Lift/Towing/Tires

[Cormier3288]

I have a 2011 1500 Outdoorsman Regular Cab 6 foot bed. I am wanting to put a 6inch lift on it. My concern is:
*will that effect the towing capabilities of my truck?
*If i install the lift myself will that void or mess with my factory warrenty?
*What lift do you guys suggest?
*and most of all i want a big tire for Snow/Mud/still can drive on the road decently-what do you suggest?

I know it's alot but i could really use the help

Thanks as always.

 

[quietpeen]

With a 6" lift I believe you could go a big as s 37" tire. One mod can not void your whole warranty but could affect warranty of yur suspension parts and they should have to prove that the lift caused the problem. I'm nut sure about towing..somebody that knows will chime in

 

[davetha]

I'm not sure how much the lift alone would affect your towing capacity, other then needing one of those huge drop hitches.

Having larger tires I would think would affect the towing capacity quiet a bit.

Larger tires will make it harder to stop, plus it can be harder on the drive train.

If you are actually going to tow greater then 50% of the towing capacity, and want to run 37s. You might want to look into upgrading your brakes.

You should also upgrade the gearing as well. I'm not sure if there is a gear chart for RAMs, but you probably want to make sure the RPMs stay at around stock level.

Larger tires will be harder on the axle shafts as well. I'm not really sure how strong the ZF Axles are, since I haven't seen much info on them. There is also not much after market support for them either... You'll be limited to a maximum of 4.10 gears at of now.

So I'm pretty sure lifting it and adding larger tires will lower your towing capacity.

 

[Thor09]

I've hauled smaller stuff before but just picked up a 6x10 today. It weights about 3000# and I'm lifted 8" up front with 315 tires. I had no problems pulling hills today. I don't know how much you look to pull but I couldn't tell I had 3000# behind me at all.

I have a 5.75" drop hitch but I'll be looking for an 8" drop bar when I put on my 37s.

 

[davetha]

I've hauled smaller stuff before but just picked up a 6x10 today. It weights about 3000# and I'm lifted 8" up front with 315 tires. I had no problems pulling hills today. I don't know how much you look to pull but I couldn't tell I had 3000# behind me at all.

I have a 5.75" drop hitch but I'll be looking for an 8" drop bar when I put on my 37s.

What gearing do you have? It looks like the op has a 2011 to the biggest gearing he could go to is 4.10.

I've pulled around 7000lbs behind my truck with 3.92 gearing and stock tire size. It did ok going up hills but it did have to shift to 3rd most of the time to maintain speed.

 

[AV8B6015]

There are some guys who have gone to 4.56 gears in these trucks, and it seems like they all LOVE it. I recall reading that the gears fit, but just barely (and with some grinding on the cover maybe?). Do a search on 4.56 gears, and you'll get some great info. I have a 6 inch lift on mine, but the most I've towed is a 16 foot trailer with 2 4 wheelers on it. No problems whatsoever. Well, other than getting about 8 or 9 mpg at highway speed!

 

[TheSatinPumpkin]

No go with the '11 at this time.

There are some guys who have gone to 4.56 gears in these trucks, and it seems like they all LOVE it. I recall reading that the gears fit, but just barely (and with some grinding on the cover maybe?). Do a search on 4.56 gears, and you'll get some great info. I have a 6 inch lift on mine, but the most I've towed is a 16 foot trailer with 2 4 wheelers on it. No problems whatsoever. Well, other than getting about 8 or 9 mpg at highway speed!

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk

 

[davetha]

Exactly. The op should probably just wait for after market gears. Or else it will probably have issues at highway speeds while lowing anything large.

 

[Thor09]

What gearing do you have? It looks like the op has a 2011 to the biggest gearing he could go to is 4.10.

I've pulled around 7000lbs behind my truck with 3.92 gearing and stock tire size. It did ok going up hills but it did have to shift to 3rd most of the time to maintain speed.

I have 3.55 gears and I throw on my Tow Haul button. I also have a few performance mods. If I did gears, my preference would be 4.10

 

[zack]

i have no trouble towing on 37s an stock 373s an brakes thats what trailer brakes an trailer brake controls are for dont burn up the brakes on the truck

 

[zack]

ok sorry just seen you had gas 1500 sorry

 

[[email protected]]

That's a big trailer Zack!

I tow the Adam's Polishes trailer with my truck on 40" tires without a problem. Trailer is packed full of liquid containers. Don't know the weight, but it's not a problem. My trans is about as beef as it gets, so no data on a stock trans. My brother has towed an open car trailer with his '09 on 40"s no problem as well.

Yes, get a drop hitch, it'll help big time!

If you lift your truck, expect the warranty to go out the door. But I haven't been too sucessful getting a dealership to honor a warranty on a stock vehicle to start, so I wouldn't let that sway my decision.

Good luck and keep us posted!