I'm looking at "upping" the wheel side somewhat and was looking at the components available to make more room to do this and find that there's really only a leveling kit & body lift that are available to do this. The body lift is relatively simple and the installation consequences & pitfalls are fairly logical, but the leveling kit leaves me with a few questions:

• I see that there are leveling kits from 1.5" and 3", although from most of the write-ups I've read, it appears that 2" will level the truck. How would I know what size to buy?
• Once the kit is installed, I can see that there might be some alignment adjustment needed although this isn't obvious. Should I get an alignment done at this point?
• I've read that shocks should be changed at the same time, if so, what brand is recommended?
• Is there anything else that should be upgraded or changed at the same time?

 

What are the specifics of your truck? Year, miles, 4x4, V6 or V8? If it's 4x4, I would not go over 2". That will level it perfectly. 1.5" will still leave a little "rake" to the truck. 3" should only be used on 2X4 and would probably require rear blocks to keep it level. I recommend an alignment. Replacing the struts is up to you. The factory struts crap out pretty soon, so if you think they need to be replaced, then replace them. There is Rancho, Monroe and KYB. Rancho is the stiffest and most expensive. I run monroes all around and am pleased with them combined with my 2" leveling kit. Again, depending on your miles, check your ball joints, tie rods and sway bar end links.

 

2x4? Isn't that a piece of wood???

When talking 4x4 and 4x2, the first number indicates the number of wheels the vehicle has, the second indicates how many of the wheels that receive power or are "driven". So a 2x4 vehicle would be one with two wheels, four of which receive power???

Sorry jkeats, but when I see a two wheel drive vehicle called a 2x4 it's like nails across a chalkboard... LOL...

 

???this question is always asked the wrong way...the first thing you need to know is WHAT SIZE OF TIRE do you plan to use then you lift as needed... the more you level the suspension quickest you will have premature problems...i wanted to run 33'' so i will deal with the problems.

 

Most guys here have either a 1.5" or a 2" leveling kit.
Replacing the front struts while you have it all apart is a great idea. Front struts are either Monroe or Rancho.
Rear shocks give you a few more options, including Monroe & Rancho.
Get it aligned.


I'm running Racho's all around with the Trail Master 1.5" leveling kit, love em both.

 

Sorry about the lack of data - the truck is a 2005 Dodge Dakota ST 4wd, 4.7 with approx 78K kilometers (close to 50K miles), so if the shocks are an issue, I'll plan on replacing them when I have everything apart.
If I was planning on doing all the wrenching that results from adding large wheels, I'd agree with you, but I'm not looking at a much larger wheel, probably no more than around 32" for a couple of reasons. First, using eyeball and a tape measure, it doesn't appear that anything much larger will fit into the wheel well without making changes to the wheel well or adding a large body lift. While we don't have the same body lift restrictions, I'm not a fan of large body lifts. Secondly, since this is a daily driver, I don't plan to get into covering off all the other consequences of adding larger wheels such as diff gear changes. I added 35" wheels to my toy YJ, but there I planned for this and changed the gearing, steering, suspension, and drive train issues that needed attention.

Here's a pic of my YJ

 

Did you install that inside your strut assembly or on top? I remember the old way was to put it on top and the newer was was to install inside the assembly.

I have an original set of the aluminum disks that I never installed. I actually had a friend mill off a portion of the material so that I would only get an inch of lift (based on the thickness of the material and the advertised lift I made a formula). Now I'm wondering if I should just get another kit and install the new one (there was alot of speculation around that time of CV bindage, hence the reason why Trailmaster changed the install location).

 

inside it keeps the stock geometry but gives you a stiffer ride...inside you may have spring slap problem and outside the upper contro arm hit the coil at high sped on a speed bump...mine is 2.5 on top of a munroe...i really dont want it stiffer that that...rancho + TM inside should drive like a F1 or a ferrari... i am not interested into that.

 

the cv bindage is bull****...the only problem i can see it the premature wear to the rubber boot and upper control arm hitting the coil only on a speed bump over 20mph

 

Mine are installed inside the assembly. Not sure when they changed it to that, but mine went in late 09. The newer instructions were out by then.