No one NEEDS a lift kit unless they go monster mudding, or rock crawling. I will bet that out of the millions of lift kits sold every year, only 10% NEED one. Most all do it for looks. And then do bigger tires. OR they do it solely to fit the bigger tires which are also mostly done for looks.

I have done it too. All of us probably have.

I am also willing to bet, since I have seen and done it that almost everyone who goes to bigger tires doesn't NEED them either. Unless they live on a ranch, or something like that.

Even at that, you can go to wider tires, or a better tire than a street design and never need to go taller, but taller tires look cooler so there we are again.

If you do decide to go taller tires, remember this, it changes your final drive gear ratio....a LOT. So much so your truck looses power, and mileage. You NEED to re-gear if you go as tall, or taller than a few inches over stock in diameter. If you don't you have the two aforementioned problems. Plus the whole speedo deal. Expect to go to at least a couple steps higher gear ratio (from like 355s to 4:11s at least) if you go a few inches taller on tires. And if you go taller, bigger gears as well.

Now onto lift kits. IF you do a lift without tires, and you don't go crazy, say in the 2 to 4in category, you MIGHT not have to do anything else. I am talking about a SUSPENSION lift. Most that are 2~4in just have springs, or front springs and a set of blocks for the rear. I personally like an all spring lift so new springs for front and rear. If you go taller, many things have to be taken into consideration, like drive angles and drop pitman arms and other things. So, consider this in your budget as well. If budget is light, consider a 4in or less and a body lift with it.

Personally, if I NEEDED taller tires and a lift as a result, I would go no taller (on these older Dodges) than 4in with a 31 10.5, otherwise you start getting into gears, and other problems and asking here why your truck is so slow, and you gas mileage went to crap.

I have personally been to places or further in a stock truck or one that has a small lift and slightly bigger tires as those with a huge lift and way bigger tires.

 

Preach it, brutha!

 

I KNOW! This should be a sticky.....

 

This all being said, I still want to lift my rig.

 

Yeah me too. LOL!

 

I love it when people lift their trucks 8 inches and still have stock axles and open diffs with 37s, and then I zoom by them in a snow storm because my 9" wide tires sink straight to the pavement.

Don't forget protection too! Just ask my transmission pan! And I have a 2 wheel drive, for Pete's sake. Ground clearance is no substitute for skid plates. And in my case, stupidity and bravery aren't a substitute for ground clearance or skid plates either!

 

I'm thinking the trans. pan in my 76 had that little issue as well. That's why I want to bring it up two inches. lol

 

I definitely agree with you that I could most likely get by without the mods, as could most owners that are not actively rock crawling or heavy trail running. But I like the looks of a lifted truck, and always wanted to set one up, and this truck was a good opportunity to do so. I've been pretty pleased with the lift I put on my '93 W150 so far. I definitely did not need it, but there will be times where it will come in handy when running the river bottoms when the backwater gets out. I've found that you're also right about how much is involved when one starts modding a truck with lifts and wheel/tire changes. There is a lot to consider, and if you want to lift and put taller wheels/tires, check out the information in many threads here, and at other boards like RCC, especially build threads. When one ups the size of wheels and tires up over 31" and your stock axles are taller than 4.11's it's not just a loss of power and mileage to consider. All of the new weight/size in wheels and tires with those stock axles have impact on the drivetrain, and then one needs to really consider the effect these changes have on braking. Handling and steering is another area to be looking at also, and while I've upgraded to a new Borgeson steering shaft and put on a new steering gear box and will be doing new tie rod ends, the lift has definitely affected the steering, handling, and ride of this truck. Even with crossover steering, I don't know that this truck will ever handle as good as it would with a Borgeson at stock height.

I decided to take my time with all of this. I already had 31 x 10.5's on the stock suspension, and will stay with them after the 4" suspension lift I did, for now. I want 35's on the truck eventually, but have more work to do first. At some point this winter, I will likely upgrade the brakes with hydro boost off a newer, diesel Ram. This was suggested to me on this board as one of the best bang-for-the-buck upgrades to the truck's braking system. My stock axles are a D44/9.25 combo with 3.55 gears, not a good combo for running that tall a tire/wheel combo. I'd rather find a pair of D60's or something similar, with at least 4.10's and preferably 4.56's, or mod a set that I find, instead of modding the current setup. I also want to convert to crossover steering at some point. With a 4" lift, the angles are not severe enough to cause drive shaft issues that I can see, but the front axle angle change affected the length between the steering arm and pitman arm connections, and with the 4" drop pitman arm, the stock drag length is now too long. I ordered an adjustable drag length from the lift manufacturer for this kit to compensate. Guess what? It was too long at its shortest length also, and even after having it shortened from both sides, it is still a bit too long, so the steering wheel is not centered.

Definitely agree on doing a full suspension lift instead of a body lift, and everything I've read says never use blocks on the front axle if the truck is used on the road. Lots of suspension options. I thought I'd researched plenty when I bought my stuff (Skyjacker), but after finding a couple more Ram boards, I wish I had researched further. I like how tall this truck sits with the 4" system, but I honestly would have been great with a 2" system.

 

Dunno too much about lift kits but it seems to me that a lot of trucks that are really jacked up nowadays don't really have any more clearance under the dif's than I do with my stock size tires... I've thought about running 31x 10.5s but I really don't do much offroading at all so I figured.. I could justify running the wrangler territory's but not the price increase to get bigger ones. Anyways the thing that drives me nutty with the lift kits is I live an hour from the mountains.. do these guys realize how tippy a truck can be on a sidehill when its set up like that. do they realize everyone knows they never go offroad. my nasty little tires will take my truck pretty much anywhere i need it to go

all that being said.... skid plates sound nice where the heck does a guy find skid plates for a thirty year old truck

 

I'm thinking somewhere between the 1/8" plate and the 6013 rods. Lol

So what size tires does a stock 4x4 1/2 ton come with? 235/75r15? I know my truck came with 7.5-16s, which should work out to 31 inch. The 235/85r16s and 265/75r16s that modern me chooses to use come out to about 31.7".