hello all,
i have 31's on my dakota 4x4 with the front leveled. the torsion bars are only partially cranked. my question is, to fit 33's without rubbing what is involved in shaving out the front wheel wells so they dont rub? i want it to look clean but i have no idea what to use to shave them out. also, if i crank my torsion bars CLOSE to maxed out, will it hurt anything? cuz i know they need some room to twist and i want my truck to sit high enough without buying a whole $1k suspension kit

thanks

 

If you crank them too high, the front A-arms will be close to resting on the bump stops. You'll have very little downward travel. With IFS (Independent Front Suspension), the only proper way to lift it is to relocate the A-arms. Remember you also have that CV joint in there also -- the angle can't get too sharp. That's one reason the A-arms are allowed to droop only so low.

Mine's a 2WD with a 3" body lift with 32x11.50 tires. It would occassionally rub on the VERY inner and lower lip of the front fender...only in reverse and only when the wheel was turned just so. I trimmed about .5" off that lower lip (just the plastic) with aircraft snips and all is well. I'd have to get more creative if I had 33s, but mine's a 2WD also, so it doesn't sit quite the same as yours.

 

okay, because right now my torsion bars are about halfway cranked, if that. i know body lifts are not too much, are they hard to install? i was thinking of doing a add a leaf kit in the rear which would add about 1 1/2" with rancho shocks and then new shocks up front with a little more crank to the bars but i dont want to crank them too much as you were saying. i just hate the look of the front being lower. i could go with 32" good years with no body lift also. i will have to see how much room i have to play with as far as torsion bar adjustment

 

I would measure where your front suspension is relative to the two bump stops (upper and lower). This tells you how much travel is available in your suspension. When you start adjusting the torsion bars to raise the front, the front control arms are in more of a "drooped" position than they're designed to be. The upper control arm has a bump stop on the bottom of it, and this will contact the frame when the arm drops too low. With the torsion bars adjusted, this bump stop is now closer to the frame than it originally was. Probably no big deal, but that's your indicator of how far you can go. The more you adjust the torsion bars and lift the front, the closer this bump stop comes to contacting the frame, and you lose suspension down travel the further you go. You may be able to replace this bump stop with a shorter one, to regain some of that travel, but that may cause a problem with over-extending the CV joints, I don't know.

Body lifts are not hard to install; they typically take a day if you go slow. For the Dakota trucks, it involves the lift blocks obviously, and also re-mounting the radiator shroud, extending the steering arm, and extending the fuel filler to the gas tank. A quality kit will include everything you need. What I like about them is they keep all the stock suspension pieces, so ride quality is unaltered. What I don't like about them is they do nothing to raise your frame, so if you're looking for ground clearance, you gain nothing. If all you're interested in is tire clearance, it should work for that.

I'd rather have 31s. Want my 32s? Almost brand new, only about 4000 miles. They were on there when I bought the truck. I'd buy the same tire again (BFG), but don't need a 32" tire on this truck. If I can't sell 'em, I'll keep 'em, but if I have an opportunity to sell them to recouperate the cost of new tires, I'll make the switch.

 

ya i have been going back and forth between 32 and 33 inch tires but i think i will maybe just look into how much room i have to crank the torsion bars (like you were saying) and then get some 32" goodyear mt/r mud tires. i will be in the same situation as you with about 4,000 miles on my all terrain toyo tires lol. i could still get the add a leaf kit for my rear end so that my truck would level out when i put a load in it but i would have to see how i like the look of the back 1 1/2" higher than the front. slightly noticeable but not very if i adjust the torsion bars. thanks

 

That sounds like a plan.

By the way, my parents have an '06 Jeep Rubicon. Nothing on that truck is stock -- long arm suspension, air bags, etc. Anyway, he was running the Goodyear Wrangler MT/Rs, but just switched to the Toyo Open Country M/Ts. Highly recommended. The Goodyears did not balance right and were wearing funny. They performed well off-road, but just would NOT balance right. They also ran very loud on the road. They are much happier with the Toyo M/Ts. They havea very sharp-looking tread pattern (very similar to the MT/Rs), but run quieter on the road. The Toyo also has a reputation for being VERY balanced from the factory, unlike the Goodyears, and requiring little weight to get them right. I would suggest the Toyos over the Goodyears. They're also typically available cheaper than the Goodyears.

 

ok thanks. i have just heard the goodyear mt/r has to be rotated more often cuz they wear faster. i dont have $ for 4 hundred a tire tho thanks anyways

 

I cranked my T bars 2" and put 2" blocks in the rear. and put 32x11.5/17's and they rub the frame a lil at full turn, and I had to cut a lil of my front bumper off too.

 

is there a website you can refer me to where i can get the 2" blocks for the rear? i havent been able to find any when i look around

 

Check around on prices. Dad bought the Toyos CHEAPER than the Goodyears. Those MT/Rs were over $350/ea. He's running LT315/75R16. The Toyos were around $300/ea as I recall.