Question for 3” lift (fab tech) and diff lowering

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Dano86

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2019 ram 1500 and looking at fab tech 3” ball joint UCA lift kit (K3167M). I was also looking at the ready lift 3.5” but found some comments about not being for off-road use. I am not doing anything serious but forest service roads and pastures can get rough. Any recommendations on diff lowering? I keep pickups many years and don’t want to stress the 4wd so I want to do it right.

Also, why can’t the OWM rims be used?
 

crazykid1994

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Up to 3” on the trucks no need to diff drop. If you want a diff drop kit go up to a 6” kit. Ready lift is a mall crawler/street queen lift kit. Leveling struts would be your best friend. Ie: fox, bilstein, eibach, fabtech, king, rancho. If you plan on running above 2” make sure to install angle correcting upper control arms to help keep the alignment better. Bds sells a kit for your truck as well and uses fox shocks
 
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Dano86

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Up to 3” on the trucks no need to diff drop. If you want a diff drop kit go up to a 6” kit. Ready lift is a mall crawler/street queen lift kit. Leveling struts would be your best friend. Ie: fox, bilstein, eibach, fabtech, king, rancho. If you plan on running above 2” make sure to install angle correcting upper control arms to help keep the alignment better. Bds sells a kit for your truck as well and uses fox shocks
Thank you for the info! If I am understanding correctly the fab tech 3” I am looking at looks like it comes with angled UCA. That essentially takes care of the small diff correction that would be needed?
 

ThunderMug95

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Negative. Thats not going to have anything to do with CV shaft angles. Just helps articulation of the upper ball joint. Diff/CV are a different animal.
 
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Dano86

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Negative. Thats not going to have anything to do with CV shaft angles. Just helps articulation of the upper ball joint. Diff/CV are a different animal.
Okay. So do I need to worry about dropping the diff/cv somehow so they are not stressed and wear out prematurely?
 

crazykid1994

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Okay. So do I need to worry about dropping the diff/cv somehow so they are not stressed and wear out prematurely?
No. You will not need to worry too much about that. And the upper control arm is just for better suspension travel and better alignment specs
 
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Dano86

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Great thanks. Do you know why they say OEM wheels won’t work? Is it rubbing? If so can that be solved with a 1/4” spacer?
 

crazykid1994

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More than likely a larger wider tire will rub the upper control arm. You could email fab tech if that’s who you go with

Bds kits
 
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ThunderMug95

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I ran into this very issue with tbe Zone UCA’s. My tires are 12.5” wide. I have about 3-4mm gap between uca and inner sidewall. I love my wheels and they are out of production now, so no chance of finding them in -18 is very slim. Im solving the problem with Bora 1.5” hubcentric spacers.
 
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Dano86

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I ran into this very issue with tbe Zone UCA’s. My tires are 12.5” wide. I have about 3-4mm gap between uca and inner sidewall. I love my wheels and they are out of production now, so no chance of finding them in -18 is very slim. Im solving the problem with Bora 1.5” hubcentric spacers.
I don’t like spacers but that may be my temporary answer. Do you know what size can be used without needing to change out the studs?
 

ThunderMug95

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I don’t like spacers but that may be my temporary answer. Do you know what size can be used without needing to change out the studs?
It really depends if your wheels have pockets on the back of them. Mine do. I believe with a 1.5”/38mm like I ordered the studs would stick out 1/8”.
 
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Dano86

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It really depends if your wheels have pockets on the back of them. Mine do. I believe with a 1.5”/38mm like I ordered the studs would stick out 1/8”.
I plan on keeping stock 18” wheels. I need to take one off and verify but I read the backspace is 5.25 so I will only need 0.25” spacer.
 

ThunderMug95

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I plan on keeping stock 18” wheels. I need to take one off and verify but I read the backspace is 5.25 so I will only need 0.25” spacer.
I want to say some of the stock wheels have a pocket. I cant say for sure. Mine came with the 17’s and I shucked them pretty quick.
 
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Dano86

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For those fallowing or that look it up later. I ended up going with the rancho quick lift. It leveled the front and added 2”. Was supposed to be a 1.5” gain but ended up being 2 when measured from the ground to the bottom of the fender well opening. Instal wasn’t bad. If you have knowledge on disassembling and reassembling front ends, you can skip a handful of the steps in the instructions. I did and wasn’t a problem.
 
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