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To lift, or not to lift....help me decide

80arrow

Active member
Lifetime Membership
Feb 3, 2008
465
40
28
Grand Rapids MN
put the $ into a programmer, exhaust, and a set of wheels with a little bigger tire. That way it is usable and not stock:eek:
 
R
Jan 14, 2009
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Chelan
Have you done the math, that 325/50/20 is only 32.8 inches tall, the problem is the width of tire. To make it look right you would have to put in on a 20x10 wheel. Your truck is Med. offset to that wheel WILL stick out side your fenders. If you want to run a 20" wheel the right ply rating and look would be a LT285/55/20 they come in 10pr and would sit nice in the fender. Just hit your torsion bar a bit, oh you will need a
20x8.5-20x9 with a Med offset. Hope this can help
 
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Jan 29, 2008
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to make them look not bad do a 3inch leveling kit in the front with a 1inch lift in rear and then you can 33's without rubbing. You shouldnt loose any MPG's at all and with 33's it looks not to bad
 
T
Jan 19, 2008
375
10
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Hinton
Big lifts are fun and they look cool but if you rely on your truck to be street friendly and use it every day I would shy away from anything larger than maby a 4" kit and maby some 33x10.5's.

I love my 8" fabtech kit on my duramax but I use it as a play truck and don't drive it very often, and when I do it's usually to take 4 buddies bar hopping. My biggest issue is that the 37"x13.5R20 toyo's are downright dangerous on ice. If I drove this truck daily in the winter the tires would have to change.

As impractical as my truck is, it's still way more useful than a sports car!
 

Transporter

Active member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 26, 2007
1,057
38
48
48
Alberta
Have 8 inch rize lift on superduty.Handles ok.Havnt worn out anything yet.Rides a bit stiffer but I put dirtlogic shocks on and mabye I should let some pressure out of them.Not sure how much is in them and dont know what is reccomended.Sometimes wish i could pull any fithwheel.Anybody do this with an 8.What model trailer you buy?Big tires do suck sometimes if your hiways are pounded out.Not sure if Id do it again.When I drive my stock f-150 I cant believe how easy it is to drive in comparison.
 
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ridehard1212

Active member
Nov 26, 2007
606
26
28
39
LANGLEY BC
def. agree that body lifts are reallllllyyy gay... have a 07 megacab that i lifted 8inchs and 38x15.5 then i lowered it to a 6inch lift and 37x14.5. and if i could trade for a stocker i would.. dont get me wrong truck is absoultly sick looking but it should rode/handled nicer stock!! Also should not the weight of the tires.. when i went from the 38 kuhmo mudder down to the 37 toyo all terrians i dropped roughly 20-25lbs per tire!! that may not seem like much when u r talking about trucks with pretty bif torque ##s but when i changed my tires the extra power that i felt was probably equvalant to jumping a couple of levels on a edge/any 5/6 stage proggramer! like from 2-4 setting!! and this is with a truck that is not extreme but definatly not stock.

so no i would not lift it!!:(

my next truck will be stock with a nice set of wheels and MAX 33s

not to mention the 100g's into the truck and not happy!!:mad:

but i look sweet!!
 
F
Jun 7, 2008
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Heres the deal: Body lifts are extremely GAY! That being said, I cant believe the nay sayers on here. I have a LMM D-Max with a 12" lift rolling on 37"s and I absolutely love it! Even pulling my 23' snowmobile trailer it does awesome. (Just have to use a big drop hitch) ;)

Although you may not want as big of a lift as mine, I say jack that sucker up! Cool Factor alone makes it tottaly worth it! :cool:

Yes it may wear through front end parts a little quicker, but thats the sacrifice for a smooth chevy ride. Just dont turn your tortion bars up...that definitly eats front end parts quicker and also rides a lot stiffer. Make sure you get a lift that relocates the front end parts to keep everything at factory angles and alignment and parts will last a lot longer.

Also, despite a couple comments on here, lifting it will not bring the value down. In fact, in my experience, it makes it way easier to sell when you decide to.

And as far as MPGs go, to me losing a couple isn't that big of a deal. I'm gonna fill the tank and go anyways and its only a few bucks diference. So just buy one less soda and candybar when you fill 'er up and you're good to go. Thats my opinion. Good luck with your decision and let us know what you decide. :D
 
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NITROSKIDUDE

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2003
2,034
98
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SPOKANE WA.
Ditto With Flyguy My 01 2500 Duramax now has 200000 + miles on it and the lift has been on for almost half that, I run a 6" with 35x12.5 Toyos and love it. for the first year i had the lift it was my work truck, I used to haul a 20 flatbed trailer with a Bobcat a ton of rebar and usually a breaker or an auger attachment for the machine.

and i used for the same thing before the lift. Personally I think i get a smoother ride , due to the fact i like to run my tires a little light on air so i see it wear about a 1/8th on an inche on the side wall, i get the most miles out of the tire that way. In fact i have had Les Swab make comments on how i get so many miles out of my tires.

But the only reason for lifting the truck in my opinion is looks there is no purose,

I have the Tuff country lift with no problems My old 94 GMC had the same type of lift too, i had Swabs check and retorque that one still no Prob.


Good luck on you choice.
 

Vern

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Jun 14, 2004
2,455
1,285
113
hyrum utah
You have an 01 2500HD? I am pretty sure they come with a 2" body lift so the allison transmission clears the floorpan... :rolleyes:

thats what i've heard but upon lookin at it there dont appear to be any kind of 2" spacers or anything to make the extra clearancce so i don't know how true it is. from what ive seen cab and stuff appears to sit the same height off the frame as on my buddys half tons.

if it is true gm done a dam good job covering it up and i still say body lifts are gay.
 
K
Feb 19, 2008
100
1
18
ESko, mn
Body lifts suck ***! If you intend on just driving the truck down the road once and a while a body lift is probably worth your money, but if you are actually going to use your truck I would stick with suspension. Body lifts are a cheap lift but you are getting what you pay for. I have seen people twist their frames and loose the box off the truck, because of the longer mounting bolts. From how you described your truck, you don't really need a lift, I would get one only if you intended on offroad your rig. My dad has an 02 duramax and we put some 33" tires on it with no problem and not even messing with the torsion bars.
 
P
Nov 27, 2007
39
0
6
Minnesota
Thanks everyone for the input!

Well, I thought about it this weekend, read what everyone has said on here, and I guess I am deciding not to do it.

It was a very tough decision, I guess what it came down to two different reasons.

1st: A lot of people said they have done it and would like to go back to stock or wouldn't do it again.

2nd: Probably the main reason, the money I would spend on wheels and the lift would just about pay off my truck. Something about not having a truck payment right now sounds REALLY GOOD to me.

Being a responsible adult really sucks some times.

That being said these are for sale again

LT325/50R20

Thanks again,

Packer
 
P

proflexbeast

Guest
If it were me, I would put a cognito leveling kit up front and then get a set of airbags in the back so when you pull your trailers it will still sit level and ride good to. Just my opinion though.
Have fun
Trent
x2 i put a leveling kit on the front of my 2000 Ford F350 and Airbags on the rear. I dont recommend a lift kit for your application. I tow a 22' boat, four place enclosed snowmobile trailer and have a 10' Lance camper. The airbags work wonderful and i dont need a elevator to get into my truck.
 
K
Feb 10, 2009
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By what you have said, it looks like you use this truck to travel and tow and not just drive it around. That being said, I would have to say don't lift it. I have had several lifted trucks and always had the same problems when it came to hauling, towing, etc.. My last truck had 12" lift with 38" tires. I know this might be a little more that most trucks I see but I lifted it for 4-wheeling and not towing, taking trips and hauling. The wear and tear on the components will cost you $$$. If you go with big tires you will have to rotate them every 2K miles, brakes will wear twice a fast as normal, upgrades to braking system may be required based on the lift/tire size, regearing is a must for large lifts and probably a good idea for any suspension lift. Larger tires use a soft rubber and although they say good for 20k or 30K miles, I rarely got more than 15-17K out of them so, $2,000 for new tires every 18 months got old. There are many great things about having a lift but none of the things you listed you use your truck for are on the list of good ones. If you are going for looks and need clearance for 4-wheeling then go for it, but for hauling, towing and taking long trips... keep it stock.
 
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