Being 16, I'm pretty sure you'd like for your truck to help attract some romantic attention. Raising or lowering the truck or putting a loud exhaust or loud stereo doesn't mean as much as having it comfy and clean on the inside.
First, make sure the truck runs and drives safe. Good brakes with the rear drums adjusted properly. Tight steering with a good rag joint. The engine shouldn't stall or bog when entering traffic. Seat belts must work.
Then focus on the inside. If your seats are ratty, recover or replace them. If the carpet's stained, pull it out, pressure wash it, and spray it with some carpet paint. Replace all those broken trim bits. Make sure the door handles and windows work smoothly. If you open the door for a date, and the inside looks like a meth lab, you're getting nowhere.
Then focus on the outside. That ratty looking grille? Take it off, scrub the flakiness off, and spray it gloss or semi-gloss black. The clouded turn signal lenses? Less than $6 each on Rock Auto. Make it look showroom new, and your dates won't hesitate to hop in.
That's the easy stuff. Next, make sure the truck runs and drives tip-top. Once that's done, raise or lower it, but know it's never a once-and-done thing. There's always some extra work that comes along with modding. You'll introduce a new problem that you have to fix.
Raising the truck means more access underneath to get work done, but also having to climb into the engine bay to work on it. Lowering the truck means easier access to the engine bay, but always having to use jackstands when working under it. I prefer lowered vehicles, but I'm keeping my stepside at near the stock height so I can crawl under it - I'm dropping the rear to get rid of the stinkbug look. Unless you go crazy low, you won't have a problem with road hazards. Raising the truck will look goofy until you buy bigger wheels and tires. You can lower the truck and it will look fine on the stock rims and tires.
Keep us posted. Start a build thread.
