Hey guys i just joined the dodge forum today and i have a few questions about suspension. Ill start off by saying i own a 2000 dodge ram 1200 4x4 with the 5.9L V8. and after a trip down the log truck trail i was highly amazed at the off road capability of this vehicle. My stock ram with all terrain tires went everywhere my brothers lifted F350 went and i never once had to lock it in 4wd and i was all the way up to the bumper with water/mud. My question is i am thinking of doing a suspension lift and was wanting some advice one what would be the best ive heard nothing over a 3 in suspension lift or a 2 in body lift on a ram. anything over that becomes a headache. Is this true. Im looking at running 33x12.5 swampers on it soon. any info would be helpful. thanks

 

I've never heard that.
You can run 33s stock or with a 3" lift.
As for what one, it depends on how big, what you want to replace, budget, what you want to do with it, etc.

 

i really dont want anything to big on there cause its my daily driver. thats why i looked at the 33x12.5. its 2 inches taller and 2 inches wider than my stock tire. and i really want them on there for better traction in the mud....we play on a log truck trail whenever it rains other than that i just drive it regularly

 

3" lift and 33"s seems to be the perfect combo on these trucks. That's what I run although mine aren't Super Swampers they are BFG Mt's. Anything bigger would look way too goofy to me with 33"s. If you go bigger than 3" I think you need bigger tires. If you go bigger than a 3" kit you also need to start replacing a lot of parts that you wouldn't have to with the 3".

As for the body lift you should be able to go with a 3" one just fine. I don't like body lifts but plenty of people do and have gone with a 3" kit.

 

I have a 2001 dodge with a fabtech 5.5" dual shock lift on the frontwith skyjacker 4" leafs on the back and 3" body lift. The one thing that I didn't like with a 3 inch lift is that it is mainly all the factory suspension you are not really inproving much at all except height. If you are in mud a lot I highly recomend Nitto Mud Grappler tires they throw mud like you would not believe and if you do some research on those tires they usually get 30-45 thousand miles. I met a guy who had a fleet of 10 trucks and he said that that tire is the only tire he will put on them. As far as going higher here are a couple of problems I ran into. The higher you go the bigger tires you will need to look normal. if you only put 33s on a 3 inch lift it will look a little funny. The bigger tires you go the less power you will have because it will be under geared. I changed mine to 4.56 richmond which is perfect it still spins my 37s. The only other problem I had was the drive shaft angle.The front shaft need to be grinded down a little bit but that was not a big deal. Even with my 37s and the lift I almost get 16mpg with a 5.2. before you put bigger tiresonyou just need to find a set distance drive 10 miles and remember exactly where it is then drive to the same location with the bigger tires and just do the math mine says 8 miles when I really went 10 it's 25% off. I hope that this helps anymore questions let me know. lots of truck pics @ www.myspace.com/davemedicus

 

Factory offroad package comes with 33s but fit 35's easy my opinion is you need 35s not 33s if you are doing a body and suspension

 

wow...you guys have been amazing on helping me out. im gonna go with either a suspension or a body lift, not both. due to $$. im slightly leaning more towards the body lift becuase i have to drive it everyday and like the way it rides on the high way....just need a little bit more clearence for the new tires i want. it has 265/75r16 on it now and they do ok. just looking to go with a more aggressive tire and figured i better lift it up some to make it fit.

 

From the sounds of it, you may be happier with just a body lift.

 

get a body lift then replace your stock shocks with bilisteins

 

GERRRR