Thanks for all the info guys!
New here and really appreciate the advice and love this forum.
I'm thinking 3" body lift and some 33" AT tires for now, then I will tackle all of the front end and suspension upgrades. That should get me through the winter and give me time to save up to do some serious work.
Nice rides BTW - Cope that's the look I'm going for - looks great and jekaton I like the behind the grill lights - nice touch. Think I'll need to add that to my ever growing upgarde list.

 

Nice looking truck as well Marc! Do you just have a body lift on there? Done any suspension upgrades? I'm torn between just doing a 3" body lift, upgrading shocks and adding new tires and saving up for some serious front end work in the spring. Or do I add a 2" spacer lift now too? Decisions decisions...

 

I have the body lift on now. If your gonna do a leveling kit you might as well do that while you doing the front end, because your gonna have to take most of the front end apart to do the spacers. The only suspension work I have done is new shocks on the rear I got monroe reflexs. I plan on putting on new struts here in the next few weeks.

 

Yeah that's a good call. It's not that much extra to get the spacers and it makes sense to do it while it's torn apart. Curious to hear about your strut upgrade. Please send updates.

 

Damn, I want a body lift now....

 

I did 33's and put some spacers in so I had to do a lot of trimming. This is how it looks.

spacers
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sheet metal trimming
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timming of splash gaurd and inner fender.
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How it looks from the outside.
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down the side view with the spacers on.
IMG_0445.jpg

 

That looks sick with the spacers and 33s! Gonna have to add that to my list of upgrades now.

 

Hey, I'm brand new to this site but I just picked up a 05 Dakota ST Quad Cab 4x4. This is my 3rd Dakota, I had a crappy 91 and an awesome 02 QC 4x4 before. The 02 SLT came with big meats on them but my new 05 has tiny tires. Does anyone know what the biggest tire I can put on? Would a 31x15x10.5 fit?
Also, was the suspension or ride height different from an ST versus an SLT? I asked my local dealer but they didn't know.

 

Welcome to the forum! First off, the smallest diameter tire/rim you can fit is a 16". Any smaller rim and you have to grind down your calipers. A 31x10.5x16 might fit, depending on the tread pattern. You might have to trim some of your inner fender wall to combat rubbing, unless you get/have a leveling kit. The ride heights on our 3rd gens doesn't change. from 4x2 to 4x4 and ST to Laramie, it's all the same. Unless it's a TRX, then you get one inch clearance from the bigger tires.

 

Thanks for the info. I will probably start off with the 2" leveling kit, I think Daystar supplies a decent one (so I've heard). If that raises the front how do you get some lift out of the back so it sits right?
I may also do a body lift but I did one on a Chev and didn't like it. The steering shaft got all messed up but then again it could have been the people's fault that installed it.