Hey guys! I've posted this before but not a whole lot of feedback. Just want to make sure of what I need and to expect before I order a **** tone of parts lol. I've got a 99 dodge ram 1500 5.2 long wheelbase and have been doing upgrades and have come to the suspension, plan was to put 33s or 35s depending on what I could run without cutting out the finderwells. I've done so much reseach and have got me doubting myself, what about fuel economy, what about annual maintenance and exceptional amounts of wear and tear, what about speedometer speed ext...... any way could anyone help me out on my questions?

Thanks in advance, Dalton

 

Change gears to match the tires and minimize MPG loss. Lifting it and bigger tires won't help fuel economy but it won't change much. It shouldn't change maintenance if you use quality parts and get a good alignment. I think you can change the speedo with a tuner.

 

2bit pretty much covered it. For the speedo, it depends on what year your truck is. 97 and older, it's just a gear chance on the VSS, 98 and newer, you do indeed need a tuner, or pretty high zoot scan tool to change it.

Biggest expense is going to be re-gearing for the new tires.

 

Preciate the feedback! Truck has 3.92 gears, I'm thinking 2.5 rough country leveling kit with 315/75-r16 Patagonia m/ts

 

Cool truck! Like the steelies.

Personally I don't like the look of 35's and just a leveling kit, sits too low and I don't doubt it rubs too. I would either do:

-Level kit with 33's, stock gears
-3" or 5" lift with 35's, with plans for future re-gear to 4.56 or lower

 

Yeah I love my steelies lol, glad yall cleared that up for me. I like the big rubber tucked up into the finder wells, makes a truck look meaner to me. By chance couldn't give some more pics of yours could you? Another question I have is front end support, don't want to open a can of worms with the bigger tires. Truck has a pull to the left at about 30mph and higher or when braking, also feels very loose when going down the road. But when you lock everything in 4wd It tracks straight.

 

There are some reference pics in these threads, lots on google too.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/archive...flame-red.html
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ggestions.html

I would get the front end on jack stands and check everything - u joints, tie rod, drag link, ball joints, wheel bearings and especially brakes / calipers in your case. Would not hurt to check alignment either. IMO get the truck in good repair before installing lifts and tires.

 

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A while back I replaced the center and left u joint in the front end on the truck, I had the exhaust done on my truck and found a hole in one of the vacuum lines running to the 4wd actuator. I'm thinking that the actuator is seized up and keeping the front axles engaged, resulting in the leftward pull. I agree with you on making the truck sound before bigger tires but it all seems to be tight. I'm going to fix the actuator problem and then get the truck aligned, hopefully that will fix my problems.

 

I've got 35's on either a 3 or 5" lift, I'm not entirely sure, stock gears, as much camber as a 240sx, mileage is a$$ but just looking at it makes up for that with smiles. I'd say lift it and put 35's on it, probably look really good on that clean of a truck too!

 

. Lol their isnt 6inches that ain't got a damn dent. Ended up deciding that I'll go with a 2.5 leveling kit with stock gears and a set of 33/12.50-r16s for now. If I decide to go bigger I'll change to a lift kit and replace the gearing. Thanks guys for the help!