If you really have 4.5" of lift on the front and 3.25" on the back, you are setting yourself up for problems - especially that much lift in the front. There will be very little droop travel in the front (like, 1"?) that will make things very harsh and unsafe and ruin off road performance. There are similar issues in the rear that can be somewhat mitigated by longer shocks and bump stop spacers - but the link geometry still isn't great with tall lifts.
If you want the truck up that high, reducing the suspension lift and adding a body lift might be better overall, and will help you clear those 34" tires.
Your swaybar bushings and links may be worn out, but the bars themselves are probably fine. They will also be needed for 'stable' on road performance, but the front can be removed if you want better off road performance. The rear doesn't limit articulation and aides in stability.
-Charlie
Hey Charlie, thanks, just trying to stay in my newbie lane, rather than abusing my other thread with OT content any more than the drift that's already happened.
I didn't want that much lift, not that it matters. This is the result of uneducated updating.
Added the 2" OME (F+R) several years ago, which exacerbated the unequal wheel well spacing that I guess was always there, front being taller, visually.
The suspension was just shot, so why not add two inches while getting it refreshed. No more thought applied, than that.
My educated guess is, 1", maybe 1.25" was required to level it.
So I took it to some local "bolt on guys" with a bunch of brodozers in the parking lot, figured they knew what was up. They'd done my NH Oil undercoating and seemed decent.
Explained what I wanted, showed them the visual issue. "No problem".
Come back to a $400 bill and a 2.5" block in front that overshot my problem and reversed it, now I was doing the Carolina Squat....
When asked, I was told, "It's an old truck, this is all we could find".
Turns out, lots of other options, if they actually looked. Fudge. :wtf:
So I forged ahead unwilling to get into it with them, and leveled the rear to equal the front.
Long way of saying, sounds like what you're telling me is I would be best to remove all the leveler blocks from both ends, and just get the proper ones for the front, and adding body lift?
Isn't body lift, seriously involved an expensive? This is also a truck that saw road salt for a few years, so honestly, I'm scared to get too deep into what gets unbolted, the unknown is a scary place.
I'll do some poking around on it though, thank you.
The OME's are at least 4 or 5 years old, that $1000 is long gone in my head. So if you have a suggestion for a smarter, more comprehensive move forward that isn't $3K, I'm all ears.
I'm already into getting my front end sorted this coming Spring to the tune of several grand, and I'm not rich, this is a slow moving process.
So. body versus suspension lift. Is a reduced range of motion the active concern with suspension lift, whereas a body lift and no suspension or leveling blocks, allows the stock range of motion, which is enough, even with bigger tires?
