Here is my ordeal...My truck has 8 inches of total lift. The front consists of a 5 inch superlift kit with a 3 inch spacer ontop of the coil. My control arms are too short, I need X-over steering, swaybar endlinks are bout shot, and the axle stits way too far back. I think in the very near future the spacer is coming out which should fix all of these problems for now. My rear end is even more ghetto...it features a nice double block and add-a-leaf setup. Rides like hell. One of the blocks will be comin out as well. Its sucks. I love the height it is now. Im going down to 35s too. You guys think I will get worse fuel econmomy with 35s? Right now I have 37s and my gears are 4.10s.

 

I have a 4.5" Tuff Country Lift and 35's. I also have the 4.10's. I have not really checked mileage yet since I put my lift on, but i would assume it would be better for you stepping down to 35's. 4.10's and 35's create a good cruisin ratio i think. Engine is not reving like crazy but its not lugging either. I think you will like it, as my truck drives and rides better now that it did stock.

 

A small loss in mileage would be worth it, the lift system you described is a recipie for dissaster, the kind of thing insurance companies love to see, you will be a better man for being safe.

 

Scrap that hokey lift ASAP. It may kill you.


4.10s and 35s are a great combo, as mentioned. Should put you right around 2K pm at 70mph.

You want some lift without ruining the truck? Keep total lift to less than 3". 2" is better.

I'd ditch the spacers up front in favor of custom longer coils from Coil Spring Specialties.

Out back, get a custom leaf pack from either Deaver Spring or National Spring.

Figure about $300 for the custom springs front or rear. ~$600 for both. Worth every penny, I've been told.



Do you tow?? If not, you can go with much lighter springs and get a lot better ride quality and more useful travel.

jh

 

That sounds WAY ghetto....I run 37's with 6" of lift, all coil. I turn 72 mph @ 2K rpms, with 4.10's. I'm averaging 17-18 MPG.

You could probably get away with ditching the spacer and extra block and still run the 37's, but I'd go with a 6" coil up front. The stupidlift radius arms aren't gonna cut it either, you'll need something longer. Even dropping 2" of ride height is gonna help the steering and track bar durability a bunch.

That AAL out back is killing you ride quality as well. Justin....you're a little off. CSS coils are about $300, but the Deaver leaf packs will run $700-800 a pair. They don't do production runs on Dodge springs. National might be cheaper, but I've heard some bad stuff about them in the last couple years. Atlas Spring might be a better bet, but I don't know what they cost. There's a couple Canadian spring outfits that do nice work as well (so I've heard) and they're reasonably priced.

I've had my current set up for about 30K now and everything has held up well. Haven't had to adjust or replace anything since I put it on (track bar, x-over steering, radius arms, shocks, etc). Haven't rotated the tires since I put them on last year, and they're wearing perfectly.

Justin is right about ruining the truck, going more than 2-3" with an off the shelf kit is asking for problems down the road. I had the 4.5" SJ kit on mine for 4 years....the first two years it was fine. I spent the next two years throwing money at it until I finally ripped it out altogether.

 

cowhand...how much are those DT radius arms like you have...and why is it offset from the factory mounting holes for the upper arm? i notice yours has some custom bracketry there in the pics.

when i get the money i'm going to make a lift liek cowhand did, and put the best components together.

 

Dick Cepeck also makes some really nice long arms, I know some guys that run them, and WOW can they flex. They do realy good on the road too! Its nice b/c you can buy just the long arm kit, not the hole suspention lift. If you want to clear 37's easy, and not spend alot of money, Yank out those coil spacers and block, and put on a 3in bodie lift, I'm running a 5inch lift now and getting ready to install a body lift. I belive i will be able to clear 38's.

 

Don't know exactly what David is asking for them, you'll have to call him and find out. I swung kind of a deal for test bedding the pre-production prototypes. The production version I'm running now is 10X better than the originals.

The brackets come with the radius arms. The original design placed the axle end upper link in the stock location, but that led to reduced articulation, increased stress on the mounting points, and poor triangulation. The current design uses beefier mounting points, and locating the axle end upper link outside the stock CA pocket allows for better articualtion and triangulation. Triangulation of the mounting points helps keep the axle centered under the truck (in addition to the track bar). The bracket on the axle end just captures the end of the pivot bolt to put it in double shear. Since the pics were taken I've thrown some fillet welds on the bracket to keep it solid.

End result is the ruck tracks better and the front end feels more "solid" than it ever had. No pops, bangs, sqeeks or any other nonsense now.

One of these days I need to get off my lazy backside and do the write up with pics.....

 

Just my luck a ran over a fat-*** nail today. The local tire shops said its too big to remove (LOL). Im pretty sure that Im going with ThurenFabs X-over steering and trac-bar. As for towing I havent yet but i fill the bed up w/ bikes. Im happy to see folks getting 17-18 mpg with 4.10s and 37s which is what i get. I like the Cepek control arms but I heard that they are super thin and cost $550! I will probably gets some fabbed up. Im also thinking of going to a 7 inch coil and a 2 inch spacer to be just a bit taller. What size spring should I run out back? 7"? May go with deavers. They are a bit more but I heard they cant be touched.