On a '94 2500,photos in my gallery,anyhow it's completely stock with the crappy steelies and 265 tires*puke* I'm looking to lift the truck just a little,enough to go up to a 35x12.50 tire. I know having 3.55 gears will hurt it a little but when I do all this the truck will receive a TST fuel plate,BHAF,slide the plate a hair forward and gauges. Then would come transmission work(probably SunCoast converter and valve body).

But back to the lift,the truck sits level all the way around,unlike most trucks so the spacer kit isn't for me because I want to keep the truck level. If I'm going to lift it I'm not going to cheap out and get some stinky kit with stacked blocks in the rear. The Skyjacker 2.5" Class 1 kit(with new rear springs) sounded real good to me but would like others peoples opinions on it and if not what would others suggest and what the approx. cost of your suggestion would be. Would I be best to buy Skyjacker shocks or go with some Bilstin shocks or something similar?

Now on the wheels,if I'm going up to a 35x12.50 than I'd like to go with a 10" wheel. Personally the Dick Cepek DC-1 wheels they come out with look good and are a little different than the normal Mickey Thompson Classic II wheels I see on many trucks. Would a 10" wheel with probably 3.5" backspacing be fine and not scrub or would I be best to look further?

Sorry for the long post,but just trying to get all the wrinkles worked out of my plan so I'll have it all pinned down and ready to go. Thanks!

 

If you want the best suspension and to clear 35s... I would go KORE. But they ain't cheap. Just my $0.02

 

You'll want to keep you backspacing as close to center of the rim as possible, unless you don't care about the wheel bearings. When you go very offset it loads one of the bearings much more than the other (usually the outer), and those bearings, in the front end, already have quite a job to do, with the weight of that engine, and steering...

Chris

 

Boy has this been

3" will clear 35's, so there's 3 questions:

How much lift do you want?
What are you doing with the truck, is it a mall crawling pavement queen or are you going to beat on it?
Honestly, how much do you want to spend?

 

I havent been here long enough to personally watch it get

To answer the questions

1) Enough lift to clear 35s,if they rub a little I don't give a crap
2) It's my daily driver/tow for my '89 W100 that I beat on in the woods. I've had the truck for just a few weeks and I've already had it in the woods and in the mud several times but mostly will just see daily driving duties and tow on weekends
3) Honestly,little as possible but I don't want a piece of crap suspension,I know nothing is going to have a wonderful ride,it's a 3/4 ton truck..so it rides rough,that don't bother me

 

If you just want it cheap, and dont need great performance, or mind a lil rubbing, get some 2" spacers for the front or some D25s.

 

CSS 4" coils- $250
DT Control Arms- $325
Drop pitman arm- $100
Add a leaf- $75
Bilstien 5100's - $300/set
Thuren track bar - $279

Roughly $1500 with shipping and alignment, and it'll ride better, perform better and last longer than any off the shelf kit like SJ, BDS, Fabtech, etc.

Chris @ 4Wheel Customs can hook you up with the drop pitman arm, add a leaf and Bilstiens.
www.4wheelcustoms.com/Index.asp
www.dtprofab.com/dodge.htm for the control arms
thurenfabrication.com/trackbar.html for the track bar
coilsprings.com/ for coils

 

Cowhand is our suspension guru... I vote for you taking his suggestion. Not as cheap as mine, but way better I'm sure.

 

Thanks for the tip of the hat.....but there's a few others that are petty sharp, CTD NUT knows what he's talking about.

Greg Boardman knows more than I do, he posts occasionally, but he's a little biased toward the product he sells. Sean Lorenz is learning....maybe the hard way

I've learned alot from Don Thuren in the last year or so....he's the guy I ask.

 

I have much respect for anyone that can design their own suspension. And even more so if they can remain humble afterward.

I need to go read the latest with Sean...

 

Go check out the 3rd Gen forum on the other board...
The thread about race suspension is entertaining to say the least....

 

I try to check it regularly...

 

I'm running the D25 coils with H2 wheels/tires - fit is perfect (no rub). The coils will run you just over $100.

Unless you want to go with a lot of lift, longer control arms, or both, your going to want to stay away from a 10" wheel. To fit a 35" tire in the wheel wells, you need to keep the backspacing very close to stock (around 6") and the wheel narrow (around 8").

Think about it this way...
The 10" wheels you like: 10"-3.5"=6.5" stick out past your hub compared
8" wheel w/ 6" backspacing: 8" - 6" = 2" sticks out past your hub.
Now just imagine what's going to happen when your trying to make a U turn!

The H2 wheels are 8.5" wide with a fairly deep backspacing, think its 5-6". It just BARELY fits inside the wheel wells without rubbing. If you want wider wheels or something with less backspacing (almost every aftermarket wheel out there!), your going to need more lift to avoid rubbing!

 

Cowhand-Thank you very much for the links to all the parts! What I'm wondering though is when you said to order 4" coils for the front which I understand perfectly but then you say only buy a add-a-leaf kit for the rear but a Add-a-leaf only adds maybe 2"s to the rear at the most. So wouldn't the truck sit nose high? Because my truck as is right now sits level front to rear..which is amazing but it does.

Will-When you say D25 coils what exactly are you talking about,I don't know the lingo that well :P Thanks a lot for the info about the wheels and backspacing I've never really understood it that well but that helped a ton. I'll definately check into the H2 wheels,the width,backspacings and everything would suit me real well it seems. Are they just a bolt on wheel or do they need to be made to fit? Figure I could just run them without them ugly HUMMER center pieces. Where would be the best place to find them you figure? Check local tire shops and search on Ebay?
Thanks for all the help yall!

 

Believe it or not, I run a 6" coil in the front and a 3" AAL (which is on it's way out) in back, and my truck sits level. Are you the original owner? I'm wondering if your truck doesn't have a leveling coil in it already. If so, then you'll only net another 2" lift in front.

Almost all of them sit lower in front when they come from the factory, that's why you end up with +2" of lift in front vs. the rear.

D25's are a 2" leveling coil....I don't recommend them