New Truck / Pull Body Lift?

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Hello all,

I just purchased a 1989 regular cab, short bed GMC that came with a 3" body lift on stock suspension, running 33's.

I want to keep the 33's but need to replace a lot of the suspension due to it just being worn out.

Since I'll be in there anyways one way or the other, is it worth a bit of extra money to pull the body lift, and just do with a 3" or 4" suspension lift? Rather than replacing the stock suspension with non lift parts and keeping the body kit?

Honestly, it's more for looks than anything else. Aside from some dirt roads when we go camping, its mostly a pavement queen and a toy that may sometimes pull a side by side.

With my wife and I being on the shorter side, I'd rather keep it on the 3" end of things, but I'm not reading good things about the Rough Country 3" kit on here. Any other options there or am I better off just going with the RC 4" kit? Assuming its worth switching from the body lift to the suspension lift.

With my other toys being a 2005 Jeep Wrangler and 2016 Toyota Tacoma where there are 1,000 different lift kits on the market, the limited options for the GMC are driving me nuts!

Thanks for the help!

 

[KansasOBS]

Everyone probably going to have a different opinion, but I would probably leave the body lift, and replace whats bad. Your COG is a little lower with just a body lift, and it sounds like you have other fun toys. But hey, maybe you're bored and itching for something to do this winter.

 

[99xcss4]

leave the body lift on and save up some money and get this https://www.roughcountry.com/product/configurable/gm-suspension-lift-kit-276 then if you wanted you could run 36s or 37s maybe even 38s

 

[Hipster]

The control arm/crank key kits can create more problems then they solve. If you need bj's and steering components, lca, uca bushings you're still going to need that with a 4 inch kit. many 4/6 kits reuse stock arms and tie rods. Not a big fan of the look of a body lift but it's there and a set of nerf bars/sliders help a bit visually imho. I'd redo whats there. The other 2 trucks can be built to be much more off road capable.

 

[Schurkey]

1989 regular cab, short bed GMC that came with a 3" body lift on stock suspension, running 33's.

I want to keep the 33's...

...Honestly, it's more for looks than anything else. Aside from some dirt roads when we go camping, its mostly a pavement queen...

...With my wife and I being on the shorter side...

Get proper tires, remove the body lift, forget the suspension lift. Return the truck to it's normal ride height--you don't need a lift at all.

Don't forget to re-aim the headlights when you're done.