Looks good! No pics here but my truck will drag around the skidsteer for work just as good as it did stock, just need a bigger drop hitch Only thing I don't like is I can no longer tow my 5th wheel, but problem solved by selling it for a bumper pull

My only really complaint about lifting my truck is weight. By the lift, tires, and upcoming mods new front and rear bumpers and slip tank, sure isn't going to be much weight left to tow with

I think a leveled truck looks the best by far, and adding airbags so it sits level all the time is the best.

Here's my only pic with a load on since the lift

 

You guys can put whatever size tires you want on your trucks but you can't honestly deny the laws of physics and say that it tows just as good with 35-37 as it did with 265s.....maybe you've settled into it and don't notice the difference or maybe you like the looks of it so much that you dont want to notice the difference but i assure you, its different.

 

I`m not sure anyone is saying a truck w/ 35-37s tows the same as stock...but it can be done , as shown in the pics.

Also , if you add power , tranny , exh. brake , etc... a truck on larger tires could very well tow better than stock

 

exactly and you look at a guy like me with a dually im now running 12.50s in the rear with a 2 inch spacer my footprint is now about 8 inches wider ive yet to feal this thing wonder on me

 

I think my truck feel a lot safer towing with 35s than it did with the little stock tires on it. I've got mine set up just right and it tows awesome. 2" leveling kit in the front, and airbags in the rear to get it back up, along with 35/12.50s and it feels a lot more stable than stock. I prefer towing with a bigger, wider footprint. Now any bigger than 35s and I dono, because itd be hard to tow a gooseneck, and I hate bumper pulls. But 35s are perfect imo

Not a very good pic but its the only one on my computer right now

 

 

Well if you want to dispute the laws of physics then go ahead. Maybe centuries of engineers and physicists have been wrong. Keep in mind that these are the same guys that design your trucks. Sometimes "feel" and "reality" aren't the same.

I just can't see myself ever dropping $3k on a transmission, an extra $1k on that size tire, $1k for a programmer, $2k for a lift kit, air bags etc......just to bring me back to stock performance with bigger tires. Of course if you guys are doing it to make your truck more powerful and faster accelerating, then by all means do it. I like the power but i have something a bit faster than a diesel truck in the garage so i dont plan on spending my money on it.

 

I gues as the old saying goes if you hafto ask you wouldnt understand

i lifted mine to go off road tho i am to buisy these days and the programer was wen it was a stock truck for better mpg and the tranny came cause i blew the stocker haha (if its broke time to upgrade)

 

Umm..i didn't ask anything. Spent money on a transmission is spent money regardless.

 

i know you didnt but your saying you dont understand why some of us do this to our truck. So that saying aplies ya know. Iether way just wanted to see some pics thats why i posted this not to argue about why its unsafe or whatever.

 

I am all for lifted trucks. I did it when I purchased my 04 new. They have their place and purpose in life. But my needs changed, and towing heavy with a lifted truck IS NOT THE SAME as without the lift. Having a BSME I understand some of the forces at work here. Lifted and unlifted trucks are like apples and oranges. Some people like apples....some prefer oranges. They are both editable though!

Either way no one can say a lifted truck pulls BETTER then an unlifted truck --- period. Put more meat between the rim and road with larger size tires you get sidewall flex. Raise the CG of vehicle and she'll want to lean more on turns. Some laws of physics are here to stay and effect everyone's truck equally. You can, however, beef up parts to help try and compensate for them and I think that is what most are trying to say here.

One thing people need to understand though is if you hurt someone as a result of you modifying your truck from what the engineers at DC deemed as safe and capable of pulling X number of pounds a good lawyer will tear you a new one. Is it worth losing your house, wife and kids not to mention having to live with the fact that someone may be dead as a result of your back-yard engineering efforts???? To each there own....

 

i agree except your backyard engineering coment people get in accidents lifted or not lifted dropped or not dropped it just another excuse for some low life to get a free ride. I ahve driven lifted trucks for years and the only accident i ever had was in a stock 6 cylinder dodge 1/2 ton.

And as far as saying OEM is the best NOT TRUE you can do things with aftermarket parts DC never dreamd of take our transmitions. stronger u joints better shocks better tires all kinds of things fact is DC cuts some corners just to save money and keep cost down....

 

Its not cutting corners. I, too, have a BSME as well as a BS in physics. The main goal of engineering a transmission is to build it strong enough to handle the load it will encounter. Not to say there aren't some lemons in the bunch, and i'm not talking about the 46RE's here because they did have flaws, yet were very fixable if someone knew what they were doing....... but the 48REs have been built well enough to withstand a little more than 600 ft-lbs, NOT 900 ft-lbs. For dodge to build a transmission to handle 900 ft-lbs is overengineering and expensive. Its a business like everything else is a business. If you painted houses for a living would you put an extra coat of paint on if one coat covered it all? you wouldnt because it would cost you money. I bet the guys that build up beefier transmissons are also very happy that dodge doesnt put a transmission in a truck that can hold 1000 ft lbs. Aftermarket and replacement parts employ thousands of people in this country.

For someone to think that all aftermarket parts are better needs to do some research. There are many aftermarket parts that are in fact better. There are also some that are pure junk.

 

Just one thing some might be overlooking is that usually when people go to a lift and larger tires, they go with wider rims and/or rims with less backspacing.

This widens the track and enhances stability. This probably gives many a feeling that it tows better.

Also, these engines have plenty of power to turn big tires. Its not like putting 35s on an engine that only has 200 ft lbs of torque and really feels the extra resistance.

I have 35s and a small lift on my truck because I drive some forest service roads (for hunting, camping, snowmobiling, 4wheeling, etc) were ground clearance is nice or sometimes required. In Montana I drive in a lot of snow and nothing sucks worse then getting stuck in the snowmobiling parking lot or the road (MT does a terrible job keeping roads clear). I see a lot of stuck trucks with small crappy stock tires. That is just unacceptable to me.

Try pulling a 25 ft enclosed snowmobile trailer that weighs 6k through a foot of snow with stock Michelins. Good luck!

Also, I only tow 2000 lbs most of the time and maybe up to 6000 lbs once in a while, so I am willing to give up some performance for not getting stuck.

ALSO, THERE IS NO DEBATING A LIFT AND 35s LOOKS A WHOLE LOT BETTER

For were I live and what I do with my truck, I cannot even fathom having two wheel drive. Having small stock highway tires is not too far behind 2wd in my book.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I guess I’m playing both sides of the fence here. I like lifted trucks so therefore I like aftermarket parts. There are some that are junk and some WILL improve the overall performance of a vehicle. I am not disputing that. However, improperly mixing aftermarket parts can give you a truck WORSE in performance and possible an unsafe truck depending how you use it. An unsafe truck is where a lawyer can get you…if found to be at fault in an accident or injury. I personally despise lawyers. They are on the bottom of the food chain in my book. But like flies and mosquitoes they serve a purpose.

For example. This thread is about towing with lifted trucks. Well….lifted trucks usually come with larger diameter tires. When our trucks were designed an engineer took the GVW and designed a caliper with sufficient clamping force and a rotor with the proper diameter and surface area to stop the truck within a certain ‘acceptable’ distance. They also offer a maximum towing capacity mostly dictated by the ability of stopping this added mass within a safe distance. I know…other factors come into play like hitch capacity etc. but those can be bumped up to meet a specific target towing capacity.

Now upgrading nothing more than tire size you have effecting increased the torque created by the weight of the vehicle moving forward turning the 4 tires. To stop the vehicle you’ll have to overcome this HIGHER torque with the brakes. Well…since the brakes haven’t been upgraded (and almost no one upgrades their brakes when doing a lift kit) you have lowered your stopping ability and INCREASED your stopping distance. I know there are other variables like difference in coefficient of friction between tires and roadway by using a different width or style tire, but those can be almost neglected here. The bottom line is the increased distance to stop the vehicle is X distance MORE than stock. Add a 10k# trailer with poor trailer brakes and....well....I hope you see my point.

A lawyer…with this information….can use this in court saying if the defendant hadn’t modified the vehicle from its original design the vehicle could have been stopped in time to avoid my client and/or even avoided the accident by turning sharply if his CG wasn’t so high. Blah Blah Blah….

Lawyers have field days with STOCK trucks that were either improperly designed at the factory to meet certain criteria. Remember the Suzuki Samurai that tips over? The rear tire blowing up on Ford Explorers? Imagine what they could do with a modified truck!?!?!?!?

I read there was a guy who was towing a large trailer. He was over this GVW by just a few hundred pounds. He was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and doing time for killing a women who cut in front of her on the highway all because he was over his GCVWR. If this story is true…who knows I read it on the internet 3rd person.

My point is use common sense, be careful and DON”T BELIEVE EVERYTHING these manufacturers say that their product can do for us. They are out for one thing – increased sales & revenue. Most even come with disclaimers about safety and warranty. Why do you think that??? When you modify a stock truck you not only become your own warranty station you also become your own legal advice station.

What was this thread about again!?!?!?