well i have now figured out the cheaper way to get springs... but my new question is does our wheel base have to do with these. sanse the ones we re putting in ar technicly wrong anyway? nd of coarse it matters if they are 4 or wd, but does it matter about the weight rating? does anyone know the rating on ours now, as stock?

 

That could be the case. From what I remember though, the truck was very "slinky/inspector gadget" like. I'm sure the 35" balloon mud tires didn't help the ride either, but I can distinctly recalling never feeling safe driving the truck down the highway, even when the truck was aligned.

To me, the difference in drive quality has been substantial. Now that my truck is back down to the Offroad Edition suspension with 285 tires, it drives very stiff and safe around town and on the highway. I understand that with any lift and big tires, the lift is going to be a little more wobbly. In fact, many people on this forum warned me that the lift I was running was not very healthy for my truck. Yes, the spacer is convenient, but one still has to address all of the other front end parts to match the lift, otherwise alignment cannot be achieved, and it will ruin parts much quicker.

My dream lift is the 5.5" Fabtech coil spring lift kit. I just like the idea of a front end lift with integrity, not a donut holding my front end up. Of course, buying a lift kit is expensive in comparison to what, a $100 for some nice polyurethane spacers? I'm sure had my front end suspension been upgraded in coordination with the coil spacer I had it would have been a lot better, but then your stuck buying suspension parts ala-carte. At that point, I think buying a "lift kit" is worth it.

 

Ugh...! Yes they do. Springs are "rated" by something called spring rate, which I believe is measured in foot lbs. Thats why you can lift a stock 1500 ram with stock 3500 springs from a cummins truck because that spring has a higher rate and isn't working as hard to support the 1500. Thats how offrad ram springs work as well.
I don't know if one could get factory engineering data on spring rates.
Another thing that you do when you lift your ram is change your Caster as your axle rotates backwards.. You also de-center your axle because it changes the angle on your track bar. It also shortens the leverage of your control arms. You may even change your toe in, at the very least your steering wheel needed recentering.
All of these factors determine how your truck rides, handles, and tracks down the road.
Without taking the effect of these parmeters into consideration when you install certain components, you may have other issues ranging from irritable to downright dangerous.
My experience with my truck and the various components I've installed in stages over the years seems to suggest that a two inch spacer on a stock (non off road) Ram pretty much maxes out the factory parameters as far as what I've mentioned above. So if you use a spring to accomplish the same lift you will encounter that same "wall" that will have to be overcome by the use of other components such as longer control arms and track bars for starters.

01....that's probably why your ram drove real funky. I have longer control arms from Tough country that I installed when I went to a 3 inch spacer. I recentered my track bar with the 3 inch lift adapter but I really need a adjustable bar. My caster and toe in can be set to factory specs and while my ride is a bit choppy because of the offroad springs and realitivly short links, its not diesel spring choppy.

 

so how would you go about trying to get yr caster back into factory spectis. i'm getting 3500 coils and i know im going to need new shock and new rear leafs i just need to know where to get a set of rear leafs.

 

Desertdog, you are right. At one point, I purchased a Thuren adjustable track bar, but it stopped there. I never got into buying a drop arm, or longer control arms etc, just seemed silly to me spending all that money on individual parts. Maybe it's just me, but I like things to be uniform, and predominantly from the same source (rough country, skyjacker, fabtech etc.). So yes, whether somebody uses a spacer or a coil spring to lift their truck, everything else still needs to be addressed. But, if your going to lift a truck up, I just think it should have a structural foundation. The spacer offers no structural integrity to a truck whatsoever, just extra top heaviness. A lift kit will come with coil springs, and everything else needed to keep angles proper, axles centered, and the suspension proper. Until I'm ready to afford it, then I won't touch my suspension. Unless somebody wants a cute little pop in the front, then a 1" or 2" spacer is probably fine without addressing other things. If you want to achieve more lift than that, why not spend the money on a liftkit where everything works together?

 

3" kits only come with spacers/springs for the front and blocks/AAL for the rear. If any control arms come in the kit they are the same length as stock. Point is, you can lift up to 3" without affecting other parts, although an adjustable TB is recommended. P.S. this is not my opinion. It is the result of seven years of research on Ram lift kits so don't hate me.

 

why do we need to mess with are tb?

 

Rough Country/Tough Country 3" kits use longer control arms. The uppers if I remember are 3/4" longer and the lowers are about 1-1/2" longer. I would measure them again but don't have any stock arms to compare them with. The old Dick Cepek kits do as well. I'm not sure about BDS. Rancho and Pro Comp do not.

I still don't get the structural foundation thing. I probably never will. If that were true then thousands of products throughout the world could not be built. There's no side force involved and if bolted in & torqued properly they shouldnt squeak. Now...if you don't reuse the rubber donuts in the springs they will.

If you want to know how caster, track bar/ panard bar length and how four link suspension all work, google them.

 

I had a truck with a 3" spacer, and the truck could easily be shaken from side to side, like a slinky. Compared to my 3" spacer, to my now 1.5" coil spring offroad height, the truck is much sturdier.

 

Thats messed up! You can't do that with my ram.