Your Lift Kit Was Installed Wrong. Here Is How to Tell.

A lift kit installed correctly should drive close to how the truck drove before, just taller. If yours wanders, vibrates at highway speed, eats the inside edge of the front tires, or darts when you hit a bump, the parts were probably bolted on without correcting the geometry the lift changed. That is a fixable problem and it is a large part of what we do.

Sign one: the truck wanders and needs constant correction

If you are making small steering corrections continuously just to hold a lane, caster is usually the reason. Caster is what makes the steering want to return to center and track straight. Lifting a truck reduces it. Without correction parts, you end up with a truck that has no self-centering force, which feels like vague, tiring steering that gets worse the faster you go.

Sign two: vibration that appears at a specific speed

A vibration that shows up around 45 to 55 mph and either worsens or disappears at higher speed usually points to driveshaft angle rather than tire balance. Lifting the truck changes pinion angle, and if the driveshaft and pinion are no longer working within their designed range, the u-joints run at an angle they cannot handle smoothly. Balancing the tires will not touch it.

Sign three: the steering wheel is off center

If the wheel sits crooked when the truck is going straight, the drag link or track bar was not adjusted for the new ride height. This is not cosmetic. It means the axle is not centered under the truck or the steering linkage is not in its intended position, and both put you outside the geometry the truck was built around.

Sign four: the inside edges of the front tires are wearing fast

Uneven inside-edge wear on a lifted truck is usually camber, toe, or both left out of spec after the lift. A set of tires is expensive enough that this alone is worth correcting. It is also a good indicator that whoever did the lift did not follow it with a proper alignment, or did one that could not reach spec with the hardware installed.

Sign five: the truck darts sideways when you hit a bump

That is bump steer. It happens when suspension travel causes an unintended change in toe, so the truck steers itself over a bump without you turning the wheel. It comes from steering linkage and suspension geometry no longer moving through compatible arcs, which is a common result of mixing components or lifting without correction parts.

Why do cheap lift kits ride badly

Because lifting a truck changes its geometry, and a budget kit usually does not include the parts that correct for it. You get the right ride height and the wrong angles. The truck will pass an inspection, clear the tires, and still drive wrong. Nothing failed. The kit did what it was sold to do, which was raise the truck, not preserve how it handles.

Can a badly installed lift be corrected without starting over

Often, yes. We measure the geometry first, tell you what is actually out of spec, and give you the options. Sometimes it is a correction bracket, an adjustable track bar, and an alignment. Sometimes the kit is missing enough that replacing part of it is the honest answer. Either way you get the measurements before you get a quote.

Which suspension brands do you install

Mainly BDS, Carli, and Thuren. We are a premium shop and we do not install parts we would not run ourselves. That is also why we would rather correct a good kit than sell you a cheap one twice.

How long does a lift install take

Usually one day.

Where we are

Inferno Customs is at 11781 Cude Cemetery Rd, Suite A, Willis, TX 77318, on the north end of Lake Conroe. We serve Willis, Conroe, Montgomery, The Woodlands, Huntsville, and Spring. Call 936-727-3117. Our labor is warranted for life: if our work caused the failure, we cover it.