Hey folks, I'm new to the 4x4 scene. I purchased a 2002 Ram 2500 with the 5.9 Magnum. The truck currently sits on a 2/3 suspension lift and a 3" body lift. Would this setup achieve the same "look" as just a 5" suspension lift? A lot of the parts are rusty, the truck sat for 10 years. I want to build a truck to do some mud bogging and off road trail drives with the family. I have considered buying a complete 5" lift from BDS and ditching the body-lift. I don't like how much pressure is on the wiring with the body sitting so high and I understand that there are better ways to achieve a lift.

I am also torn between tire sizes. I understand that with only a 5" lift, going 37's will be a challenge, however I was thinking that with a 5" suspension lift and cutting the body lift down to say 1.5" , that may make it possible to run a 37. I looked up my truck specs and found that it has 3.54 gears. I don't mind planning for a gear swap to turn larger tires but in the meantime, how would 37's affect the drivability with the stock gearing?

My wife will be driving the truck, she is more excited than I am so I would like to put this together with proper safety in mind. What suggestions do you guys/gals have, I don't mind spending a few bucks, but what I do hate is spending it twice because I overlooked something that causes issues later.

I've read some stuff about the axle moving back the more you lift , and that there are things to do to fix that but If someone could clarify what happens and how to fix it, that would be great!

Any information or insight is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Josh

 

If you really want to wheel and run off-road, ditch whatever is on there and get a quality 5" kit with new track bar and steering parts.

The general rule of thumb with these truck for tire sizes is 33" = 3" lift / 35" = 5" lift / 37" = 7" lift.

Oh, and since you already have a 2500, the kit won't net you the stated size as they are designed for 1500 suspensions (same parts, less lift on springs). So if you take off whatever you have (what's 2/3 lift??) you won't see a net increase of whatever is advertised. But that won't really matter since you can already run 33s on stock setup and 35s with a 2" level kit.

There's a lot to unpack here with your intentions and desires so let's keep a conversation going since there's so many factors.

 

2/3 = 2" front lift, 3" rear....the front is just an assumption, you can see there is a spacer sitting on the coils. The coils are so rusty its hard to tell if they are OEM or just and old part of a lift kit. The rear has 3" blocks sitting on the factory blocks. I want the truck to drive on the road decent, I wont be driving it long distances, we have a car for that. But I still want it to steer nice and ride as decent as possible. I haven't decided on tire size. Do I need 37's ? No but these trucks look awesome with big tires, however I don't want to fit that size tires without a properly proportioned wheel well gap. Ive seen pictures of Trucks with large tires and factory size wheel well gaps....kind of looks funny to me.

I looked at this kit : https://bds-suspension.com/product?m...2&yr=2000-2002

I like this look, however that is advertised with 35" tires....if I went with 37's I would like to keep a wheel well gap like this...I assume with 5" of suspension lift and if I reduce the body lift down to 2" , I would be able to achieve this. The next issue is drivability issues with 37's and the stock gearing until funds were able to change to a lower gear ratio. Another option is to just stick with 35" tires.

 

We wanna do **** like this....go off road!

 

If you have 2" in front and 3" in the rear it must have a huuuuuuge rake since the 2500s already had a noticeable rake. 37s will absolutely destroy your power and trans unless you're ready to regear for about 2k per axle. And no, these trucks look best with 35s. What's your budget? Remember, you have to pay to play. You want to really wheel you'll need around 10k easy.

 

I found that even with 33" tires and 3.54 gears, my truck was very sluggish from a stop light. I re-geared the truck with 4.10 gears in the front and rear and felt a very noticeable improvement in take-off capabilities. I can't imagine how sluggish 35" or 37" tires would be with 3.54 gearing.

 

This is why im asking all the questions. I want as many things to consider as possible before opening up the rabbit hole...I appreciate the feedback.

 

I drive a 98 2500, that is pretty much stock. It has no lift on it at all, and 33" tires fit with plenty of clearance. I could go to 35's, and likely still not have any rub. (and this is actually plan at some point, as it already has 4.56 gears......) I think 5" of lift will likely fit 37's. Might need offset control arms for the front axle though, as that is where the tires are most likely to hit.

And yes, re-gearing for the bigger tires is pretty much a requirement...... You can spend a couple thousand on gears once, or, you can spend a couple thousand on a trans rebuild every couple years. Your choice.

 

Suspension geometry becomes more and more problematic with increased suspension lift height. I don't know if anyone markets an extended arm kit for these?

Unless extreme wheel travel (rockcrawling) is the goal, I think a moderate suspension lift plus body lift is a great compromise.

When I ran 37's on my Bronco w 5.8 (351W) I ran 5.38s. No joke. With overdrive it was just fine and I rarely drove more than 70mph for extended periods. OTOH I live at altitude and that makes a HUGE difference. Still, with 37s I'd go 4.56 absolute minimum unless your 2500 is a CTD, then you've got so much torque you may not need to re-gear at all.....

 

Also I have no idea how a body lift affects the steering shaft, radiator, fuel filler or wiring on these trucks.

If the wiring is a concern I'd find a way to relieve the stress and just keep the body lift if it's otherwise well done. If it's a hack job with literal hockey pucks (it's a thing, really!) I might look to replace or eliminate it.