The title says it all. Wanting to get up in the air a little bit more with a budget. If I want more flex/ suspension articulation ( I off road frequently) in my truck, would the spacer and leaf combo be a better route? I already have Bilstein 5100's and am not sure if anyone has used spacers and these but I wanted to see what you guys think.

 

I don't think spacers would give you more flex. I'm not 100% though.

 

I just want to know if it would be better for off road use without putting too much stress on the front end

 

Getting new spindles would be a better bet. But idk how the 3" spindles would work with the Bilsteins

 

Never seen one for an 06 4x4

 

Anyone use longer coil springs?

 

No lift spindles for a 4x4 because of the CV shafts.


Your truck's front suspension uses struts in a coil-over configuration. The only place I've seen extended coil springs is in the high end lift kits that include longer struts as well as many other components. If it were possible to stack the Bilstein 5100 struts and a standard "leveling" strut extender, your CV joints would be at a very extreme angle, and would likely wear very quickly. However, I don't think it's possible to use both the lifting struts and the strut spacer at the same time, considering how each system works (one compresses the spring from the top, the other from the bottom). Even the expensive lift kits come with either the lift struts OR the strut spacers (depending on the kit), but never both in the same kit, which further leads me to believe it's not possible. The next step after a level on a 4x4 is usually a full blown lift, with standard sizes being 4-6" (4 or 6 inches total, not in addition to the level). These kits commonly include custom crossmembers, as well as other 4x4 specific pieces that relieve stress on the front CVs. The drawback, of course, is that these systems usually start at ~$2000 and go way up from there.

What you have to ask yourself, is do you want to spend a couple thousand dollars to get a little more travel (if any), as opposed to ~$350 for the 3" body lift which raises the truck basically the same height? I'm not even sure the $2-4k 4x4 kits increase suspension travel, as none of the specs for any of the kits I have seen seem to indicate one way or the other. For comparison, consider the Ram Runner package that can be added to the '09+ 1500s. The stage II suspension portion of this package adds ~5" of travel over stock and costs over $13k by itself. Adding travel to your suspension is an expensive endeavor.

 

Hammer has the Rancho 4" kit

 

I stand corrected.

Oh, and to answer the original question, the strut spacer allows for less flex. It is basically compressing the coil and using the coil's tension to push the truck up, if that makes any sense.
Let's say you have a 10" coil with 6" of travel before it won't compress anymore. If you compress it to 8", you leave the same coil with only 4" of travel because it's already compressed (numbers made up to simply illustrate the point).

 

Thanks for the help ya'll. Now to decide between a body lift and a programmer....