I found a great deal on EBAY for a TUFF COUNTRY 6" lift LINK

For about $1k or I can spend about $80 for the leveling kit. You obviously get new shocks and a 6" lift, but do I really need this. Cant decide if I should spend the $1k for this setup. I am looking to get my truck more of performance oriented and looks, NOT really off-road. I do like to have more clearance for snow banks, mud holes.....etc but not sure if 6" is even enough. Anything wrong with the TUFF COUNTRY 6" lift? I also want to STOP the Death Wobble, maybe I should get some shocks and just the 2" kit??? The 6" is going to look best w/ 37s but I know that, that will also start killing my performance?? Plus, I honestly dont see a big difference between the 2" leveling kit and the 6" lift:

2" Leveling kit:

CLICK THE LINK FOR THE PICTURE


6" Lift":

 

there's no way that 2nd pic is actually of a true 6"s of lift...below is a pic of 7"s in the front...and i can promise you there's a big difference between that and a leveling kit!



later, dustin

 

I personally don't like leveling kits, they take the truck out of the truck. Once leveled it will slouch like a chevy when you put any real load behind it.

Lifts are great when you need the ground clearance, but then you have to buy huge tires so that it doesn't look silly, and unless you already have 4.10 gears your going to start really spacing out the gears in your transmission which starts putting stress on things and killing your towing performance and fuel economy.

If all your after is looks, then I would suggest some real nice wheels and tires. Personally I think they make the biggest difference in looks, and they don't take away from the functionallity.

Just my opinion, I'm sure many will disagree....

 

Dang dude, I think you need a little more lift in the rear!! Talk about nose-up!
BTW, that Tuff Country truck has the 4" lift on it, not the 6".

If you do a leveling kit, do what I did and also do a 2" rear spacer. Makes the truck look great on 35s

 

So you're saying add the 2" leveling kit and the 2" rear blocks?

 

I definetly will be leaving the gears stock which I have 3.73, so whats the highest I should go for lift wise and the biggest tires I should go for? If I dont want to lose performance/MPG/handiling.....etc but want something slighlty bigger? maybe 33/12.5/17 and a 2" lift or maybe 35/12.5/17 and a 4"??

 

You can run 35/ 12.50/ 17 easily with just a 2" leveling spacer and nothing in the rear.

I'm 5'8" and any lift in the back after putting on 35's would really make the bed difficult to work out of.

You know ...............Dirt Bikes + Construction work + 39 yrs = Bad knees and back.

........Jim

 

I forgot about that actually, im 6ft tho but that still make it harder to get in there, like load up a snowmobile....etc

 

I have a six speed and 315s (almost 35s) and I lost between 1-2 mpg with the tires due to the fact that the tires are much larger and the gears are a bit more spaced out. I would say based on experience and what I have read that you can't go beyond 285s (about 33s) without dramatically changing the performace, ride, and economy of the truck.

That said, many put on bigger tires and are fine, but they probably don't expect the truck to tow like I do. I expect my truck to be able to pull 7-8k lbs though the mountains at speed.

If I had 4.10 gears I would be fine with my 315's but because I have 3.73 gears I'm going to go back to 285s this time around even if they are more money.

Take my comments with a grain of salt, many people love the big tires, but I'm one of the few that bought the hype and am now wishing I hadn't put such big tires on. They look cool, but they make the truck a bit harder for my girl/kids to climb into and they raise the bed too high to really load anything into it.

If you want it to look cool and aren't worried about those things then you'll be fine, but if you really want to put the truck to work then I think 285s are about as big as you want to go, at least with the 3.73 gears.

 

Thanks for the response, definetly something to consider. I even found some nice 295s

 

Someone mentioned snowmobile which is a major sickness of mine and one of the reasons why 315s are just too big. Take a look at my deck, that sled is almost 5 and a half feet in the air:



Loading can be very interesting....

 

I guessing your talking about the Nitto 295/70-17's? Those are a nice tire.

I've been banging my head over the same subject and pretty much decided on the 295/70-17 Nitto Terra Grapplers or 285/70-17 Toyo Open Country A/T on a set of powser coated H2 rims. I bought my truck to tow a large 5th wheel and don't want to do anything to make it work any harder than it has to. And like schu said, a nice set of rims and tires can really do wonders for the looks of a truck.

 

actually I found these bad boys!!!



Since I dont tow and pretty much drive around town to and from work, WHY NOT!!!

 

this is kind of a situation i'm in. i've got 35's with a fabtech lift and 3.73 gears. i don't really like that set up. i either need to go back to a smaller tire or put the 4.10 gears in. and if i go to the smaller tire how will it look with the lift. "oh jeese here we go again"

 

That tire really does look cool, but I wonder about wet traction, and how long it will last.

I like the toyos, and you can even buy them in an E rated tire: