13,000 mile update (~95,000 miles on the truck) and some post-lift musings from a novice:
tl;dr - I love it, and if you're considering it, don't hesitate.
This is my first lifted/modified vehicle and I'm a novice off-roader. I get compliments on the lift all the time.
As hard as I try to be a frequent, seasoned off-roader, it just doesn't happen. I have a young child and work rotating shifts, so life can be a balancing act. In the end, the truck is, unfortunately, 90-95% pavement princess. That said, I have been able to stretch the legs of this setup so to speak and see what it can do, and I've had a blast doing it. It's been on forest service roads, unpaved county roads, and a couple of manufactured off road courses in the area. All in all, I have to be careful because (shame) I lack armor under the truck. But, it did everything I asked it to do on each occasion and I drove these novice courses/trails/roads with confidence. I would assume this is probably the best application for this lift, and if you're looking to do more hardcore stuff, there are probably more appropriate setups for your truck.
What I read in researching is that, if you lift/modify, you have to be prepared to sacrifice elsewhere, especially ride quality on-pavement. That's where the beauty of this lift comes in, IMO. In terms of the on-pavement manners, there is a significant improvement over the stock setup. People talk about the nose-dive on braking... I didn't notice how much that was a thing until I got the lift installed. But the handling overall is great, especially paired with KDSS, and the more aggressive offset wheels and 275 Falkens. I have a lengthy commute to work in curvy steep WV hills, and the lift makes it a better driving experience. So, overall, I love it. Haven't had one issue mechanically since the lift either.
There are some cons, which I may have mentioned in earlier posts, but it's more in regards to some of the choices made in finishing off the setup. First, the wheels. While I *love* the stance of my truck, the offset on the 17X9s I have, even with only 275s are just too much for the truck for what I use it for. Mind you, I don't regret going to the bigger size, but the parameters of the wheels and tires was not perfect. It still rubs in reverse, even with the body mount chop. I should probably swap out the wheels, but I'm too lazy and don't want to spend the money, so I just take it easy in reverse. I got the wheels on a close-out, and it was really the only mistake we (shop and I) made in this setup. I did take a hit on acceleration and mileage. I think people in flatter terrain won't notice as much, but I lost 2mpgs probably and accelerating on hills is a struggle. I have a 1/4 mile long uphill on-ramp to a 65mph divided 4 lane highway, and man, do you feel the weight of those heavy Falkens and the larger wheel/tire combo diameter. In these hills in West Virignia, I pretty much need to use the manual gear selector with the propensity for these trucks to shift too soon and hesitate to downshift when needed. I know the auto trans is smarter than I am and this is more of a MT issue, but I do worry about some higher speed lugging on hills.
In the end, when selecting your wheel/tire combo, you have to really be careful not to go overboard for fear of rubbing.
I now find myself at a small crossroads. I was never much of a wrencher, but I have gained some confidence in doing some of my own work (not the lift) and may want to keep adding. Rear bumper maybe, because I was rear-ended a couple months ago and need a new one but didn't make a claim on the insurance because it happened in MI (no fault state) and the driver who caused the accident fled. Stronger skids. Not sure about sliders. But, that adds a lot more weight obviously and I risk building myself out of this as a daily driver. If I do continue to build, I can see adding a Corolla 6mt hatchback to the fleet (I test drove it and believe it or not, that's a really, really fun car!) for the daily commute. I really do like to keep cars a long time, and have no qualms hanging onto this for several years and go from putting 32k miles a year on it to 8000 miles a year on it. We shall see.
Any questions, HMU.
Anyways, great job Eibach for providing this option for a lift. It was perfect for someone in my position.
