I would like some advice on how big of a lift I need . I've jacked up a jeep before but I know each truck is different. I've got a 2001 ford powerstroke 4x4 SRW. It was my daddies and he's dead so money can't buy it!!!!! It's VERY SPECIAL TO ME !!!!!!! I done want to work in it anymore. I want it to just be a toy and see a little mud ever once in a while. I want 44s underbit and I know from the jeep it will take a lot of money. I can save though! I thought leaf springs would be the way to go. But I'll listen to anything anyone has to say! The name of my truck is STROKER!!! (PowerSTROKE) !!! Like I said it was daddies so I want to take as good of care of it as I can. Thanks for any advice!😊

 

Nice you want to keep dads truck around... and Welcome to FTE.

To the nuts and bolts of it, 44's require some imagination, a 10" kit will get you to 40's. The budget is going to be expensive to put all of this fabrication together with additional components to steering, driveline and gears. FabTech offers cut out fender flares, what condition is the body in? 44 is a big shoe to wear and when you get to that point, military style axles start coming into the picture to handle the stress.

 

Maximum is correct. 44's are insanely heavy, the Sterling 10.5 and Dana 50 are solid axles but even they will snap under the stress of 44.

It would probably be 4 or 5 times as expensive to set up the truck to run 44's vs 37's, properly. You'll need to upgrade everything, steering and suspension, new gears somewhere in the mid 5's, cryo treat the axles and ring/pinion gears if you're gonna run what's in the truck now. The wheel hop will be horrible with a 12" lift leaf spring, so you probably need ladder bars to control the axle wrap. Plus possibly some driveline work and a half dozen shocks.

Tremendous amount of work and money, but it's doable.

 

Then we COULD bring up the safety factory. Steering and stopping become difficult at that size lift/tires. It is also illegal in many states.

 

Thanks so much for the Advice! I do appreciate it! Another question? Do y'all know of anyone who makes a good 10 inch lift or do they stop at 8 inch lifts? Thanks again for any input!😀

 

You can research lifts all day, SuperLift Suspension has been around a long time.

 

The other gears that will work with carrier in those rear ends are 3.54

 

I would suggest that if you're wanting to take care of it as a toy, I wouldn't go for much past 37's. It will save you a lot of work and money for one, but if you're getting into the 44" tire range and looking to play in the mud pits, chances are you're going to break something. As said above, a lot of the 'big boy' mud trucks are running military or custom-built axles, custom lift kits, etc. etc. They also have damaged or removed large portions of their bodies.

 

not to be the materialistic one of the discussion ….but how much money do you have for this project? I understand it was your dads truck and the sentimental and emotional attachment that it brings….but such project as you plan really tends to stack up dollars pretty fast. I’ve helped on builds with trucks on 44s in the 90s and it was as expensive then as it is now. Just as a fyi a set of 44s runs 1200 a pop so say $5500 give or take depending on brand? That’s just the tires. Add in 4 wheels most likely custom width and special order.
the reason I ask is because I purchased a lot of half finished projects through out my life at very substantial discounts and I have personally seen a few of these sentimental projects end up rotting away because the person ran out of money but couldn’t brig themselves to sell it and didn’t have the money to finish it. So it rotted away.

before yiu get all crazy with the what lift i need I would sit down and flat out make a plan on what you want out of the vehicle as far as use, looks performance reliability. And set a realistic budget for the project While 44s sound like a good idea and look awesome on a jacked up truck there is a whole lot of money to get there.

I’ve modified many vehicles. One of the first ones was a 1989 GMC my wife and I bought back when we were dating a billion years ago. We still have the truck. Funny it’s actually in the planning stages of making it back to the stock look vehicle we had when we bought it….a billion years ago.

 

Budget? To run a 44, be able to take it mudding and not have to replace axle parts constantly you'll need , at the minimum, 2.5 ton axles, custom leaf springs somewhere in the 12" range, and hydraulic assist steering. You'd be better off at that point going to a 4 link and coilover suspension front and rear, but that's big money.

You can get the off the shelf 8" system, which says it fits a 38X13.5 tire, With cut out fender flares you could probably clear a 40. I don't recommend them but with a 2-3" body lift you could probably get a 42 in there with the right wheel size/offsett. You'd need to swap in a Dana 60 front axle if you don't have one, and you'd have to put all HD axles and joints in it, and same with the rear, for them to live on the street. You'd probably still break axle parts if you go mudding. Without hydraulic assist steering you should learn how to rebuild steering boxes and keep spares and rebuild kits on hand.

Unless you have the time, money and dedication to actually turn it into a big mud truck, buy the 8" kit and run some 38 mud tires and have fun with it.