I just looked that idea up and seems like thats a very popular combo, the 2" leveling plus a 3" body, however, i always would hear negatives about body lifts, what are the pros and cons about them? I never liked them because you would see the frame exposed, would that be my case since i have at least a 2" suspension? With the body, that doesnt affect wobble or any issues at all?

 

Oops. Meant to say non-torsion IFS trucks. I have an 08.

Viking I know my buddy has a 2012 but he's got a 2" level and is putting I think a 1.25" body lift on top of that.

 

The only body lift kits for 3rd Gens are the PA and Zone which are 3" kits (the 1.25" Rough Country is 4th Gen only). It'd be nice for someone to make a 2" like they do for the 2nd Gens, but they don't.

As far as negatives with a body lift, I've installed three on my own trucks and three or four for others and my current truck is actually my first suspension lift (aside from level kits which technically lift the suspension).
The only real downside from a performance standpoint is that your running stock suspension parts which will wear faster and not perform as well with larger/heavier tires. Better (more expensive) suspension kits replace some of these components with larger/beefier ones. Yeah you can see a little bit of frame, but with a Ram it's VERY little. GM/Chevy trucks show more and Fords are downright hideous with body lifts.
Granted if given the choice I'd do a proper suspension lift every time, the ride is a lot better. Body lifts will bounce you around the cab a bit off-road, but unless you do a lot of off-roading, there is no reason not to save a grand or more and just do a body lift.

My old 2nd Gen (SFA) with a 1.5" level and 3" body lift on 35" tires. Now you tell me where you see frame exposed:

 

you're right it does look good, I do absolutely NO off-roading. I do primarily highway driving and towing a vehicle about once a month, maybe every other month. Theres NO way I would spend over a $1k on the lift kit just because I cant really run huge tires on this truck just b/c I feel like the trans and rear end will take a huge beating. Its not like my previous 2005 Dodge 2500 Cummins that I ran a 6.5" lift w/ 35.5" tires and there was NO noticeable difference but with this 06 1500 I have, as soon as I put 33.5" tires, I noticed a difference. The problem I might have is 3" body plus 2" leveling=5" total lift on my 33.5" tires which is might be a bit too high for small tires, I can run the 35.5" tires I got but MPG, Trans, Rear-diff....etc all go down hill..

Can anyone post pics of there body lifts with 2" leveling so I can get an idea on your thoughts and pics and is everyone pretty much using 35" tires on the setup?

 

Truck on the left is one I've done most of the work on, former member - former 3rd Gen Ram moderator as a matter of fact. It's 5" of total lift with 33" tires:

 

wow... I just looked at the manual for the body lift, it looks like insane work, the truck has to pretty much come apart... What are your views as far as the above questions with the trans, mpg, rear diff... etc and my occasional towing?

 

A body lift is a series of pretty simple tasks, just a whole bunch of them. It's nice to have a helper and I've never gotten one done in an 8 hour day. Have come close, but had to spend maybe 2 hours the second day to finish things up perfect.

Weedahoe claims to have done his in one day - with NO help. So I guess he's just a bit better than I am, LOL. Or it could be that he either doesn't take the beer breaks I do or by working alone he doesn't have anybody to stop work and BS with about hunting, fishing or chicks with big *****, LOL.

A body lift isn't going to effect towing/hauling or much else. Yeah a little bit of wind drag will impact MPG some, but if not changing tire size this is gonna be minimal. Same with diff - if not changing tire size there will be no impact on the diff or transmission for that matter.

My advice to you if you want it: Leave your truck where it is. It looks perfectly fine the way you have it. You started a thread about wanting a bit more lift but have effectively found reasons NOT to get any lift type available. If your not sold on more height 100% and willing to spend the bucks or take the negatives that go with more height, then leave your truck alone...

 

I would love to do the lift but the fact is that I would have to obviously run bigger tires, such as 35" so it could look complete BUT running the 35" tires is where the whole trans, MPG, rear diff comes to the equation. What I got is a set of 20" Moto Metal 951 20x10 w/ -18 offset currently on Nitto terra grapplers 326/60/20 tires, I will be transferring my pretty much brand new Goodyear wrangler duratrac 285/60/20 which is a 33.5x11.8x20 from my stock 20" wheels that I have in the sig over on the moto metal wheels since I will eliminating the spacers, thats my plan, however, I dont know how far those -18 offset will stick out and if they stick out too much, thats when I would want the 3" body lift, this is the whole reason why I would even want a lift, otherwise I wouldnt even want one since I would need to run bigger tires which I already have but am scared of the mechanical consequences

 

The factory 20s are +20mm so the -18mm becomes a 38mm difference. That is 1.5" sticking out further than factory. Do some fender flares and call it a day. The level you have is within spec and the tire size keeps your gears and mph accurate. Start going bigger and you'll have premature wear. Save the headaches and add flares. They'll make the poke look nice and aggressive and you don't have to sacrifice ride quality or premature failure of your suspension/steering components.

 

Yep going from +20MM to -18MM equates to about an inch and a half.

You're worried about transmission, gears, MPG's AND towing performance and you have 20" wheels/tires.

The difference to ALL those in running 20" wheels as opposed to 17" is greater than going from 33.5" tires to 35" tires.

I've got no problem with guys running 20s on primarily road rigs, but you can't be running 20" wheels and then post that your concerned about MPGs, wear and tire performance.

Running 20s and being all worried about MPGs, towing performance and tranny wear is kinda like asking how you can eat cheese cake for every meal and not gain weight or raise your cholesterol. LMAO...