If you own a UTV, you already know how much fun you can have on the trails.
Now that you’ve gotten comfortable with riding, you might be curious if buying a UTV lift kit is right for you. Often, you look around and notice others already have a lift kit, so you might automatically think it’s right for you.
Before making that decision, read this complete UTV lift kit breakdown. From portal axles to bracket lifts, we will help you determine if the kit is right for you, what type to install and the benefits of everything available to you.
Let’s jump right in.
What Can a Lift Kit Do For Your UTV?
There are several reasons riders choose to install a lift kit on a UTV.
The first is to provide more ground clearance.
The second reason is to fit larger tires.
Finally, people install a lift kit just to look good.
Let’s face it; nothing makes you look more badass than a monster of a machine. It’s science, friends.
Whichever of these is your reason; you want to make sure you accomplish your goal and do it for a reasonable price, so let’s look at your options.
What UTV Lift Kits are Available?
You will find three basic lift kit types available. Each of them has its own purpose and advantages, so let’s look at each in-depth.
Spring spacer lift
This is the most basic way to lift your UTV. It’s an entry-level lift suited for most people. It includes four machined aluminum spacers. Each spacer is installed on a shock. There is no hardware, brackets or bolts to worry about.
To safely put on the spacer, you will want a spring compressor tool. With this equipment, you can install the components in just a couple hours, without help from anyone else.
Not only is it simple to install, but with this UTV lift kit your wallet won’t feel too much lighter after the purchase. If you need a budget-friendly option, it’s the best way to go. Just keep in mind; you aren’t going to raise your UTV more than an inch or two with this method. Then again, that extra inch can matter when it comes to clearing obstacles.
Lift height: One to two inches
Tire size: Might be able to go up an inch in diameter
Coolness factor: Looks better than nothing, but it won’t attract too much attention
Price: $20 - $80 USD
Bracket lifts
The most common way to lift a UTV is with the help of a bracket lift. You can find these in small and big variations (which we will discuss more in a little bit).
The benefit of this type of lift is the number of options you have. Companies literally fight over one another to build the best bracket lift on the market. This means you have a lot of choices and aren’t confined to a “one size fits all” mentality.
Bracket lifts move the shock mounting points. This extends your shocks and pushes the trailing arms or A-arms down to give a further lift. The lift is built with welded steel plates which fit around the factory shock mounting points to move them.
Typically, this UTV lift kit is installed at the upper shock mounting point, but there are times when it’s appropriate to do it at the lower point or A-arm instead.
One thing to consider is that the installation will take more time than with spacers. You will want to set aside an entire weekend to get the job done right, especially if you are installing a big bracket kit. It might go faster if you have an experienced friend helping you out.
Bracket lifts cost more, too, but in most cases they are worth it.
Small Bracket vs. Big Bracket Lift Kits
If you’re willing to invest the money in a bracket lift, your next decision will be whether you want a small or big bracket lift kit.
The small lifts are typically two to four inches while the big measure five to ten inches. Let’s evaluate the other differences between the two.
Small bracket lifts
The small bracket lift comes with the brackets for your front and rear suspension. They are the least complicated option of the two. It’s considered another entry level option and you might be able to install it within a couple of hours.
With a small bracket lift, you will notice a considerable difference in handling. Your lifted UTV will roll over all types of terrain and obstacles with ease.
Lift height: Up to four inches
Tire size: Plan to upgrade two to three inches with your four-inch lift.
Coolness factor: This is the look that made you want to get a lift kit in the first place. With the increased clearance and tire size, plan to gain some attention on the trail.
Price: $200 to $500 USD
Big bracket lifts
This UTV lift kit is more in-depth and requires new brake lines, tie rods, axles, A-arms, radius arms and trailing arms. In other words, it isn’t for the faint of heart - you will probably need a shop to install this for you.
Sometimes, the kit comes with longer shocks and new springs which take away your need for the brackets themselves. Either way, any reputable kit is going to come with everything needed to complete the job. This should also include a steering stop kit so you don’t bind the axles.
You can often resell some of your stock parts to get some money back, but there is no avoiding how much a big bracket UTV lift kit costs. Of course, the attention you get will match that.
Lift height: Expect up to ten inches of lift. There’s nothing you can’t clear with this.
Tire size: Your machine is the only thing holding you back.
Coolness factor: Everyone will notice you, especially if you need a ladder to get inside.
Price: $1,000+ USD
Things to Consider Before Buying a Big UTV Lift Kit
Before we move any further, we have to warn you about several aspects of a big lift kit. Truth be told, we all think it’s pretty awesome to have a lifted UTV, but at what cost? If you want to go all out on your ride, make sure you take all of these aspects into consideration first.
1. You will need to increase your tire size.
This isn’t a shocker to you. In fact, it’s probably one of the reasons you want a lift kit in the first place.
With bigger tires, you can gain more leverage and ground clearance to get over those rocks. The trouble is that larger tires also lower your torque and increase your weight.
They might also make your speedometer inaccurate or make your machine too wide for certain trails or obstacles.
Mechanically, you want to make sure that the drivetrain is ready to accommodate this stress. You could consider a gear reduction kit or stronger axles to reduce the burden if the tire size increase is massive.
2. You might need a gear reduction kit.
Another side effect of a UTV lift kit is a decrease in handling sharpness, not only from raising your UTV’s center of gravity, but from changing everything about how the factory calibrated its suspension.
Not much can be done about cornering and weight balance on a lifted UTV besides picking a good set of tires and adjusting suspension settings correctly, but there is a way to regain the torque lost to those big, heavy tires.
With the gear reduction kit, you can gain some of the torque back that was lost when you installed larger tires. Your UTV will become more powerful and responsive, just like when it had smaller tires.
This kit is installed inside the transmission and instantly creates a torque boost. It’s a must-have for anyone using a big bracket lift.
3. Do you have the money to dump into this?
We hate to bring it up, but it’s something to consider. You might spend more on accomplishing the lift than you do on the UTV in the first place. It’s easy to buy part of a kit and not realize what you’ve gotten yourself into, and we’re speaking from experience here.
UTV lift kits put added stress on axles, differentials, and any related parts that are left stock. They are also more expensive to repair when something breaks than stock suspension would be.
Is it really worth it to you? If so, great…move forward. If not, you might want to consider dumping your money into something else.
However, if money is no object and you want the best possible solution, here it is:
What About Portal Axles?
A portal gear lift kit is basically a set of gears that attach near your UTV’s hub. The kit lifts not only your chassis height, but also your axles as well. Your axles connect to the kit, the gearset in the kit drops down to the hub, and voila - you have way more functional clearance than you began with.
A portal axle kit comes with gear reduction constructed into the lift. This reduces your need for buying a gear reduction kit after adding bigger tires. Portals won’t put additional stress on the axles either because the reduction is in the hub instead of the transmission and axle angles remain stock.
You can find portals for four, six or eight-inch lifts. To accomplish the lift, you need to replace your OEM hubs with the four hubs included in the kit. Each of them features an input where the axle’s outer end goes in. Then, there’s an output shaft to attach your wheel. This is where you’ll find the gears that supply gear reduction for increased torque.
You might have a hard time doing this install yourself unless you have serious mechanical experience. To get the job done, you will need to install four hubs, brackets, steering arms and new brake lines. While it doesn’t seem like a complicated job on paper, you will want to use a buddy to accomplish it quicker or have a shop do it for you.
Because the entire driveline is lifted up, portals can clear obstacles that other lift kits cannot. Another benefit to this route is that all your stock tie-rods, axles, A-arms and trailing arms are left alone. The geometry of your suspension remains unchanged.
You gain the ability to tackle anything with the added performance boost. That’s also why portals are more expensive than your average lift kit.
Combine a portal axle kit with other methods from this guide to achieve a truly insane lift - the sky is truly the limit.
Lift height: Up to eight inches
Tire size: Plan on adding two to six inches, plus the gear reduction kit is built in
Coolness factor: Monster tires combined with mind-blowing engineering is enough to draw serious attention.
Price: $3,000+ USD
Are you ready to lift that UTV?
By now you should have gained enough information to determine which lift kit is right for you. Don’t wait another minute; get out there and get the job done. You are just steps away from additional ground clearance, riding high and getting the attention you deserve.
Our only advice would be to buy the highest quality kit you can afford. We’ve seen way too many people break down on a trail because an axle snapped or a spring spacer caused other parts to be out of alignment. Triple check everything to make sure nothing is rubbing, hitting, or colliding after your install is complete.
Leave us a comment and let us know what you plan to do with your ride. We want to hear about your UTV lift kit and the experience.
About the Author
Brian Jones is an ASE Certified Master Tech that lives outside of Dallas, TX with his wife and children. He has a passion for old muscle cars, big pickup trucks and anything motorsport related. In his spare time, he does a lot of traveling and writing for dealerships across the country through CarBlogWriters.com.