Levelling or 3” lift that rides as close to stock as possible

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El_Lobo_Gris1500C

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I own a suspension shop that specializes in Ram suspensions so I have physically put hands on a lot of rams. I have learned what they like and don’t like.
Then your experience and advise is ideal in what I’m looking for here. Opinions are great, but actual experience and owning or installing and getting call backs from customers not happy with their choice or the kit/components is of much greater worth here. Thank
You. Looking forward to learning a lot here for sure
 

Quick_Shifter

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I find this measurement kind of deceiving and people don’t think about this but, maybe the rear fender actually sits lower than the front (or front lower than the rear) even if the truck frame were completely level and flat front to back. Measuring to the fender well lip is good to tell a before and after measurement, but frame to ground SHOULD be 100% to tell you what is ‘level’ and what has a rake, no? There’s no guarantee that the front and rear fenders are exact dimensions and height from frame to top of fender, which would then throw off everything as far as measuring and getting the truck to sit perceivably ‘level’. Just my thoughts / opinion.
These are rough measurements. Nothing scientific here. Proper measurements are all done by the hub so we are not at that stage. You should be roughly 36” in the front and 39” in the rear stock. But these trucks have a 3” variation I’ve seen low and high so it gets us in a good range knowing where you are at
 

kurek

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Quoting @El_Lobo_Gris1500C I’m not rich so I don’t want recommendations of $4000+ suspension kits, LOL might as well get 2.5 coil overs for dealer money.
But I gotta call you on the taking advise from the internet when you’re giving it? Kinda shooting yourself in the foot there
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: the Mopar lift is under 900 bucks I paid 700 after shopping around but thanks for letting me know how much help to offer in the future.
 

kurek

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I agree that would likely be the best as far as ride quality and piece of mind but …. It’s beaucoup $$$$$ and I ain’t got that kinda cash … and my wife would put a pillow over my face after I fall asleep if I spend that much money on an already new vehicle

No such thing as a 3 inch lift really anyway. Four inch lifts use an axle drop bracket and non-bracket lifts at or nearly 3 inches ride like a tennis ball because there isn't enough down travel on the front suspension.
 

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:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: the Mopar lift is under 900 bucks I paid 700 after shopping around but thanks for letting me know how much help to offer in the future.
Yeah you linked it here which is the Bilstein 5100’s that our vendors like @Nick@GotExhaust get us for a lot less than $700. Our vendors pay money to be on the forums and provide the funds to keep the servers running etc. We are very fortunate to have some of the best vendors on any forums and we should support them as much as we can. @El_Lobo_Gris1500C definitely doesn’t want to cheap out, he wants to learn. I was just pointing out the irony and breaking your balls I get what you were saying LOL
 
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El_Lobo_Gris1500C

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These are rough measurements. Nothing scientific here. Proper measurements are all done by the hub so we are not at that stage. You should be roughly 36” in the front and 39” in the rear stock. But these trucks have a 3” variation I’ve seen low and high so it gets us in a good range knowing where you are at
I think that’s around where I am now, IF I’m not remembering the measurements from my old truck (2019 Classic) but pretty sure I’m around 36” and 39” approx. of course I have to remember to make sure all the tires are inflated to correct PSI also, otherwise that measurement will also not be entirely accurate lol! ‍
 

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I think that’s around where I am now, IF I’m not remembering the measurements from my old truck (2019 Classic) but pretty sure I’m around 36” and 39” approx. of course I have to remember to make sure all the tires are inflated to correct PSI also, otherwise that measurement will also not be entirely accurate lol! ‍♂️
LOL. Nothing scientific just want a baseline before sending down a research path. Trying not to send you into a rabbit hole
 

kurek

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Yeah you linked it here which is the Bilstein 5100’s that our vendors like @Nick@GotExhaust get us for a lot less than $700. Our vendors pay money to be on the forums and provide the funds to keep the servers running etc. We are very fortunate to have some of the best vendors on any forums and we should support them as much as we can. @El_Lobo_Gris1500C definitely doesn’t want to cheap out, he wants to learn. I was just pointing out the irony and breaking your balls I get what you were saying LOL

I don't know what axe you're grinding but there sure was a lot more in the box than four dang Bilsteins.
 

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After a level or small lift I MIGHT use some 1.5” to 2” max wheel spacers to get the wheels a little further out and aggressive looking, of course with quality hub-centric parts.
If you do 1.5” spacers you may need to trim the studs 1/4” some factory wheels have cut outs that fit but not all. Just food for thought
 

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Whatever @Quick_Shifter says is going to be the best recommendation 100%.

I have been running 5100's at 2.8 on my truck for close to 40,000 miles now. I put them on with less than 5k on the truck. I have the "warlock" package on mine which raises the truck about an inch from the factory. With the Bils on at 2.8 I sat almost exactly level with the stock warlock springs. This combo rode very well in all daily driving scenario's and mild off-roading. I have since upgraded the rear coils and shocks as my bed load has changed. Currently running Superlift SL-140 2" lift rear coils (these are confirmed by superlift to be the same coils in their 4" kit.) Paired with Icon 2.0 Rear shocks. This setup: 5100's at 2.8, SL-140 Coils, and Icon rear Shocks, Rides like a dream in most conditions. I am looking to upgrade hopefully soon, but only because I like pushing my truck to the limit off-road...

Personal recommendation would be Bilstein 5100 at 2.8, rear .75 spacer, and new rear shocks. The factory RAM rear shocks are trash even when new.

I ran bora 1.25" spacers for a while till my new wheels came in (35x12.5 tires rubbed my Zone UCA) and did not have to trim any stud to fit thanks to the recess. - I would recommend bora for wheel spacers. They are the best.
 

dgarber12771

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I was in the same boat. My truck is a 21 with 7k miles on it. All I wanted to do is level it out and push the tires out a bit. I did enough research to know that I was not interested in the puck that goes above the coil. For every positive review I saw for those, I found 20 negative. Bilstein's get mostly universal praise, but my struts are, essentially, brand new and I really didn't want to chuck 'em if I didn't have to. Next up was strut extenders/spacers that go above the strut body. Those got mixed reviews depending on whether or not the UCA's were replaced. Again, mine are brand new and I just didn't want to pitch 'em. Rough Country has a kit that includes bump stops that keeps the suspension drop the same as stock, so I went that route and have had them on there now for about 500'ish miles. So far I love 'em. Ride (obviously) didn't change and it leveled it out (my truck was about 2 1/8th inch front to back) exactly as I was looking for. I measured suspension drop and those bump stops do exactly what they say and keep it almost exactly what it was prior to installation.

I went with Titan Wheel Accessories 1.5" hub centric spacers and have zero wobble/shimmy/vibration of any kind. If you didn't know ahead of time that they were there, you'd never know they were there.

Now all of this is on my new truck. On a truck with miles I'm not sure I'd go with any of this. In fact I'm fairly certain I'd have gone 5100's front and rear, and probably would have gone with new wheels. But everything here is brand spanking new and on that application, it to this point has worked very well for me.

You're getting a lot of good advice here, so whatever you choose will serve you well.

Good luck!

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El_Lobo_Gris1500C

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If you do 1.5” spacers you may need to trim the studs 1/4” some factory wheels have cut outs that fit but not all. Just food for thought
I saw that, and there’s no way I am trimming wheel studs lol … I’m still very on the safe side of the fence on wheel spacers, that inside voice keeps saying ‘are they really safe? What about wheel balance, vibrations? Wobble …?’ So I am not sure I’ll even go that route, might save that for another project and just go with either wider/larger tires or new wheels and tires to achieve the wider aggressive look like most people do.
 

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I saw that, and there’s no way I am trimming wheel studs lol … I’m still very on the safe side of the fence on wheel spacers, that inside voice keeps saying ‘are they really safe? What about wheel balance, vibrations? Wobble …?’ So I am not sure I’ll even go that route, might save that for another project and just go with either wider/larger tires or new wheels and tires to achieve the wider aggressive look like most people do.
Once you level you’re 100% going to want a bigger tire. The trick is you have your wife pick out the wheels ;) then I’ll help you dial in the offset and size. Smoother softer ride we drop down to an 18” wheel. Your wife will love picking out the wheels too.
 

dgarber12771

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I saw that, and there’s no way I am trimming wheel studs lol … I’m still very on the safe side of the fence on wheel spacers, that inside voice keeps saying ‘are they really safe? What about wheel balance, vibrations? Wobble …?’ So I am not sure I’ll even go that route, might save that for another project and just go with either wider/larger tires or new wheels and tires to achieve the wider aggressive look like most people do.


I didn't have to do anything with my studs, but some of the other (non-20") wheels may require it if you are using something less than 2". Check at the wheel hub face - if there are 'pockets', you're likely gonna be fine. If it's smooth, then anything less than 2" will need to be filed down, or swapped for shorter studs (preferred).
 

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@El_Lobo_Gris1500C I had 0 trouble out of my bora's and I used them offroad as well. But, if you're ever worried about it, it'll never stop nagging you...
I have personally seen wheel spacers and off the top of my head 6 vehicles that had "BORAS" who used their trucks offroading and the spacers actually cracked the rotors ....

Only the right thing to do in my opinion to let others know the risks of having spacers ...

Spacers should be the last resort especially when you are dealing with such big wheels and tire setups like we have on our trucks .... just to save some money by using spacers and later down the road an accident happens that might cost him or others up to thousands of dollars or even someone's life because they wanted to save money? I don't think so !

To the OP, take your time and know exactly what you want .... take a look at my build thread, I think I waited almost a year before I lifted my truck ... I took my time, did the research and while I was doing my homework I saved a little more and more money and when I least expected it I had more money saved towards the lift kit, labor and wheels and tires ...

Take your time @El_Lobo_Gris1500C and if you can save money to things right the first time ...
 
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I didn't have to do anything with my studs, but some of the other (non-20") wheels may require it if you are using something less than 2". Check at the wheel hub face - if there are 'pockets', you're likely gonna be fine. If it's smooth, then anything less than 2" will need to be filed down, or swapped for shorter studs (preferred).

There you go! ... If you can actually "switch out the studs for short ones do that instead" ... I personally would never cut down the OEM studs, I had customers get angry more times than I can remember because we refused to cut their studs to add wheel spacers lol ...

and honestly we never ever included the wheel spacers in the prinouts when they got work done to avoid legal problems ... if they really wanted the wheel spacers they paid for that work in cash and there was never any paper or electronic trail that the shop did it ...
 
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