I have a 2002 SD CC SB 4x4 V10
37x13.5 R17 Mud Terrains on an 8" lift

I bought the truck used with the lift installed by pervious owner, and I have enjoyed rolling around in Bigfoot but its time to make the truck a bit more practical.

I would like to lower the truck and run 35x12.5 R17 in maybe a Nitto AT. My priorities are to smooth out the ride and make the truck more useful as a hauler.... As it sits now you could not find enough friends to load a refrigerator in the bed. And going down the freeway at 65 requires 100% attention as the truck can get bouncing on California concrete freeways. The current lift is front & rear custom National springs with the front having what looks like 3" spring block between the main custom springs and the axel. Thinking that the front main leaf springs are 5" or 6" lift with and 3" or so leaf pack block added in. Front shocks are dual FOX Racing reservoir and the rear the same in a single shock.

So a couple of question for the community.

1. What is the recommend required lift over stock to run 35. 12.5?

2 Recommendations for a basic quality shock with a smooth ride (single front & Rear) I guess I will be needing a new front shock mounts.... Junk yard or buy new?

3. Recommendations on a lift and what I will likely need to lower from 8" down to 4". Could I just use the front leaf springs without the block packs


Thanks Doug

 

this is my 2000 SD, its a homeade lift and i am going to be upgrading to a real 6'' lift soon but as its sits its about 3.5 inches of lift on 35x12.5x16. 4 inches for you would be great i am 6'1'' and i can easily climb into the back and step into the truck. ive also towed a 22' boat and it has towed great. The only reason i want to go with 6 inches of lift is because i get alot of tire rub off road on full lock when hitting bumps and i want to have zero tire rub with room to spare. oh and btw my rims a 4.5 in back space and 10 inches wide.

 

oh and also i have heard it isnt safe to run blocks on the front axel so i would deffinitly take those out. and then look at your rear axel and try to bring the lift down the same amount.

 

Thanks for the reply... Your looks nice with those tires here are a few picks of my truck and what I dealing with.

 

looks good but for a man who needs to work its not practical like you said. I think the easist option would to just go to 4wheelparts.com and find the 4in lift leaf springs and swap them out on your truck. You can keep your shocks and everything. Then you could sell you leaf springs that are 8 in lift springs to make some money back.

 

Also to help with steering make sure those steering stabalizers are in good shape. Just pull them off and see how easy they are to compress. if they compress very easily buy some brand new and you should have tighter steering. I run my truck without a stabalizer and i wish i had the money to buy a kit.

 

I had a 4" lift with 35"s for ten years which worked pretty well, got bored and went to 6 1/2 and 37's but I don't use the truck really anymore for any hauling.

 

The truck worked well with a 4" lift? Looking to lift mine (slightly) I know I could run 35's with a leveling kit, but would prefer a little more tire clearance than the leveling kit would allow, don't want to sacrifice too much functionality with the truck either.

 

Fire doug- Getting rid of the mini spring spacer up front will bring it down a couple inches and still be able to clear those tires since there is some life left. As far as the rear though you may need different springs unless you can remove some to drop a couple in the rear or get them rearched from a spring shop. Bringing it down to a 6" may be just what your after and fill some of the gap nicely. 35x12.5" do fit with factory suspension and a leveling kit. Several have done it without issue.

 

Well I'm 6ft 5" so what works for me may not work for everyone, the height was a good match for the tires in my opinion and it was only a minor struggle to use the bed. At six and a half inches of lift it's a pain in the ***...in my opinion.

 

I'm getting too old and lazy for 6 1/2" lift, just curious about the 4", everybody around here are 6" or higher, I don't care to have it that high.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I am 6'7" and even with fold down steps it is a not any fun to mount my ride.

But the bigger issues are loading anything in the bed of the truck and ride sucks that drinking a cup of coffee on the freeway would make a good youtube laugh video. Coffee comings shooting out the drink hole like a fire house.

Anyway stopped by 4Wheel Parts yesterday and that was a complete waste of time all they did was look up price of an Icon lift and quote me 1000 for install. so for 3k plus the cost of what ever tires I want they would be happy to hook me up with a great deal.

Thats not going to happen!

So back to the research