Stacking Lift Kit with a Level Kit?

[Danny Smith]

Was going to lift my 2016 Ram 1500 4WD with the rough country 6” lift kit and was curious if maybe i could stack a 2” or so leveling kit with it to give me an extra couple inches of lift without stepping all the way up to a 8” or bigger lift kit. I have plans on running 22x12 wheels with 37” tires on the truck so I was wondering if this was possible to give me a little more room for the wheels and if anyone has done this before I’d love to see how it looks. Also, if it can be done, curious to know what other pieces I would need to go along with it to make everything fit perfect and ride good.

 

[S0CAL]

I don’t know which leveling kit you had in mind, but you can easily combine a lift kit and adjustable height struts like Bilstein 5100s or 6112s to level a rake, to 8” in the front. You can also add something a TCG rear coil spacer too. Depending on this, you may need brake line extenders.

This is what I did and have many on the forum.

Good luck!

 

[GIJoe2010]

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[WilliamS]

Some lifts you can combine lift struts like the bilsteins to add to the lift. You can not combine a spacer lift and a true lift kit. For example you can get the zone 6" lift kit and add the bilstein struts to the mix and make a 8.8" total lift if you so wanted on the front.

 

[6.7CumminsDrvr]

Do some research, and then research some more!

Most 6” kits use some sort of strut spacer to achieve the full 6”. And I’m not referring to the spacer on top of the strut assembly. Most of those are 4-4.5” depending on manufacturer then an additional spacer is placed in the strut assembly (just like some leveling spacers) to get the whole 6”. If you use the full 6” kit, you cannot add any leveling kit to gain additional height. What you can do is leave the additional “pre-load” spacer out of the strut assembly and add adjustable shocks like 5100’s, Eibach Pros’, Kings, etc to give more lift.

Just remember your actual lift height is whatever the adjustable shocks are plus the size of the top spacer provided.

So for example, if a company uses a 4.5” spacer on top they’d need something like a 5/8” spacer in the strut to achieve the full 6” (don’t know the exact size but stay with me here). If you leave that out and adjusted you shocks to say, 2.5” you’d have a total lift height of 7”.

Hope that makes sense. Adding 2.5” adjustable coils to a 6” kit will not get you 8.5” of lift. You can physically do this but your cv angles will be crazy and I’ll just leave it at that.

 

[Danny Smith]

I don’t know which leveling kit you had in mind, but you can easily combine a lift kit and adjustable height struts like Bilstein 5100s or 6112s to level a rake, to 8” in the front. You can also add something a TCG rear coil spacer too. Depending on this, you may need brake line extenders.

This is what I did and have many on the forum.

Good luck!

Mind showing me some pics of how yours turned out? I’ll probably do the Bils up front like you and other suggested and then you think I should do a coil spacer to help even it out?

 

[S0CAL]

6” Zone with Bilstein 6112s cranked to 2.6, rear coils @ 5”, with Fox 2.0 shocks. I run 37” Nitto Ridge Grapplers. I have a set of TCG 1” rear coil spacers I plan to add when the weather improves.

You can do it in phases. That is what is so cool about lifting.

 

[Danny Smith]

6” Zone with Bilstein 6112s cranked to 2.6, rear coils @ 5”, with Fox 2.0 shocks. I run 37” Nitto Ridge Grapplers. I have a set of TCG 1” rear coil spacers I plan to add when the weather improves.

You can do it in phases. That is what is so cool about lifting.

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looks good, you think all I need is a 1” spacer to give it a perfectly level look or maybe 1.5” or 2”

 

[S0CAL]

looks good, you think all I need is a 1” spacer to give it a perfectly level look or maybe 1.5” or 2”

It all depends on your factory rake. Every truck is slightly differernt. Some have 1", others 2" and mine had a 3" factory rake. Before you do anything, measure from the top of your fenders to the ground, right thru the centerline of your wheels. Substract the front distance from the rear and you have your rake. From there you can adjust accordingly. Good luck!

 

[Danny Smith]

It all depends on your factory rake. Every truck is slightly differernt. Some have 1", others 2" and mine had a 3" factory rake. Before you do anything, measure from the top of your fenders to the ground, right thru the centerline of your wheels. Substract the front distance from the rear and you have your rake. From there you can adjust accordingly. Good luck!

Which Bilstein shocks should I go with to replace the shocks that come with the Zone 6" lift? I want to have all four match and ride as good as possible.

 

[S0CAL]

Either will do fine. You can go higher with the 5112s (2.8") than the 6100s, but the 6100s are tougher and as a result, cost more. They are beefier than the Fox 2.0s that Zone/BDS/Fox makes. If it were me, I would go 6100s. If you decide to go this route, consider getting the Zone UCAs. Your balljoint angles will thank you.

 

[Danny Smith]

Either will do fine. You can go higher with the 5112s (2.8") than the 6100s, but the 6100s are tougher and as a result, cost more. They are beefier than the Fox 2.0s that Zone/BDS/Fox makes. If it were me, I would go 6100s. If you decide to go this route, consider getting the Zone UCAs. Your balljoint angles will thank you.

Are you referencing the front struts when you say the 5112 and 6100s? I’m asking about the rear shocks if it’s any different.

 

[S0CAL]

Are you referencing the front struts when you say the 5112 and 6100s? I’m asking about the rear shocks if it’s any different.

right, those are front. The rears you need sized for the coil. I ended up swapped 3" Fox 2.0s for 5" 2.0's when I further lifted. If you decide to stay with Bilsteins, the 5000 series will work, but again get them sized for the coils.

Hope that helps!

 

[Darren Plummer]

So i just got a 6 inch zone lift installed on my ram. Went with the 5 inch rear coils. Doesnt look bad but would like abit more height in the front. To achieve an 1" or to in the front , should i just upgrade my front shocks? And if so which ones give lift ? Or should i see about stacking a 2inch zone level kit an c arms to the lift ? Ive seen different routes taken but not sure what is the right route

 

[JB1]

So i just got a 6 inch zone lift installed on my ram. Went with the 5 inch rear coils. Doesnt look bad but would like abit more height in the front. To achieve an 1" or to in the front , should i just upgrade my front shocks? And if so which ones give lift ? Or should i see about stacking a 2inch zone level kit an c arms to the lift ? Ive seen different routes taken but not sure what is the right route

Yes you can add any adjustable front strut like bilstein 6112's, Bilstein 5100's or Eibachs. However you will need to discard the zone preload spacers when you assemble them. Most here with 5" coils use Bilstein 5100's and set them at 2.1".

Good thread with lifts and 37's
https://www.ramforum.com/threads/le...-37s-im-getting-the-itch-to-go-bigger.106501/

Heres mine
https://www.ramforum.com/threads/my-ram-night-on-37s.110444/

Heres one set at 2.8 and he later he added a 3/4" rear spacer because the front was slightly nose high

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/bds-6-with-bilsteins-at-2-8-and-37s.107336/