nvirish

I am trying to decide which route to go to lift my truck fro my needs. It is a 06 3500 mega, I do not go offroading, and I somewhat regularly(every other week) tow 10k-12k. I am looking for a lift that will look good and give me a smoother ride. Ideally I would like a 3.5-4.5" lift and was thinking the best way for me might be to use some coil spacers in the front and 2" blocks in the rear. I would replace the shocks with bilstein 5100's in the corners and get an adjustable track bar and new sway bar end links. After looking at the tough country lift and searching through the forum I was wondering...do I also need longer control arms and a dropped pitman arm? I will be putting 35x12.5 underneath and don't want any rubbing at all.

To help out with towing I am thinking I will put helper bags in the rear with an onboard viair system.

Comments/suggestion???

pik

I started with a 2 inch leveling kit several years ago. Then wanted something a little bigger. I researched and found out that Superlift has different rated spring for pass and drivers side. The drivers' side spring is almost an inch taller due to the driver and fuel tank weight. I thought that was pretty cool. I went to Top Gun Customz and worked a deal with them. I purchased one other "their" kits with front control arms and lift block. Made sure that they were to give me Superlift springs and Bilstein 5100 shocks. It was around $1000. The kit came with all the hardware including drop pitman arm. I am very happy with the looks and performance of the kit. I had issues with death wobble before the lift; now I have not had one*knock on wood* time where it has reared its ugly head. I do have a rock crawler as well as a 30 ft camper and both tow well. My opinion is a 4-5 inch kit with 35's will give you the 'standout' looks your looking for without taking away from the practicality of using/towing with your truck. You got my opinion; take it for what it's worth. Good luck.

nvirish

My understanding is that any of the springs that came with the lift kits are going to be firmer than stock. If this is true then wouldn't the ride be "smoother" with the stock coils and spacers? As far as the lift kits go, would it be better to use the brackets that come with the kits (track bar drop down bracket and sway bar drop brackets) or go with an adjustable track bar and extended end links? My real question is do you need longer control arms and a dropped pitman arm for a 4" lift?

06megacabman

Just because aftermarket coils can be firmer than stock does not mean it won't ride "smoother". You have to keep in mind you are combining 5100's in combination with the coil and changing the overall geometery of the truck to some degree. Most "cheaper" kits contain the coil spacers.

I recommend going with updated springs with a minor change to firmness like the lorenz springs and believe you will be most happy with an adjustable track bar. The kit should come with spacers for the front sway bar thus not needing extended end links. Yes you need longer control arms and drop pitman if you want to have more ease of tire alignment.

pik

All I know is my combo is perfect. I had death wobble with leveling kit(spacer) before and I don't have it after going higher. Ride is much better than stock and did I mention no death wobble.
I am very happy with the looks and ride quality.

Here is my set up:
Superlift coils
Tuff Country upper/lower control arms
drop pitman arm
drop sway bar brackets
all other steering components are stock
lift blocks in the rear
Bilstein 5100's

Riverbound

I would stay away from spacers. Here is my thread I just started in regards to the suspension problems I have been fighting. Granted I went big and am running 37s.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/....html?t=255921

Skyd Ram

To answer your questions in the most basic form, here you go.....

Anything over 3 inches will require longer control arms, pitman arm, and a trackbar drop.

Using upgraded extended swaybar links is the better route than drop brackets since our stock links suck.

Depending on the width and backspace of your rims you shouldn't have a problem with running even if you dont lift it. A 3" lift would be perfect.

To get a better ride you will need better shocks like the Bilstein 5100's, taller progressive rate coils to replace the soft single rate factory coils, and replace the ultra stiff rear overload leaf with a progressive add a pack.