Leveling a 2003 QC 2wd?

Tyler__Beck · Mar 25, 2015

I have a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7 QC Hemi 2wd. I am at the point where I can't stand looking at my saggy front end. I want to level my truck 2in. I was looking into coil spacers and people said they had problems with it bottoming out. So I looked into bilstein 5100 but they say it wont work because its not a 4wd. Torsion keys are out of the picture because its a 2wd. My question is if I go with the 2in coil spacers do i need new shocks? Or does bilstein make an adjustable shock for the 2wd? I have been researching for the past 2 hours and haven't found much. Any help would be great!

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xtremewlr · Mar 25, 2015

From what I have found in researching the same thing for my 2004 QC 2wd, the stock replacement Bilsteins should still work with the 2" spacer. I've also read that some have used the front shocks from a 2500 2wd after doing a level with spacers. I have the HD replacement Bilsteins in my truck now and didn't want to have to replace them if I didn't need to.

I think I have decided to go a little higher with mine and plan on doing either a 3" or 4.5" spindle lift with lift shackles in the rear as need to get everything level.

My truck measures from ground to fender lip 37.5" in the rear and 35" in the front.

usaf2006 · Mar 26, 2015

If your shocks are worn out, I highly suggest changing them. It's cheap enough and can drastically improve the ride quality. My 06 rode like a 70s Cadillac down the interstate until I swapped the shocks out. Huge improvement.
As far as leveling, spacers should be fine for your year 2wd from what I've read.

Tyler__Beck · Mar 26, 2015

usaf2006 said:
If your shocks are worn out, I highly suggest changing them. It's cheap enough and can drastically improve the ride quality. My 06 rode like a 70s Cadillac down the interstate until I swapped the shocks out. Huge improvement.
As far as leveling, spacers should be fine for your year 2wd from what I've read.

Thats what I'm thinking, a month ago I wreaked the front end and I'm still on the original shocks so i'll just replace them.

Tyler__Beck · Mar 26, 2015

xtremewlr said:
From what I have found in researching the same thing for my 2004 QC 2wd, the stock replacement Bilsteins should still work with the 2" spacer. I've also read that some have used the front shocks from a 2500 2wd after doing a level with spacers. I have the HD replacement Bilsteins in my truck now and didn't want to have to replace them if I didn't need to.

I think I have decided to go a little higher with mine and plan on doing either a 3" or 4.5" spindle lift with lift shackles in the rear as need to get everything level.

My truck measures from ground to fender lip 37.5" in the rear and 35" in the front.

The space between my back tire and top of the fender is 7 1/4 in. the space between the front is 4 1/4 in. so realistically if i go with a 2" level i'll still be short in the front by 1in.

usaf2006 · Mar 26, 2015

They're probably 2.5" spacers, which would only leave a half inch, which wouldn't be very noticable. Ive heard you don't want to go higher than that with spacers before you have to start changing other things.

Tyler__Beck · Mar 26, 2015

usaf2006 said:
They're probably 2.5" spacers, which would only leave a half inch, which wouldn't be very noticable. Ive heard you don't want to go higher than that with spacers before you have to start changing other things.

I have only been able to find 2" spacers

TexasRammer · Mar 26, 2015

Spacers are the cheaper route and honestly you wont notice much of a difference and sacrifice ride quality a good bit. If you want a good level get spindles. When I got mine people only made 3" ones and they were about $280. Theyve gone up a little in price from what I see but you can also get 4.5" ones too and throw a block in the back to lift it more. You can get them off ebay, and a few companies make them. And you dont need new shocks but if you do dont get longer ones

xtremewlr · Mar 26, 2015

TexasRammer said:
Spacers are the cheaper route and honestly you wont notice much of a difference and sacrifice ride quality a good bit. If you want a good level get spindles. When I got mine people only made 3" ones and they were about $280. Theyve gone up a little in price from what I see but you can also get 4.5" ones too and throw a block in the back to lift it more. You can get them off ebay, and a few companies make them. And you dont need new shocks but if you do dont get longer ones

Surprised you say spacer would sacrifice ride quality. I thought the ride would essentially remain the same. I'll be doing spindles regardless.

I'm not a fan of lift blocks for the rear personally. Yes, they work great but they also add that much more leverage to the rotational forces the axle encounters. That's why I prefer the shackle lift over the block. Especially when you are only looking at a couple inches. My truck already has a custom additional leaf in the rear and I still have the 2" drop shackles on it. Stock shackles would take the rear on my truck up another 1.5" or so and if I get 2" lift shackles, that will give me all the options I need for leveling the truck out once the front is where I want it. With the 4.5" front spindles and leveling the rear out, I should be able to comfortably fit up to a 35" tire.

TexasRammer · Mar 26, 2015

xtremewlr said:
Surprised you say spacer would sacrifice ride quality. I thought the ride would essentially remain the same. I'll be doing spindles regardless.

I'm not a fan of lift blocks for the rear personally. Yes, they work great but they also add that much more leverage to the rotational forces the axle encounters. That's why I prefer the shackle lift over the block. Especially when you are only looking at a couple inches. My truck already has a custom additional leaf in the rear and I still have the 2" drop shackles on it. Stock shackles would take the rear on my truck up another 1.5" or so and if I get 2" lift shackles, that will give me all the options I need for leveling the truck out once the front is where I want it. With the 4.5" front spindles and leveling the rear out, I should be able to comfortably fit up to a 35" tire.

They change it a pretty good amount, anytime I ride in a truck with them I can tell, especially these trucks. Ive still got a 1.5" spacer along with my 3" spindle and its not horrible but its different than stock. Plus spacers change the angles of all your ball joints so theyll wear out faster.

And yeah I agree on what you mean about the blocks, but I trust them enough. Ive seen trucks with like 6" blocks lol. Ive only got 1.5", but I probably wouldnt go over a 2-3" block

Leveling a 2003 QC 2wd?

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