"Bottom Liner" Question on Lifts

[Herb Tarlic]

I'm new here and new to the topic. Hi.

I just acquired a 2015 Ram 1500 BigHorn 4x4 Crew Cab with stock suspension.

I've spent a lot of hours scouring forums and youtube to learn about the subject...and I have practical questions I'd love feedback on.

Based on what I've read, the safest option and the option that gives the most benefit for offroad is what I'll call the "full blown" kit that will set me back thousands of dollars after parts and labor.

The two options I'm considering are 5100 HSA on the front and 5160s on the back with stronger coils all around....or....5100 HSA and coils on the front but only small lift spacers on the back, say 1.5 inches. The thought was if I set the front 5100s to 2.1 and spacers in the back that geometry concerns will be minimized because the spacer lift is small, but overall the rake would be neutralized and the vehicle will be level.

I'm aware that spacers and other "cheap" lift options are directionally bad for geometry, but there seems to be a debate on whether SMALL spacer lift is really evil or just blasted by the purists.

So...set me straight....can I go small lift spacers in the back and be "safe" from geometry issues? If I go with the 5160s in the back, will I still have geometry issues, cv or otherwise? Do I need to upgrade the front UCAs and/or do anything else in the back to be wobble free in all modes and get 50k miles of reliability?

Thank you for your feedback.

 

[kurek]

There's no problem with small rear spacers, or even front spacers on 2wd's .. It's specific to the front struts on 4wd that spacers can introduce compromise and genuine problems.

5100s in front at 2.1" and 1.5" spacers in back with any shock (5160 is fine) is safe and reliable long term.

If you want to fine tune it with that kind of lift you can get lift specific upper control arms which will help ensure your alignment shop won't have to make compromises at the new ride height (the alignment cams have limited range) and extended rear sway bar links (to return the neutral position of the bar post-lift)

 

[Herb Tarlic]

There's no problem with small rear spacers, or even front spacers on 2wd's .. It's specific to the front struts on 4wd that spacers can introduce compromise and genuine problems.

5100s in front at 2.1" and 1.5" spacers in back with any shock (5160 is fine) is safe and reliable long term.

If you want to fine tune it with that kind of lift you can get lift specific upper control arms which will help ensure your alignment shop won't have to make compromises at the new ride height (the alignment cams have limited range) and extended rear sway bar links (to return the neutral position of the bar post-lift)

Thanks a lot! Good to hear reinforcement that the conclusions I had reached were not whacked.