn't own a welder, it seems like the SOA cost could rachet up pretty fast: cut and turn axle housing, knuckle kit while I'm there, somebody to weld on spring support, add a leafs, long brake line, regear front and back to 4.56, maybe lockers while I'm there, custom driveshafts, hy-steer kit, longer shocks, drop down sway bar, and probably a few other odds and ends.

So tell me if I'm wrong because I don't know for sure but... I'm figuring my decision is

$1000 for BDS + $800 wheels and tires = 33's, bouncy ride, installed over weekend,slightly improved trail ability, still pretty stock riding for around town driving or

$2000-$4000 for SOA + $900 wheels and tires = 35's, better ride, installed over week or two, much better on trail, and a little less convient around town

I know some of you guys will do it all, but I'm not going to try to do my own welding or ring& pinion job, so I think my number is more realistic if you can't DIY for all of it.
 
Perhaps the new generations of parabolic spring kits may be an option-much better articulation than a 'standard' kit ala OME, provides 1.5-2" of lift, and the cost is similar IIRC.

Cruc
 
= I'll have to decide once my current rubber is used up, but for somebody like me that doesn't own a welder, it seems like the SOA cost could rachet up pretty fast: cut and turn axle housing, knuckle kit while I'm there, somebody to weld on spring support, add a leafs, long brake line, regear front and back to 4.56, maybe lockers while I'm there, custom driveshafts, hy-steer kit, longer shocks, drop down sway bar, and probably a few other odds and ends.

So tell me if I'm wrong because I don't know for sure but... I'm figuring my decision is

$1000 for BDS + $800 wheels and tires = 33's, bouncy ride, installed over weekend,slightly improved trail ability, still pretty stock riding for around town driving or

$2000-$4000 for SOA + $900 wheels and tires = 35's, better ride, installed over week or two, much better on trail, and a little less convient around town

I know some of you guys will do it all, but I'm not going to try to do my own welding or ring& pinion job, so I think my number is more realistic if you can't DIY for all of it.
Click to expand...

MORE REALISTIC for a CRACK SMOKER maybe!!!!!!

You are adding a bunch of other projects into your price, how can that make it realistic!

If you are comparing the costs of 2 thing them compare just those 2 things, all it does is muddy the waters when you add cost for tires, gears LOCKERS!?!?!?!? and crap like that! Thats like saying you might as well add a v8 while you are at it!

You can use the same tires, wheels, gears.....You do not need the add a leafs eather. To be technical you don't even NEED a cut and turn but I would recomend it!

The guy that cut and turns the axle for you can weld the spring hangars on while he is welding on the axle.

I would like to see but not ride in a $17 SOA I must assume that he used parts that he already had and didn't include in the figure! What kind of shocks, spring hangars.... come with the $17 SOA?

LOOK HERE for what you need for a SOA:
http://www.ih8mud.com/tech/soa/index.html

I think the SOA will cost about the same as an OME setup. You just need to decide if you want your ride that high. SOA is much taller than most suspensions lifts.

I have SOA and like it. It is my preference but not for everyone. If you do a SOA I woud say DO the cut and turn and get a traction bar.
 
poseidon said:
MORE REALISTIC for a CRACK SMOKER maybe!!!!!!



I would like to see but not ride in a $17 SOA I must assume that he used parts that he already had and didn't include in the figure! What kind of shocks, spring hangars.... come with the $17 SOA?
.
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I did a spring over for a few reason but the deciding factor was that it would cost me less and i could buy part by part...(college student) but now that its done...You have to run big meats to make it not look retarded...and big meats mean lower gears and whats a huge truck with big tires doing with open diffs.????....IT SNOWBALLLS brotha....I think in the long run getting a 2.5inch lift and some 33s is cheaper than a SOA.....

....that being said i would not own a cruiser that wasnt sprung over....I love them and how they ride and HOW they freakin wheel....Plus its freaking awesome to build them up and SOA opens it up for all kinds of mods and all kinds of trails......

-Al
 
lowtideride said:
....that being said i would not own a cruiser that wasnt sprung over....I love them and how they ride and HOW they freakin wheel....

-Al
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How about for *snow* and *icy* conditions ??? This is the one reason I haven't spring-over. I'm just freaked about having everything that high driving on snow and/or icy conditions.

Eck !

Cahil
 
cahilc said:
How about for *snow* and *icy* conditions ??? This is the one reason I haven't spring-over. I'm just freaked about having everything that high driving on snow and/or icy conditions.

Eck !

Cahil
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Welll it drives better than it ever did...although I sprung it over after I left the north so i cant really say but I guess it would ride better....Im sure a SOA 60 dude will post up about driving in the snow....
 
Decide what size tire you want to run and what kind of wheeling you want to do first. Then decide how to get there. If you think you want to eventually run 35's or bigger, then go ahead and do that now.
If you're figuring costs, figure how much you'll spend on the lift kit now. Then subtract how much you're going to sell that lift kit and tires for in a year or two, then add the cost of the spring over you should have done in the first place. :D
 
JasonH said:
Decide what size tire you want to run and what kind of wheeling you want to do first. Then decide how to get there. If you think you want to eventually run 35's or bigger, then go ahead and do that now.
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Good advice. If all you ever plan on wheeling is some fire roads then there is no real point in doing an SOA. Just a little lift and some decent tires will get you there. And it is just a bolt in kit, no guesswork reqired. But as Jason says, if you're gonna go big eventually there is no time like the present. There are a lot of people out there who bought a lift, then spent the next few years kicking themselves for not going SOA. The wheeling bug will bite ya.
 
Very few SO's consist just of the SO......way too many things that is easier to do at the same time......PS , traction bars, Cut n Rotate etc.
Often on a 40 existing mods must be changed to fit the SO also....
Butch
 
lowtideride said:
Although the lugs on my tires would be sick in the snow...I'm sure I'll take a trip up north next year.
Click to expand...

Use those tires for *float*. Friends in West Virginia had over 52" in one storm a year or so ago. Yikes !!!

Cahil
 
I have only had half a winter in the snow with my SOA 60 and compared to my SUA 55 from winters past I have had no complaints so far. On the passes with all those city/valley tards it actually makes you feel a little safer to be higher up.

E

pic taken a couple weeks ago a 12 miles or so from my house:
 
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Depends how you do things

I did it by the "Well, i might as well replace this since i am in here method" and once the SOA was done, i am looking at some major coinage!

I at first thought it would be 1k or less but i am almost up to 3k and it still dont have the rear end done!

Oh, since i am in there, i might as well lock it, well, since i am locking it, i might as well e locker it, well since i am e lockering it, i might as well get 4340 shafts, well, since i am getting shafts, i might as well get longs, it just kept snowballing man!

All depends what your happy with!
 
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