Ask Rob About Cars 9-23-09

Question: I loved your article, despite that I fall into the category of the owner of a lifted truck.
I am looking into lowering my truck now, and was wondering if you had a price range I would be looking at. I didn't see any mention in the article.

Thanks so much!
Christina- Los Angeles

Answer: Christina, thank you for your question. To give a specific answer, one would need to know the year/make/model of your truck as well as how extensive (high) the lift is. Hopefully it isn't too high!

Your best bet to return to "stock" height from a cost standpoint is to contact shops that specialize in trucks and 4x4s. Lift kits are very common and it's rare for a lifted truck to be lowered back to the stock ride height unless for resale purposes. Therefore the original parts sit may very well be sitting unused. Also, contact the dealers of for the make of your truck in your area and ask who does their conversions as well. Find out if they have any of these original parts as well, commonly called "take-offs".

More good news is that the "take-offs" many times end up sitting around and heavily discounted. So instead of spending potentially thousands of dollars in brand-new OEM parts if you have a high lift, you might be able to get away spending a couple hundred dollars for the parts or potentially, pay nothing for the parts and just pay the labor!

It's also likely these "take-offs" are essentially brand new, having been taken off the truck within a few hundred miles or even less.

Got a question about cars you would like answered? Performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc? Ask me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!