How hard is it to install a lift kit with a couple of friends? I'm getting a 6 inch SkyJacker and the local shop is charging $600 to install it, and I don't have that kind of money.  

on what?  

a few friends, some good tools, some general automotive/mechanical knowlwedge, and a solid day if you've not done one before. air tools, if ya got 'em. and several cans of PB Blaster(or WD40) if it's an old dirty truck. "yoo can doo eeet"!!!!  

Beg, buy, borrow or rent a air compressor and air tools. Air tools do wonders with rusted bolts and it is not just from torque but the vibration that these tools setup in bolts that helps break them loose and take them off/out.  

Me and one friend did it in a day and a half, my first lift. It was a 96 F150, from 80 to 96 all F150 suspinsions were pretty much the same if not exactly the same. Toughest part was the rivets on the frame, just used a cutoff wheel. Do it on solid level ground like concrete on asphalt. Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your truck and friends.  

I'm guessing the F1 in your avatar? Like these guys said, air tools, a few friends, a little automotive knowledge, and a weekend and you can do it. Bolt on lifts aren't that bad to install, just time consuming and at times frustrating (often caused by rusted or broken parts)  

you mean i'm not the only guy who breaks bolts, get's crap in the eyeballs, and throws tools across the shop?? huh.. i thought everybody did it just as slick and easy like the guys on TV. i thought it was just me that lays under a vehicle whaling on it with a huge hammer while telling the neighborhood about it's mother's dirty secrets, swearing on my children's lives i'll never own another one of these "stool samples".  

Nope, not just you... thats pretty much the norm... at least with everything I've worked on. lol  

It's better to break things in your drive way anyway.