I would definately replace the springs, which provide maybe an inch of lift, if that, but go with the mini-pack. For your use the full pack will be a waste.

No, changing spring packs won't make it ride rougher, it will make it ride smoother. Same thing goes for the coil springs up front. What you want to do is swap the stiff factory springs for softer springs, both front and rear, and ditch the mushy factory shocks for a more aggressively valved replacement.

What the factory does is use stiff springs so the truck can handle the weight of the loads we put on them, then attempt to soften the ride by using shocks that have virtually no compression damping. So on the highway and over small bumps and things if appears to ride well. But the moment you hit a larger bump the shocks can't control the springs motion and the truck starts bottoming and bucking and all kinds of things. Most off-the-shelf-kits (Superlift, etc.) pretty much follow the same tuning philosophy.

Serious tuners like Don Thuren, Sage Carli, etc. go the other way. They use a much softer spring with more damping in the shock. So around town and over small bumps the ride is roughly the same as stock. But hit that big bump and its a night and day difference in ride. What you use to have to cruise over at 15-20 mph can now be hit at 50 mph, and I'm not exaggerating.

 

Doesn't Walker Evans offer a wheel closest to our stock backspacing? I know they are pricey but they look great and are reportedly strong.

 

Not sure. They were out of my price range so I didn't check.

 

Yeah,I think they're about $350 ea. KORE and DRC used to push them. Great looking wheel.

 

Yeah, those wheels scream offroad racing. I love 'em, but the 17x8.5 cost $325 each! Add $50 each for full polishing and $15 each for simulated lock rings.

I just checked and you can get up to 5" of backspacing, so on an 8.5" wide wheel they'll stick out 1/2" more than the H2s. If you run glass fenders these would be the shizzle!

 

Yeah, I'm looking for 18x9 with 6 inch backspacing