How Much Does It Cost To Lift A Truck 6 Inches?

Getting your truck lifted makes your truck look impressive and makes it perform better off-road. How much does it cost to lift a truck 6 inches? 

How much does it cost to lift a truck 6 inches? 

For small to average-sized trucks, it costs $1,000 to $5,000. It can cost much more if the truck is larger or the job is unusually complicated. You can save more than $1,000 if you do it yourself, but don’t try that unless you have the right skills. 

I got a 6-inch lift for my GMC Sierra for only $2500. That was probably a somewhat better-than-average price, but it doesn’t cost a fortune to get your truck lifted up 6 inches. If you are thinking about getting a lift kit installed, it is worth it.  

Why Would You Get Your Truck Lifted?

Many people get their truck lifted because it looks impressive. It makes your vehicle stand out. People definitely notice when you lift your truck up six inches and get huge tires. 

Getting a truck lifted also improves its performance off-road. It gives your truck more clearance. It makes it safer to drive on rocky trails and country roads with potholes. 

Huge tires won’t fit on a regular truck. You have to get your truck lifted before the huge tires will fit. This is fairly expensive, even if you can do the job yourself. 

You Can Avoid Damage by Getting Your Truck Lifted

A lift can protect your truck from damage when you take it off-road. If you are driving off-road, you might drive over something that hits a part underneath your truck. This could damage the part and be expensive to fix. 

Getting your truck lifted and adding huge tires will keep the bottom of your truck away from anything you drive over. A vehicle’s clearance is the distance between the bottom of the car and the road. The more clearance there is, the less likely you are to hit anything. 

Many vital parts of your car are near the bottom and can easily be damaged if you run over something. For example, your brake line is at the bottom of your car and easy to damage. You could run over something that might damage your brake line even on the street, and it is particularly likely off-road. 

Clearance is Sometimes Important, Even on Roads

Even if you are not taking your truck or SUV off-road, clearance can still protect your vehicle from damage. For example, if you are driving on a badly maintained country road with a lot of potholes, clearance can save you from a damaged brake line. 

Different Vehicles Have Higher or Lower Clearance

Cars have the least clearance, and SUVs have the most clearance. Some trucks such as hummers have exceptionally high clearance. Tractors have far more clearance than hummers do. 

Clearance is also known as ride height. Examples of vehicles and their clearance are:

• Sports cars – 5.3 to 5.5 inches
• Sedans – 6.5 inches
• Hatchbacks – 6.6 inches
• Compact cars – 6.7 inches
• Compact SUVs – 7.5 to 7.9 inches
• SUVs – 8.9 inches

Sometimes, the ride height decreases if you put more people or heavy objects in the car. Some vehicles have self-leveling suspension systems that keep the car at the same height regardless of the weight it carries. Without these systems, the extra weight makes it riskier to take your car off-road. 

Is Lifting a Truck Expensive?

Modifying a truck can be expensive, but it doesn’t cost quite as much as you would expect. Getting a truck lifted six inches usually cost thousands of dollars but much less than ten thousand. Anywhere from $1000 to $5000 is common. 

Can You Lift a Truck Yourself?

You can use a lift kit to raise your truck up six inches yourself. A lift kit only costs $1000 or $2000. 

However, it is not easy to do unless you know what you are doing. Don’t attempt it unless you have done it before or have done a lot of other work on cars and are confident in your skills. 

Getting Your Truck Lifted Professionally

While a professional mechanic can lift a truck six inches in a fairly short time, labor costs are still high. They will charge more than $100 per hour, so it may cost you $1,000 in addition to the cost of the parts. This is what boosts the costs of lift kit installations and modifications so much: paying for the installation process.

Depending on where you take the truck and what needs to be done while truck lifting, the labor can cost a lot more than $1000. If the procedure is complex, they will charge extra. It may cost you $2000 or more for labor. 

Post-Installation Cost

After they finish lifting your truck, they will assess it to make sure everything was done right. They may also make some final adjustments. This adds another couple hundred dollars to the final cost. 

Even if you do it yourself, you should pay to have it assessed professionally. You certainly don’t want to drive a truck after lifting it and doing something seriously wrong.

Total Cost of Getting Your Truck Lifted

Prices for lifting a truck six inches are all over the place. However, a rough guess is that it will cost you a little over 1000 to a little over 2000 if you do it yourself. If you have it done professionally, it will cost a little over 2000 to a little over 4000.

If professionals do it, it will cost one or two thousand for the lift kit, one or two thousand for the labor, and another two hundred for the assessment and final adjustments. If you do it yourself, there are no labor costs. 

If your truck is much larger than average, you might have to pay much more than 4000 dollars. Anything that makes the job more complicated can raise the price, and some shops are more expensive than others. 

How Much Does the Size of Your Truck Matter?

It is definitely more expensive if your truck is bigger. The bigger your truck, the more parts are necessary and the more work it is. Average-sized trucks usually cost $2200-$4400; larger trucks are more expensive. 

Some types of trucks are harder to lift than others. There might be special springs, bolts, or fasteners that add to the cost. 

Different Types of Lifts

There are two types of lift kits – body lift kits and suspension lift kits. You need a suspension lift if you want your truck to clear bigger obstacles. 

What Are Body Lifts?

A body lift kit isn’t good enough. With a body lift, you can add bigger wheels, but the clearance will not change. 

A body lift involves raising your truck higher above your suspension so that you can add large tires. The lowest part of your truck remains at the same height, so the clearance will not change.

If you only care about how your truck looks, get a cheaper body lift. However, if you care about your truck’s clearance, you need a more expensive suspension lift. 

What Are Suspension Lifts?

Suspension lifts are more complicated because almost all of your truck’s suspension system has to be replaced. These raise even the lowest part of your truck higher above the ground. You can use even bigger tires with a suspension lift than with a body lift. 

Raising a Vehicle’s Clearance Without a Lift

There are ways to raise a vehicle’s clearance without a lift, but they don’t work nearly as well. A lift is the only way to get your truck significantly higher off the ground. 

Special Wheels and Tires

You can install special wheels and tires that give your vehicle more clearance. You can install special discs instead of regular wheels, or use somewhat larger tires. 

This won’t drastically increase your vehicle’s clearance, and it will make your speedometer and odometer inaccurate. It will also make your vehicle somewhat harder to control. Getting a lift is a better idea. 

Install Better Shock Absorbers or Install Auto Buffers

Upgrading your car’s suspension can also keep your car a little higher above the ground. This also doesn’t make that much of a difference. 

Possibly, upgrading your car’s suspension will make your warranty null and void. You might lose some or all of your warranty protection if you make such a drastic change to your vehicle. Many kinds of major changes to your vehicle can end your warranty protection. 

Auto buffers are another option. They are spacers you can have installed in your car’s springs to keep it a little higher above the ground. Auto buffers may stiffen your suspension and make your car less comfortable on bumpy ground. 

Are There Any Disadvantages to High Clearance?

Yes, clearance has a disadvantage, which is why many vehicles are close to the ground. Low clearance makes your vehicle more stable, especially when you are rounding corners. 

No one would want a sports car with high clearance. Some vehicles are supposed to be close to the ground. Some people have their car’s clearance lowered because it looks better or improves the car’s handling. 

More clearance isn’t always better. A car can handle better if its clearance is low because the center of gravity is lower.

Key Takeaways

• It costs a few thousand dollars to get an average-sized truck lifted.
• You can save $1000 or even $2000 if you do the work yourself, but don’t try it if you doubt your skills. 
• You can get a body lift that allows you to add bigger tires or a suspension lift that raises your truck’s clearance and makes it a better off-road vehicle. 
• There are other ways of raising your truck’s clearance without a lift, but they don’t make as much of a difference.
• Heavily modifying your truck can break your warranty. If you aren’t willing to lose your warranty, find out what is ok first.