I'm just looking for some examples if its been done. I traded my 1500 because everyone said I needed stronger axles cuz I wanted to run a 38+ size tire on 10" wide rim. Always wanted to. My max would be a 40.

ANYWHO, has anybody got any pics on a 3rd Gen? Or has anybody done it?

 

Here
40"s with 22" wheels...

 

Yeah, and he has also told others to not try and stuff that big of a tire on that little of a lift. He had to do a buttload of fender cutting to make those tires fit. Even running wide 38's is going to be pushing it for that lift.
Plus, the lift he has SUCKS. At least get the BDS if you go with a pre fabbed 6 inch lift.

 

I'm listening to you DJ. I'm quite interested in the kelderman long arms from their 6" kit. Have you looked at those? Kind of like superswampers setup and then the hub kit you mentioned to keep the driveshaft from spinning.

 

I have exactly ZERO experience with Kelderman, I know a lot of show trucks run their lifts so I have never had any interest in them. The BDS 6 inch long arm lift is a tried and true design that they copied off of Skyjacker, so you know it will work. It looks like if you go above 6 inches, you have to index the transfer case or get a high angle driveshaft, but if you get a high angle CV, it will vibrate more than likely. At least, in my experience with them, they do. And if you don't get the Dynatrac manual hub conversion kit, you'll be hating life everytime you get above 15 mph and that driveshaft shakes the hell out of you and your truck.
I think I said it on PS.com, but if you want 38x15's, you need to either run a 6 inch lift and cut the fenders, or get into some custom stuff.
When I ran 38x15.50 swamper SSR's on my 01 1/2 ton, I had to have 10 inches of lift total. 3/4 and 1 tons sit about 2 inches higher, but to clear those wide 38's, you need more than 6 inches of lift. I'm STUFFING my 37x12.50's on 10 inch wide rims with a 4.5 inch lift. They rubbed my front bumper and air dam so I had to bust out the Sawzall and remove a good chunk of material to open it up enough for me to be satisfied. I'm still rubbing on the fender flares on occasion and it pisses me off.

Like I said, you should really, really, really consider a 37x12.50 and a 6 inch lift... but I am not going to tell you what to do. I think you would be happier with a meaty 37 than a 38x15.50 that limits your truck's turning ability. You can get SSR's in a 10 ply for a 17 inch wheel and I know you would love them. Plus, the extra 1/2 inch of ground clearance a 38 will give over a 37 is not worth the headaches. BUT, like I said, I am not going to tell you what to do.

To clear 38's, I would say get the BDS 6 inch... have the arms extended a little if you want to, put some 2 or 3 inch spacers on top of those coils, get a new leaf pack for the rear to compensate for that additional lift (if you run a 2 inch spacer on top of the coil, the truck may sit level just like that... with 3 inches, you'll need to lift the rear more definitely). Longer shocks, indexing ring for the transfer case, notch out the crossmember and run a high angle driveshaft. If you go with a high angle CV, make sure it can operate at 20 to 25 degrees without any vibrations. Then get the Dynatrac manual hub conversion so that the driveshaft doesn't spin all the time. The reason for balancing the driveshaft is so that you can drive in 4wd on the highway in snow or whatever.
For steering, you can probably use the 6 inch steering setup... if the pitman arm that comes with the BDS lift isn't anything different from what Skyjacker uses in their 4.5 inch kit, then get ahold of Skyjacker and order an extreme drop pitman arm for a 2002 pickup. They all use the same sector shaft so you can use the 7 inch drop pitman arm on your truck. Get ahold of Don Thuren and order his track bar and appropriate drop for your lift, you want the drag link and track bar parallel or you'll have bumpsteer. Drop the sway bar brackets, or just have some longer sway bar links made. I would go with longer links because dropping the sway bar is kinda lame in my opinion. Or just lose the sway bar totally if your shocks and springs are stiff enough. I tried it and didn't like it, but that was because I pull trailers and my tires were rubbing even worse at that time.

I think that covers everything. Ask me anytime you have a question. I am not sure if the BDS arms are adjustable or not, you may have to cut them at one end and then weld in a threaded insert and use a long-threaded heim to extend the arms. I would extend them an inch. It doesn't sound like much but it helps tremendously when you exceed the lift that the arms were designed for. Proper axle placement is very important in the way your truck reacts on the road and how it feels to you while driving.

Once your stock steering wears out, get ahold of Don Thuren again and order his crossover steering kit. It uses heims everywhere and is total beef, you'll never have to worry about it again except maybe replacing some heims after many, many miles.

Oh, and of course, consider regearing for those tires. I am happy with my 3.73's and 37's but 37's are light compared to wide 38's. And I have a few performance upgrades to compensate. If you don't hop up the powerplant quite a bit, get some 4.10 or 4.56 gears (if available) for your axles. I'm not sure what your truck is so I don't know if you have an auto, manual, and therefore what axles you have.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

 

One of my buddies is running a 6" lift and he rubs the snot out of his 37x14.50's on 17x10" wheels even after cutting the front bumper, inner fender cover, and beating in the cab side of the fender.

 

I've got an '06 manual tranny.

I'm more worried about a quality non-bumpsteer non-deathwobble setup than I am about fender trimming. I have a buddy who owns a customizing shop who can roll steel like its nothing, so trimming the fenders and making it look good is not an issue. I knew I would probably trim the fenders when I bought the truck. Its just metal. LOL. Yeah, I'm knuts.

Thanks for all the info. Are we missing anything?

 

Where can I find the dynatrac manual hub conversion?

Dynatrac’s Dodge Hub Conversion Kit is the perfect answer to 1994 to 1999 Dodge 2500 owners who need greater bearing and axle shaft strength in their Dana 60 front end. The kit, which comes in 3 stages, replaces the OEM live spindle/ hub assembly with a Heavy Duty, Dana 70 fixed spindle and hub unit designed for the loads and stresses of large tires and heavy trucks. Stage II and Stage III kits also upgrade the inner axle shafts for hardcore off road use.

Do they have one to fit the 3rd Gens?

 

I know kelderman has an indexing ring, anybody else make one for the 05-06's?

 

Pull U 2,

What rims are you running and what's the backspacing?

 

I agree with what DJ said about the size of the tires. Stick to a 37 with a 12.5 wide tread. You are going to lose a lot of steering ability and wear out ball joints fast. I have friends who have lifted powerstrokes from the day they were brand new and right now they are mad because everything in their front end is wore out from enormous tires.

I am running 35x12.50x17 Pro Comp mud terrains with no lift and it only rubs my mud-flaps on the inside of the fender.

Superlift has an indexing ring I think. We need DC long arms for the 3g's.

 

Oh, I bet we can arrange to have some dual long arms made for the 3rd gens...
Just made a phone call and will be working on this soon.

Track bars, crossover steering, and long arms OH MY!!

 

That's why, they are tucked up in there real good. Most 8 and 10 inch wide wheels have 4.5 inches of backspacing. The only rub I ever see is from the outside of the tire barely hitting the air dam or fender flare. If I had wheels that were inside the wheel wells as much as that, there would be no rub at all.

That's like running 315's on stock wheels and no problems... but run an aftermarket wheel and they'll rub like hell until you put a 2 inch coil spacer on there. It's all in the backspacing.