Thanks, GhettoVaquero... I was about to ask you how many miles you
have put on the truck since the leveling kit and new tires... and under what
conditions/driving style... but it occurs to me that perhaps six months is
a pretty short time to base one's conlusions on... If damage is to occur,
it will probably occur later, again based on how many miles you put on
it and how you drive it...

Common sense doesn't go a very long way when you have zero
practical experience about something. That's why I'd like to hear
more about your experience, guys.

Some of the feedback is bound to be a bit prejudiced, that's unavoidable,
especially when motivated by a certain amount of self-interest, whatever
that is. (I find it very praiseworthy when people search honestly for the truth
for its own sake.) But if enough people join in and share, the law of averages should tell more or less a more reliable story...

 

they don't call California the land of fruits and nuts for no reason ..you don't want a truck ...you want to write essays and argue with people...u need a Ford then

 

Well, if you install something inherently incompatible with your truck it will begin to cause it damage immediately. So the fact that in 6 months it runs and handles as well as it did before I made any changes I would say it is a good indicator of its function. Ask me 100K miles from now and who knows. The longer the time frame of your sample set the more likely you are going to get a wider variety of results. You want my experience and that is it. I am not JD Powers testing my set up 5 ways from Sunday so if the information I have given you is not good enough too bad.

As far as common sense goes, I find there are many things that I encounter on a daily basis that I have no practical experience with but in the end my common sense and judgment gets me through it. My set up is based on question I asked on this board very similar to yours and I got answers much like the 6 pages of responses you have here except I am sure my threads never got past the second page......

If your looking for members to write up a thesis on their set up you may be waiting for a long time. I am starting to agree with mr T but I think you need to check out those new Tundras.

 

Run 35" tires with 2" of lift, add some mild hp mods. You will have NO problems.

 

Don't get me wrong, please... I do appreciate your feedback very much...
besides, you have been one of those who have taken the time to really share
your experience here, so you have my heartfelt THANK YOU! for
your contribution... which I consider very valuable.

Not a tundra... I'm getting a Cummins!!!

I was just pointing out that maybe 6 months (depending on miles, you never
mentioned how many you put on the new setup...) might not be enough
time to see how things are gonna be in the long run... not big deal... that's
all I meant, buddy!

Thanks again...

Charles

P.S. By the way, when I said, in my previous post:

"Common sense doesn't go a very long way when you have zero
practical experience about something. That's why I'd like to hear
more about your experience, guys."

I didn't mean "you" referring to you, GV... I meant ME having
zero practical experience... Maybe that was the source of the
misunderstanding...

 

Thanks! summing up all the good advice about tires I've gotten
so far... for me it boils down to either what you just suggested,
OR to installing 33s either with or without the 2" leveling kit.

Someone told me that if I put on 35s with a leveling kit, I
should limit myself to 11.50s (going for 12.50s, they said,
I might or might not be getting the front tires brushing
during turns...)

Is that correct?

 

Yes, think tall and narrow.

 

Dang Luke S, you sound like my Dad!

 

char_ls,

Like most things in life, the key is moderation. A small lift with slightly larger tires won't turn your truck into an unreliable wreck. Will these modifications prove to be a detriment to your trucks longevity? Most certainly, but how much of a detriment? And is the trade-off between form and function worth it?

To answer my own questions I say it is worth it. And based on personal experience with a variety of lifted and lowered trucks, when performed without shortcuts taken the negative impact is minimized.

If one were to ask what I would do, I would respond with precisely what I did. I chose a combination of the best components available from the best sources and put together a performance suspension system. I expect to get tens of thousands of trouble free miles with my setup, assuming I don't brake something while putting the performance to the test.

 

You're scaring this guy. When you guys say these little mods will have long term reliability issues, you fail to mention that by the time such issues arise, it would be time for maintenance anyway. At the 7 year mark, you're going to have to go through the front end anyhow. And a 2" lift is hardly anything. In 10 years, your stock springs will sag enough to where the 2" lift spacers will negate the height lost due to sagging springs.

Charles, another thing you can do is do a bullet-proof lift with heavy duty parts such as Thuren fab. and you will never have to worry about it again. Or you can just upgrade when your factory parts wear out. You can spend a lifetime thinking about outcomes and never reach a solution. Or you can live it and share your experiences with others. Chances are if you do the latter, you won't regret it. You're going to spend $50k for the truck and accessories. What's another $1-2k in suspension repairs over 10 years (if they arise)? In the end, it doesn't matter whether Dodge, Chevy, or Ford made it, they're all man-made machines that will break down at a certain point in time. How long do you plan on keeping your truck? After 10 years you won't really care about it as much as you did when it was new anyway...

 

I agree with what you say about moderation...

And also with the rest of your post... What I've been asking for,
though, and not getting much of it, is specific numbers based
on practical experience.

For instance, something more or less like this:

"I lifted my truck x inches and added x" wheels and x" tires 5
years ago using specifically these parts and components: 'a,'
'b' and 'c.' It cost me x dollars to do so. The ride improved so
and so... However, I've also experienced the following problems,
deriving from the changes (...) I've put on the truck x miles/year
while driving the truck this way (...) and under these conditions (...)
During the past five years, these parts and components have
broken down/worn out (very probably in connection with the above
modifications): bla, bla, bla... I estimate based on experience that,
had I not done these mods, this is how long those parts would have
lasted: bla, bla, bla...
All considered, the total cost for adding those parts and the
repairs pertinent to running the truck with the above modifications
over a 5-year period has been: $x. Because of those changes, these
are the inconveniences, downtime, etc. I have experienced: (...)
The benefit of making the changes has been: bla, bla, bla... All
considered: it was worth it/it wasn't worth it to me."

That's the type of answers I was hoping to get here, which would
conclusively assess things in a much more useful way. So, gettting
general types of answers instead (which are not as useful because
they show personal opinion while not disclosing the specific hard
facts those opinions are based on - so, what's the use?), I've been
trying to dig deeper in my posts with my questions, to extract those
hard facts, the useful ones...

Other posters that did not understand my true intentions for doing
so, have ended up accusing me of being argumentative, a "novel
writer" and a "nut case..."

As a result, this thread has grown bigger and bigger, some of the
posters have said rather insulting things to me (which I have
absolutely no interest in engaging in - it's just a waste of time) and
we haven't yet gotten the specific answers it has been asking for...

 

Thanks wcbcruzer...

Can you get me a specific idea of what... "Change this, this and this... It will cost
you approx. this much..."

I think that's an excellent way to go about it...

Now, finally, we are beginning to talk! So, $2K in suspension repairs over a 10-year period, you say (assuming what, 350K miles total?) Definitively negligible and acceptable, if realistically assessed. But what kind of modifications is this assessment based upon? (e.g.: lifting the truck how
many inches with what parts...?)

 

char_ls, how's this:


"I lifted my truck 3" inches and added 17"x9" (with +18 mm offset and 5.71" backspacing - these are critical specifications to achieve a properly fitting wheel!) wheels and 325/70-17 (35") tires 1year ago using specifically these parts and components: coil springs, shock towers, track bar, and (4) King 2.5 remote reservoir shocks from Thuren Fabrication; and leaf springs, extended sway bar end links, and limit straps from Carli Suspension. It cost me roughly $3000 to do so. The ride improved dramatically, with the improvement most noticeable off road. On road manners are better than factory in all conditions. Bottoming is non-existant and speed bumps can be taken at speed. You really need to ride in a truck with these improvements to fully realize the benefit.

However, I've also experienced the following problems, deriving from the changes - NONE. I've put on the truck approximately 15,000 miles/year while driving the truck as a daily driver and towing up to 11,000 lbs (approximate) and really hammering the beast off road at high speeds. Though it doesn't see off road use on a daily basis, by no means is my truck a pavement queen.

During the past one year, these parts and components have broken down/worn out (very probably in connection with the above modifications): NONE. I estimate based on experience that, had I not done these mods, this is how long those parts would have lasted: N/A.

All considered, the total cost for adding those parts and the repairs pertinent to running the truck with the above modifications over a 1-year period has been: $3000. Because of those changes, these are the inconveniences, downtime, etc. I have experienced: 2 days (not consecutive) to have said components installed, and a drop in fuel economy of approximately 2 m.p.g. (90% street and 10% highway driving in traffic riddled Southern California).

The benefit of making the changes has been better than any other modification made to the vehicle. A true change for the better in all ways. All considered it was worth it to me and I recommend to anyone looking for performance suspension system or a small lift."

 

Pauly, that's simply FANTASTIC!!!

You just gave a complete picture based on plenty of solid data...

Exactly what I have been hoping for all along...

Now, if others would share their experiences here as thoroughly
as you did... it would be a magnificent way for those interested
in this topic to look at hard facts clearly pointing to the bottom line.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Charles

 

I did some calculations and things are not as rosy as they initially
seemed to be (after translating from metric into inches)...

Let me explain... It is normally assumed that the stock tires on a
2500 are 31". Now, when I thought that 33" tires could be added
to the truck, as it has been discussed in this thread, even without
the employment of a leveling kit... it all looked great! and worth it
the effort (and expense): a quick way of adding tires two full inches
taller that would look great on the truck and actually raise the truck's
height 1 full inch all around...

I checked all these measurements just to make sure.

Unfortunately, the stock tires on the 2500 are 265/70R17 and
therefore not 31" but 31.60"... When I looked at the options
available for new tires installable without a kit (33s), I was
pointed to 285/70R17s and 305/65R17s... When we really take
the time to measures these tires, we find that they are not
actually 33s, but 32.70" in reality... (32.70x11.22 in the case
of the 285/70R17s and 32.70x12.00 in the case of the
305/65R17s)... which means they are only 1.1" taller than the
stock ones, not 2"... So at this point I question whether it is worth
it at all to go through the trouble and expense of putting on the
new set when the gain is only about 1".

Unless there are other alternative tires I should look into that are
at least a full 2" taller than stock and that can still be safely put
on without modifying anything else... I would think it wise to give
up the idea of putting in a new set altogether... since doing it for
just a 1" gain, as I just said, doesn't really make too much sense
to me...

As Pauly pointed out in his last post, he attained great results
with a 3" lift and 35" tires, and that's great... But he attained
great results because he did it with good quality components,
which cost him about $3,000... which definitely I do not have
to spend at this time. Likely in the future, but not now...

Any constructive comments on this would be much appreciated.

I thought I'd share my findings here in the hope they can be
useful to others who have been considering this same type
of easy fix (swapping in "33s" in the place of the stock "31s"
- which is not at all what it seems to be...)

Charles