4" Lift Kit options

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LaramieGen4

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Hello. I am new to the site but not new to Ram. My current 2016 Laramie 1500 Crew is my 4th Ram. It is a pavement princess that I took delivery of with leveling spacers and BFG KO2 285/65R20's already installed on it. I want a taller and more aggressive look so I want to do a 4" lift with 35" tires on 20x10 -18mm offset wheels. My question is really about options for the 4" lift. But not so much "what is the absolute best lift", rather I am wondering what the options are for my intended use, which is no offroad just around town and highway driving. My local shop only sells RCX lift/level kits but will probably install almost anything that is of decent quality. It appears the RCX lift requires some cutting and may be overkill for my needs. I'll still go with it, though, if it's the better option. What are some others that are maybe a little less expensive and involved but still provide for reasonable angles and ride quality?
 

Graygoose

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I take it its a 4x4?
Not a 4x2?
 

JB1

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Rough country should be your least expensive suspension lift, it wont effect the ride since it uses all your stock coil springs
 

RamRoy

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For the money, the RC lift would be the way to go for you. Best bang for the buck for your needs. If you went off-road, BDS would be the kit to look at, but you will spend more. Also, consider a 6" lift for just a little bit more. I went with a 4" and was not happy. Ended up costing me more in the long run.
 
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LaramieGen4

LaramieGen4

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For the money, the RC lift would be the way to go for you. Best bang for the buck for your needs. If you went off-road, BDS would be the kit to look at, but you will spend more. Also, consider a 6" lift for just a little bit more. I went with a 4" and was not happy. Ended up costing me more in the long run.

Good point. The 6" RCX kit is like 100 bucks more for the kit and the install (labor) is probably exactly the same. But I'm not sure I want the additional height. My wife is only 5' tall and I already had to put the tube steps on so she can get in easier and she'd probably have a harder time with it 4" higher than it is right now. I believe I have my math correct in that it should sit, overall, about 2" taller than it is today, with a 4" lift. Then add around a half inch to that by switching from the 34" tires I have now to the 35" tires I want. I was going to try and squeeze 35's on it like it sits now but, from what I read, it'***** or miss as to whether or not it will scrub and/or some trimming might be needed. I wish there was a 34x12.50 out there. 33's just look to small in the front to me when it's leveled and I'm happy with the height of my current tires - just not the width and the stance/offset. And the plastic chrome OEM wheels have just not grown on me in the 2 years I have owned the truck.
 

MT Hillbilly

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[QUOTE="RamRoy, post: 1648563, For the money, the RC lift would be the way to go for you. Best bang for the buck for your needs. If you went off-road, BDS would be the kit to look at, but you will spend more. Also, consider a 6" lift for just a little bit more. I went with a 4" and was not happy. Ended up costing me more in the long run.[/QUOTE]

RamRoy, got any pics? I have been wanting to put a bds under mine, and like LaramieGen4, my Wife also is short, and loves the truck. (Don't want her to hate driving it) I do drive mine on many rough to horrible gravel roads, and want the ride a lifted ride with fox shocks would.... I think.... bring. I had thought about the six inch lift, but feel not only would she NOT like crawling in, also, I would have to buy even bigger tires to make it look good, and... the cost and weight just goes up with!
 

RamRoy

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I will try to post a pic from home. Mine has the RC lift though; not the BDS. The 6" lift with 35's basically puts you at the stock height of a 2500 4x4 stock; maybe a bit taller.

To me, I couldn't tell much difference in a 4" lift and a level. If you have 3" of rakee, like some do, you are only getting about 1" from level
 

Roadhouse71

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My son and I are building 78 swb F150 4x4 Big Block (first Ford BTW), and just bought the BDS 6" lift Kit. It was delivered Friday and these parts are solid. Plus their warrenty is the best out there.
 
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LaramieGen4

LaramieGen4

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I have been wanting to put a bds under mine, and like LaramieGen4, my Wife also is short, and loves the truck. (Don't want her to hate driving it)

LOL. I don't have to worry about my wife driving it. She isn't comfortable driving it as it is now. I think she has driven it once since I got it. She has a rice eating SUV, so she does like to sit high up as opposed to a car, but she is a bit intimidated by the overall size of the Ram. Although, it has all the sensors and buzzers that will go off if you get to close to anything front or back. While I am the primary driver, everyone does prefer to take it anywhere we go over any of the other vehicles I own. The ride is great, the space is awesome, and the fold flat rear seat is great for the big dog. When I bought it for me, I didn't expect to take every single road trip we went on in the thing. But we've already made several trips to Florida and other places in it. My mistake was putting the Tonneau cover on it. With the locking tailgate, there's room back there for everything we'd ever need.
 
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LaramieGen4

LaramieGen4

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I should probably start a separate thread on this. But, I just got off the phone with my tire shop. They only sell and install RCX stuff but he said the labor for the 4" kit shows about 5 - 6 hours. He seemed surprised it wasn't more. But then he brought up the 3" RCX bolt on kit. No cutting but it also shows 5 - 6 hours labor. It recommends up to 33x12.50 tires. Surprising given that this truck came with 33" tall tires and has 34's on it now with just a 2.5" level. I am wondering if the 35's would fit okay on the 3" kit with the right offset wheel.
 

RamRoy

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You may run into a problem with the CV axles being at a bad angle. I did a cheap 4" lift/level from tuff country and blew out 2 CV axles in 3 months. A decent lift kit will drop your front diff to make up for this.
 

carid

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We recently installed a Pro complift kit on our 2016 F150 from our fleet and we were actually impressed with the ride quality and overal looks, we did have to install a differential spacer that came in the kit and it works great. Pro comp kits are also available for 1500 Ram in 4" or 6" versions. You can check those along with other 2016 Ram specific lift kits on this page
 

blackbeautyhemi

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You may run into a problem with the CV axles being at a bad angle. I did a cheap 4" lift/level from tuff country and blew out 2 CV axles in 3 months. A decent lift kit will drop your front diff to make up for this.

The 4” rough country will come with new spindles to keep all the angles correct to keep from ruining parts like those cv axles. Rough country is just perfect for a mainly road use truck. It’ll handle light off roading no problem also. Had a rough country on my 2006 for 5 years and no problems and now my 2015 has a 6” rc lift and it rides damn near as good as a stock ram does. A 4” lift and 35’s will look good together if you’re worried about too much height with a 6” lift, but keep in mind rc lifts aren’t exactly true 6” lifts. They lift the front 6” and the rear 4” to get a level stance so they don’t sit as high as like a zone 6” unless you get the zone with the 3” rear lift to achieve a level stance like the rc. A lot of the lifts are 6” front and 5” rear to maintain a factory rake hence the reason people add bilsteins on top of their lift to get it level which is fine if you want all that height but my rc 6” sits level without those. Just some things to keep in mind. Here’s a pic of mine with 6” and 35” tires.
C58AA82C-30D2-4F91-A040-F3E4EA7C118A.jpeg
 
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LaramieGen4

LaramieGen4

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The 4” rough country will come with new spindles to keep all the angles correct to keep from ruining parts like those cv axles. Rough country is just perfect for a mainly road use truck. It’ll handle light off roading no problem also. Had a rough country on my 2006 for 5 years and no problems and now my 2015 has a 6” rc lift and it rides damn near as good as a stock ram does. A 4” lift and 35’s will look good together if you’re worried about too much height with a 6” lift, but keep in mind rc lifts aren’t exactly true 6” lifts. They lift the front 6” and the rear 4” to get a level stance so they don’t sit as high as like a zone 6” unless you get the zone with the 3” rear lift to achieve a level stance like the rc. A lot of the lifts are 6” front and 5” rear to maintain a factory rake hence the reason people add bilsteins on top of their lift to get it level which is fine if you want all that height but my rc 6” sits level without those. Just some things to keep in mind. Here’s a pic of mine with 6” and 35” tires.
View attachment 118778

Nice truck. I like it but it's higher than I am looking for. What offset are your Mavericks, -12mm? Fuel just came out with a new wheel I'm leaning towards - similar styling to the Mavericks but they are -18mm (Fuel Vandal). I do realize that the lift kit measurements start with the total front height and then subtract out a couple inches from the back to account for the factory rake. But I just don't need to go up that high for my purposes.
 

joeygster

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You can fit the 35's even with a 2.5" level so your 3" will be no problem.
 

blackbeautyhemi

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Nice truck. I like it but it's higher than I am looking for. What offset are your Mavericks, -12mm? Fuel just came out with a new wheel I'm leaning towards - similar styling to the Mavericks but they are -18mm (Fuel Vandal). I do realize that the lift kit measurements start with the total front height and then subtract out a couple inches from the back to account for the factory rake. But I just don't need to go up that high for my purposes.
Yea they’re -12. Stick out just a bit past the factory flares. Those vandals are a good looking wheel to. I wasn’t trying to turn ya towards a 6” lift, just was using mine as an example of what I was saying. A 4” lift and 35’s look great together. Just enough to give the truck a cocky sportier stance.


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LaramieGen4

LaramieGen4

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You can fit the 35's even with a 2.5" level so your 3" will be no problem.

From what I can find - it's a definite maybe that you can run 35's on a level with no rubbing or trimming needed. I see some that had no issues but it seems like most say slight rubbing at full lock or plastic trimming required, or both. Not a huge deal to cut a little bit of plastic but I'd prefer to not have to cut anything. But yeh, the stock tires are 33's and I am running 34's now, just not 12.5 wide. So, given that 35x12.50 seems to be very close with a leveling kit, I'm hoping a 3" kit will make the difference and I won't have to pay the extra money and do all the cutting off of mounts required for the 4" kit.
 

shadowhawk

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Lift and spacers :)
 

blackbeautyhemi

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You’ll clear with a 3” kit but just seems that the 3” kits don’t have the best reputations tho. Good luck with whatever ya decide!
 
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