2” to a 3” lift kit

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BlackDragon

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So I know everyone says just go with a 4” lift but I don’t need that big of a lift I just want a little higher than stock without cranking my tb all the way up so I was just looking for advice and to see who has done a 2-3” lift kit and what your thought and opinions are and what brand would be the best to go with?
 

boy&hisdogs

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3" lifts put most everything at terrible angles. If you want to go past a moderate crank you're going to need the 4".

This is the truth. Those 3" lift kits may have a few extra parts in them to make them look more like a real lift kit, but they are still mostly a crank but with a few extra Band-Aids thrown in to tempt you.

Then only way to keep good angles with a lift kit is for everything to be dropped the full amount of the lift. Those 3" kits may drop your diff an inch or two (again, to seem more like a "real" lift) but your arms and other components are still stressed just as much as if you had just cranked it. A real lift kit (Like the 4" and 6" kits that cost $1000+) either drop or extend everything so that all the parts are in their stock positions relative to each other, just farther below the truck than before.


IMO there are two right ways and two wrong ways to do lift these trucks. (Excluding SAS, that's it's own thing :superhack:)

Right:
1) Slight crank and run some 33's on modest wheels.
2) Full blown lift kit. 4" in your case, you can even let the torsion bars down a bit if you don't want all that height.

Wrong:
1) Those janky 3" lifts that are the worst of both worlds. They cost almost as much as a real lift kit while barely being any better than a crank on a stock truck that costs you nothing.
2) Body lift. I just think they look really bad on these trucks since the 4x4 frame already hangs down so low. It also doesn't get your belly any higher off the ground, which was always my problem off road.



This is my truck cranked to level with 285/75/16 (33x10.50) tires on 16x8 wheels with 5" backspacing.
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This is with 305/70/16 (33x12.50) same wheels and same crank. And a small dog lol.
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And this is what my angles look like
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boy&hisdogs

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That dog looks like a little ******** LOL.
Nah, he sitting patiently waiting for someone to open the door. He's ready to ride.lol

Hipster got it right. Her favorite word is "go" and anytime she's near the truck she'll sit and wait for me to open the door.

My husky is the ******** of the family. She likes to bring me dirty old junk that she finds in the yard and dump it in the middle of the carpet. Just yesterday she dug up and brought inside a giant, rusty drill bit that some poor sparky must have dropped when they were building the house. She also stole a few small brake parts off my spare rearend that's awaiting rebuild.
 

boy&hisdogs

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Also, I forgot to add this to my original post:

You can run a 33 just fine with only a crank to level. The next size up is a 35 which really needs 4-6 inches of lift to clear properly so there's not much of a point in doing a 2-3 inch lift unless you just like the look. But personally I don't think it's worth the front end wear.
 

Hipster

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Hipster got it right. Her favorite word is "go" and anytime she's near the truck she'll sit and wait for me to open the door.

My husky is the ******** of the family. She likes to bring me dirty old junk that she finds in the yard and dump it in the middle of the carpet. Just yesterday she dug up and brought inside a giant, rusty drill bit that some poor sparky must have dropped when they were building the house. She also stole a few small brake parts off my spare rearend that's awaiting rebuild.

I rescued one that had some service training for hearing impaired in her background. She just was never happy unless she was by my side. As soon as she heard my keys jingle she would go sit by the truck just as pretty, patient, and attentive as could be. Much like yours is. She wouldn't let me out of her sight and it got to the point I did the same. I go out back to unlock the garage with my keys and she'd be sitting at the truck. Pretty bad when when you put the dog in the truck and go around the block so they can go for a ride lmao

Looking for another one but she set that bar of what I'm looking for very high.
 
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red98

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This is the truth. Those 3" lift kits may have a few extra parts in them to make them look more like a real lift kit, but they are still mostly a crank but with a few extra Band-Aids thrown in to tempt you.

Then only way to keep good angles with a lift kit is for everything to be dropped the full amount of the lift. Those 3" kits may drop your diff an inch or two (again, to seem more like a "real" lift) but your arms and other components are still stressed just as much as if you had just cranked it. A real lift kit (Like the 4" and 6" kits that cost $1000+) either drop or extend everything so that all the parts are in their stock positions relative to each other, just farther below the truck than before.


IMO there are two right ways and two wrong ways to do lift these trucks. (Excluding SAS, that's it's own thing :superhack:)

Right:
1) Slight crank and run some 33's on modest wheels.
2) Full blown lift kit. 4" in your case, you can even let the torsion bars down a bit if you don't want all that height.

Wrong:
1) Those janky 3" lifts that are the worst of both worlds. They cost almost as much as a real lift kit while barely being any better than a crank on a stock truck that costs you nothing.
2) Body lift. I just think they look really bad on these trucks since the 4x4 frame already hangs down so low. It also doesn't get your belly any higher off the ground, which was always my problem off road.



This is my truck cranked to level with 285/75/16 (33x10.50) tires on 16x8 wheels with 5" backspacing.
You must be registered for see images attach


This is with 305/70/16 (33x12.50) same wheels and same crank. And a small dog lol.
You must be registered for see images attach


And this is what my angles look like
You must be registered for see images attach
Counterpoint about the bodylift, if you just want to fit a certain size tire, and only have a few hundred dollars to spend, you can't beat the value. Also looks are subjective, I think these trucks look better with the frame hanging down (no I don't know why lol.)

Or if you just got your lift kit installed and still can't squeeze your desired tire size, you can still bodylift it to get that last bit of lift, rather than having to get a different suspension kit. IMO bodylift over cranking torsion bars all day.

Or if you're somewhat low skill, and don't want to take on a suspension lift all by yourself.

I don't think its the BEST but I definitely don't think its the worst.
 
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