Need help with lifting

[tonster307]

Hello all,

First off I'm sure most of what I am going to be asking has been asked on these forums before so I apologize in advance. I will start by saying my truck is a 1500 black express 2015. I am not really sure what size the tires are on them (if someone could help with that first off that would be awesome).

I am looking to lift/level my truck but I am hearing so many different things I am kind of confused. I believe the black express already sits higher than most models but I could be wrong about that. I am looking to get 4-6" lift but I'm not sure what would be best and how to do it. I have a friend who's cousin does these things for a living but I haven't spoken with him directly but I plan on having him put it on whenever I decide what I'm doing. I drive a pretty decent amount (about 450-500 miles a week). I have read that this affects mpg but it was also in a post about tires so I didn't know what exactly was more of the issue. I am thinking I'm the future I am going to put 35" tires on my truck, but I didn't know if I should wait and put the tires and lift at the same time. I really don't mind the tires and rims that came with the vehicle I just didn't want to get it lifted and have it end up looking all out of proportion. I also am thinking about putting fender flares(I think that's what they are called?) on it after I lift it as well.

Really I want my truck to be big but I don't want to go over the top with all of the driving I do. If you guys could give me tips point me in the right direction, places to buy the kits from, places to buy tires from(someone told me just keep checking Craigslist, but I have always been skeptical about that).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

 

[jstacey8]

I'd say your best off with a zone 4 inch lift and a nice set of a/t 35's

 

[xrsman]

If you put 450-500 miles on per week the last think you want is a lift and 35's...they'll hit you huge in the mpg department. I went from about 24 mpg US to 18 mpg US on the same trip once I did the lift and 35's.

If I drove as much as you I wouldn't even consider this set up lol. But hey if you've got the money to burn than go for it!

Maybe do a leveling kit and some more aggressive stock size tires. That will still hurt your mileage but not near as much.

As for tires before or after lift. Here's my before and after tires. My tires were on back order for a few months so I had to wait to other 35's on.

 

[tonster307]

Yeah that's what I heard, I think I'm just pretty set on lifting it. I just am kind of confused on what the differences are between the types of lifts.

 

[xrsman]

Yeah that's what I heard, I think I'm just pretty set on lifting it. I just am kind of confused on what the differences are between the types of lifts.

Well really there are 2 types of lifts for these trucks. You can do a suspension lift or a level + body lift.

A suspension lift is going to cost more money and if you do a lot of off roading you'll want this. It lifts the whole truck (frame and all) off the ground.

A level plus body lift is great if you want the lifted look but aren't going to be going heavy offroading often. This will also save you over $1000. The main difference is that the level will lift the entire truck and the body lift will just lift the body of the truck up.

My truck has a 2" front level, 1.5" rear level, and a 3" body lift. Total of 5" of lift.

Now if I could do it over I'd just go with a 6" Zone lift for simplicity.

 

[chiefgoodman]

If you put 450-500 miles on per week the last think you want is a lift and 35's...they'll hit you huge in the mpg department. I went from about 24 mpg US to 18 mpg US on the same trip once I did the lift and 35's.

If I drove as much as you I wouldn't even consider this set up lol. But hey if you've got the money to burn than go for it!

Maybe do a leveling kit and some more aggressive stock size tires. That will still hurt your mileage but not near as much.

As for tires before or after lift. Here's my before and after tires. My tires were on back order for a few months so I had to wait to other 35's on.

In your first pic, is that leveled already on stock tires?

 

[xrsman]

In your first pic, is that leveled already on stock tires?

That's both the leveling kit and the body lift on stock tires