Hello everyone, ive been a lurker here for several months and finally joined up. I have been wanting to lift my truck for awhile now and have decieded on 2 inch leveling kit up front(prob daystar) and 2 inchs in the back. in the back is it best to add leaf springs? or a block? i am going to have the stealer install the front but i can tackle the back.how many hours will it take 3 ish? and could i run 31'' M/T tires? they dont have to be super aggressive i only do semi offroading. and i dont want to have to have to deal with rub. also could i use my stock 17'' chrome rims with the tires? sorry i know this post is long and alot of questions, im just a noob take it easy on me lol. Dakolorado is the one who motivated me to lift mine and put bigger tires on his truck looks so nice. thank you in advance everyone

 

My A/T's are just about 32" so 31" M/T's shouldn't be an issue with the leveling kit. You can get M/T's for any size rim within reason so don't worry about having the 17's, you're fine. From what I've seen I don't know that anyone here has gone with the add-a-leaf method to lift the rear, most have used blocks.

P.S. Welcome to the forum!

 

thanks for the help, what size would 31's be... im clueless what people mean when they 265/#/# lol

 

Hey.

I have the 2" daystar leveling kit and 2" blocks in the rear. You can run alot of 32" tires with that setup, some more aggressive treads may have a TINY bit of rub, but easily fixed.

I have 265/75, which is almost a 32".

If you can find an add-a-leaf that works, then go that route, it will be stronger for loads, and stronger in offroad situations.

However, there is nothing wrong with blocks, they are inexpensive, around $20-$30 for the blocks and u-bolts, and take about 30min to 1hr to install. All your going to do is put the rear of the truck on jack stands at the frame, so the wheels are off the ground in the rear, put a jack under the rear axle pumpkin, take the wheels off, unbolt the shocks at the axle, un-bolt the u-bolts on both sides, slowly lower the truck axle down with the jacks, slide the blocks in, then install the longer u-bolts, bolt up and align the DRIVERS SIDE block first, then follow with the passenger's side, then bolt them down to spec. Make sure you e-brake is off, otherwise it makes aligning the driver's side block pin difficult.

Blocks are easy to do yourself. doing the leaf springs involve doing a tiny bit more work.

You can buy cast iron blocks with longer u-bolts anywhere, (a 4 wheel shop, we dont have those here in NY) etc. you don't want ones that are tapered to correct driveshaft angle, this is not an issue. Just get a non-tapered block.

I am using a generic lift block kit on mine, but have been looking to see if the ranger 4x4 blocks would work on our truck, they are much stronger, and thats how ranger 4x4's come from the factory (with 2" lift blocks, thats the only difference from a 4x2 and 4x4 in the rear for a ranger). Plus, all you would have to do is go to a ford parts counter and order a set.

2" in the rear is that max you can achieve with the stock brake lines, so don't go anymore then that. The shocks just make it on up-travel, you get about 1.5" of length left on the shock, but it rides pretty well.

Getting the front done by the dealer isnt a bad idea, if somthing goes wrong, they have the parts to get the job done right away, plus while its in the shop you can get an alignment. You should not be charged more then 2hrs of labor for the front.

Good Luck.

 

i think i will go with the block method. Where should i look to buy the daystar 2'' kit and the blocks, any brand to look for or just non tapered?

 

For the tires you can find a quick explanation of those numbers here: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireDimensions.dos
The third number is the rim size.
There's a tire calculator here that you can plug in that number and it will tell you how wide the tires are, overall diameter, etc. You can even compare two sizes on it, put in what you have now and what you're looking at and it will tell you how much your speedometer will be off by: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

I'm running 265/75R16 on mine with the 2" front leveling kit and no lift in the rear. Only get rubbing at a certain angle on the wheel and it's not bad enough for me to bother with it since it happens so rarely.

 

i think im going to go with Bfg all terrain t/a my friend has 4 off his jeep 31''s but i gotta find a 15'' rim

 

His tires are worn a bit too much for my liking so i was looking at definity dakota a/t for around $100 a tire at pepboys so i get the 4th tire free. also are craiger rims any good?

 

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/...-Leveling.html

I got my Daystar kit from these guys. The price is not bad compared to what you'll find elsewhere, about the same, and the shipping is pretty quick.

 

welcome....i have the dakota m/t,s from pepboys...mine are 33,s but a 31(ish)m/t will work with the setup you describe. nice tires and arent crazy noisy, thats what the volume **** is for! any questions will get answered here bro! have fun!