Body lift and wheel spacers

[BR14]

First post here, I have been reading quite a bit about the various options that are available for what I'm looking to do. Right now I have a 2014 Black express crew cab with stock rims and tires (tires are 10.8" wide, 33" diameter). I put fender flares on it and am looking to 1) space out the wheels to compensate for the flares and 2) add a body level/lift to it. I was looking to space the wheels out 2", but I was going to do this by adding 325/60/20 grapplers (12.8" wide, 35.4" diameter) on it and then add a 1" spacer which would get it back to the same as the stock clearance on the inside wheel well. I was also looking to add a 3" front / 2" rear lift/level on it to accommodate bigger tires, this would leave a .5" rake which is fine. Just looking for advice on what would be best for what I'm looking for. I put this in the lift section because the lift will determine what spacers I end up with. Thanks for all who help!

 

[brandonjansen]

The max you want to lift the front end of a 4x4 1500 without doing a full suspension lift is about 2.5" or 2.8" with Bilsteins. Stay away from 3" spacers as they will place your CV shaft and control arm angles at too steep of an angle not to mention you will pop the upper ball joint out with them. Bilstein 5100's set at 2.8" is your best option to lift the front end. If you want to retain a 0.5" rake you will need very little lift on the rear end. 2" would be far too much to have only 0.5" of rake.

On a leveled truck you're better off sticking with a 35x12.5 tire as they are slightly smaller than the 325/60/20's. You won't clear those on a leveled truck. Especially with 2" wheel spacers.
A 35x12.5 tire on a stock rim with 2" spacers is going to stick out past the fender by approximately 2.75"- 3". Unless you put pocket flares on you're going to be sticking out past your flares quite a bit (OEM flares provide 1" of coverage). They're also going to rub like crazy with only a leveling kit because of the wide stance. I'd definitely recommend smaller wheel spacers.

 

[BR14]

The max you want to lift the front end of a 4x4 1500 without doing a full suspension lift is about 2.5" or 2.8" with Bilsteins. Stay away from 3" spacers as they will place your CV shaft and control arm angles at too steep of an angle not to mention you will pop the upper ball joint out with them. Bilstein 5100's set at 2.8" is your best option to lift the front end. If you want to retain a 0.5" rake you will need very little lift on the rear end. 2" would be far too much to have only 0.5" of rake.

On a leveled truck you're better off sticking with a 35x12.5 tire as they are slightly smaller than the 325/60/20's. You won't clear those on a leveled truck. Especially with 2" wheel spacers.
A 35x12.5 tire on a stock rim with 2" spacers is going to stick out past the fender by approximately 2.75"- 3". Unless you put pocket flares on you're going to be sticking out past your flares quite a bit (OEM flares provide 1" of coverage). They're also going to rub like crazy with only a leveling kit because of the wide stance. I'd definitely recommend smaller wheel spacers.

I read here >> http://www.ramforum.com/f40/ordering_my_level_tomorrow-63048/ that this guy said that he managed to fit 35's with just a level. If I did that how wide of a tire would I need? The problem is I have fender flares on it that stick out 2 3/4" on the back and 2 3/8" on the front. What I was trying to do was get the tires even with the flare. To do that I was going to put 325/60r17 on there and add a 1" spacer which would push it out 2" and get it pretty close, but it seems that you said they'll rub. I called the dodge dealer and the guy told me the truck has a 1.5" rake on it stock, I figured if I did a 3" lift front and a 2" rear I would keep a .5" rake, but keep that aggressive and wide look which is what I like. Any ideas on how to make that work?

 

[brandonjansen]

Yes sir you can fit 35's with just a level no problem. Tons of guys are running that setup. I ran it on my old 1500 for a number of months.

Ram 1500's definitely have more than 1.5" of rake stock. Your best bet is to measure all 4 fender heights on your truck to determine how much rake you have. I'd guess you'll be anywhere between 2.5" and 3.25".

325/60/20's are essentially an oversized 35 which will rub on a stock truck. You want to stick with a 35x12.5 tire as they're actually a smaller diameter but wider. The 35x12.5 Trail Grapplers for example actually measure 34.5"x13.4" when mounted. If you want them to be flush with your flares using stock wheels you'll want 1.5" wheel spacers. That will have them sticking out about 2.7" past the fender; very close to flush with your flares. If you want them out slightly further then go with a 1.75" spacer. Going with that wide of a stance on only a leveled truck will rub for sure. Because of the wheels sticking out so far their arc raduis is quite large pushing the tire further forward and back in the fender opening. So you'll end up rubbing on the back of the inner fender for sure. You can fix it by trimming the plastic and you may need to bend over the pinch weld as well depending with what wheel spacer size you go with.

 

[jforse]

Great info!

 

[BR14]

The 35x12.5 Trail Grapplers for example actually measure 34.5"x13.4" when mounted. If you want them to be flush with your flares using stock wheels you'll want 1.5" wheel spacers. That will have them sticking out about 2.7" past the fender; very close to flush with your flares. If you want them out slightly further then go with a 1.75" spacer. Going with that wide of a stance on only a leveled truck will rub for sure. Because of the wheels sticking out so far their arc radius is quite large pushing the tire further forward and back in the fender opening. So you'll end up rubbing on the back of the inner fender for sure. You can fix it by trimming the plastic and you may need to bend over the pinch weld as well depending with what wheel spacer size you go with.

So the larger the spacer the more rub there is I would guess? I plan to go with the 1.5" spacer. Can anyone chime in on what is entailed with the 1.5" spacer? I'd rather not chop this thing up if possible so I'm curious what needs done with a 1.5" spacer. Also, one last thing. Say I wanted to level it and then add a one inch lift, would Blisteins on the front and a 1" spacer front and back be best? Or would that cause the joints to pop on the front?

 

[brandonjansen]

So the larger the spacer the more rub there is I would guess? I plan to go with the 1.5" spacer. Can anyone chime in on what is entailed with the 1.5" spacer? I'd rather not chop this thing up if possible so I'm curious what needs done with a 1.5" spacer. Also, one last thing. Say I wanted to level it and then add a one inch lift, would Blisteins on the front and a 1" spacer front and back be best? Or would that cause the joints to pop on the front?

In this case, yes, the larger the spacer the more rub. You'll have to trim some plastic on the inner fender for sure but if you do it nice a cleanly no one will know the difference. Some guys have had to either trim the pinch weld or hammer it over for clearance... with the stance width you're looking at it may require a bit of attention but again, if done right no one will know the difference. Especially since it's covered by the inner fender liner.

Bilsteins at 2.8" is the max you can go without doing a full suspension lift. Otherwise you're A-arm and CV shaft angles will be too steep which will give you problems and yes, will most likely pop the ball joint.