Hey I am new here but have a question. I am going to buy a 2000 or 2001 Ram 1500 and wanted to know what everyone thinks the best lift is. I don't think I want to do more than a 3" lift because I am not sure if i will go bigger than 33's. I figured if i do want to go bigger than i could always throw on a body lift. It seems like when you get the 3" lift they have you replace your control arms. When you just do the leveling kit of 2" i haven't seen any talk on replacing them. Should I? Anyone have any preferance on doing the coil spacers or just putting new coils in? What system does everyone like. I am thinking the Skyjacker lift looks pretty good. Another idea I had was do the leveling kit and then doing a 2" body kit. What would be the drawbacks to that and what size tire do you guys think i could fit? It seems like it would be cheaper, but at the same time i want to make sure it drives nice. Any info would be helpful. Thanks.
Ryan

 

Lucky you have the non-IFS front end. One word of advise, make sure that the bumper brackets are included in the body kit. I called around for a 3" and it wound up being around $200 for the whole thing. The body kit will give you the lift but you will still have the rake. The "leveling" kit is nothing more than a coil spacer. Also remember if you have a floor mounted 4X4 shifter it is going to sink lower by the amount of the body lift. I have heard of some problems that on a 3" body lift that the lever is hitting the console when put into 4H. I saw a friends 3" on a 98 and he has the tow package, the hitch was 3" below the bumper because the mounting to the frame. Looked dorky to me but he could live with it. Just my .02.

 

I put a body lift on a wrangler i use to have and a toyota and ran in to all of the same problems. But at 200 bucks for the body lift i would be better off with just going with a suspension lift 3" or 5". Thanks for the advice.

 

Has anyone used the Fabtech lift or know much about it. I know they make some pretty good stuff.

 

Hello,

Well if you want to start with 3", and you already say that an addtional 3" is not out of the question then start off with a good solid 6" kit for your truck. From personal expierience I really like and trust the Dick Cepek 6.5" lift kit. That kit does not mess around, it includes the components, and bracketry that will make other kits look sick! It comes with longer trailing arms, which should be changed if you want your truck to ride good post lift. It includes new front coils, dual front shocks, single rear shocks, and all neccessary hardware. I have seen this kit in action, and it can take a beating! Which tells me that if it can take a beating, than it should work great on a truck that gets only medium to heavy duty use.

Take care!

 

Beware of the "Death Wobble"... tracbar issues. Search www.pavementsucks.com for more on this. My 4x4 QC had this when I bought it and found the track bar was the problem. After doing some research I decided to change the control arm bushings (urethane) before doing the tracbar, so far I've only got the upper c-arm bushings changed and the DW is non-existant. Once I've changed the lowers & the tracbar and am confident it will not return, up she goes 2" to start.

 

hey,
I have a 2004 dodge ram hemi, I am wanting to lift it, but will it void my warranity? please let me know, thank you!!

 

I would not do a body lift in my opinion they arnt a good way of lifting it. I do not mind them that much if it is a small body lift in addition to a suspension lift but I still don't know if I would do one then. I have a 3" Skyjacker lift and reccomend it. I love it and it gets it high enough.

 

hey i need a little help here i'm new. i just wanted to know what the best lift was for the 2004 ram1500 quad cab hemi. and what would be the best size of tires. all comments well appreciated thanks

 

After you get past 3" or 4" inches of lift all kinds of problems rear their ugly heads. Big lifts usually mean big tires. They are hard on bearings. The larger diameter tire means your braking ability is reduced. Check the weight rating for the wheels. I once had a set of Centerlines I didn't check that on and they weren't rated for much over the weight of the empty truck. Overall gear ratio is reduced so you need new gears, front and rear and you still need more horsepower.

This then calls for perhaps starting with a 1 ton to get the big brakes and bearings. Look at truck with a big lift and think about the extra torque you are applying because of longer suspension pieces. A longer lever gives more torque for any force applied to it. 1 tons usually have bigger everything and would be a better starting place for someone building a truck that still has to work and not just a show piece.

What ever you decide to do buy quality pieces and install them correctly so you have a safe vehicle.