New truck, thinkin about a small lift

[Aftershock00]

[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]So I'm the new owner of a 2017 ram 2500 Cummins 4x4 Laramie with sport appearance package and off road after recently selling my 08 of basically the same truck with some mods. [/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]Since this truck has more sensors, parts, and computers than an IT company, I got the extended warranty. [/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]On my last truck, I had a 3" Thuren lift, with extended control arms, track bar, sway bar links, etc.... it was done right and I was very happy with the looks and function of it all.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]Now, this new truck, I know I should just keep it stock, but I really miss having that aggressive stance. [/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]That being said, I have two buddies that are both master mechanics but are both ying and yang. One says let's throw a 4" lift on it, it's not gonna hurt anything it's a HD truck and I don't tow heavy, if at all. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]The other says to keep stock because a 3" lift will cause my front end to fall apart in no time with ball joints, uv joints, etc, etc and he tells me he sees trucks all the time with lift kits that basically have self destructed due to the lift. Now I'm not sure if these trucks had bargain rate rough country stuff in there or if they were properly lifted using carli, thuren, etc type companies.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]My question to you all is who to believe. Knock on wood but I plan on having this truck for atleast 7 years and I want my truck to be surprisingly tight when I sell it, not some slop box. That's how my 08 was, but it was only lifted for about 10k miles.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]To be even more geometrically safe, I was thinking of doing a 2" front lift and 1" rear just to maintain a slight rake and reduced driveshaft angle. Of course, I would still do control arm drop brackets and sway at links and whatever could restore the geometry as best as possible.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]So what do you guys think?? If I go this route, am I prematurely wearing the truck out? And if I am, is it slight premature wear or massive?[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]I'd prefer to hear from people with actual experience and/or knowledge, not someone shooting from the hip.[/FONT][/FONT]
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[Killer223]

my 04 is stock. just 285-70/17 tires. i just replaced the ball joints a few years ago at 230K.
my 08 is leveled and now after being leveled with Thuren coils, i'm in need of an almost entire front end.
if you want it to last for ever leave it alone. if you turn over truck ever 8-10 years and don't mind passing one a worn out truck to the next guy. lift it.

 

[Aftershock00]

Hmmm, well thank you for the first hand comparison. Does the 08 have taller tires or wider offset?

I'm still trying to determine if lift correlates to more wear or causes more wear. The difference is that maybe it's not the lift that causes the wear and tear, but actually the taller, wider, offset tires that usually coincide with it.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Anything that changes OEM geometry is going to have an effect on wear. To what extent depends on numerous factors. In general lifts add to, or dramatically change, the stresses incurred and increased (and/or unfavorable) wear is inevitable. I don't think people put enough emphasis on the front-end alignment, and in my experience finding a good, competent alignment shop that can handle the complexities of larger vehicles is hard to do.

 

[Killer223]

4th gen 18" 275-70-18. Tall skinny tires.

 

[Jim W]

Hmmm, well thank you for the first hand comparison. Does the 08 have taller tires or wider offset?

I'm still trying to determine if lift correlates to more wear or causes more wear. The difference is that maybe it's not the lift that causes the wear and tear, but actually the taller, wider, offset tires that usually coincide with it.

I have an 2008 Ram Mega Cab with the old style steering linkage geometry and no lift. I have had a tie rod failure at the joint on the RH side. My mileage was a little over 81,000 miles when this happened. With stock size tires and rims, LT265/70R/17 Michelins. At that time I replaced the drag Link, tie rods, upper and lower ball joints, RH and LH side along with the RH Hub& BRGS. The LH Hub & BRG was replaced at 72,000 miles.

My younger son lifted his 2013.5 Ram last week end with a 3" lift kit. He said it rides good and is level now with the backend, no more rake. He and his older brother took 12 hours to install the kit. They are both mechanically incline as one his a plumber and the other his a pipe fitter. My older son who his the fitter also has a side job of owning a small diesel performance shop in Northern IL.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I have a '14 3500 4x4 srw long bed that I put Thuren 3" front coils, shocks and 35" tires on stock 18" rims. I think I've got around 65K miles on this setup and nothing in the front end is loose or worn. I bought the lifetime alignment deal from Firestone when I put the 35's on and I have it aligned 2-3 times a year per Thurens specs. The truck rides 100x's better than it did stock. I'm very happy with it.

 

[Aftershock00]

Thanks guys for all of your continued responses. I think this is a healthy conversation, especially because people seem to be far to one school of thought or the other.

I have no doubt that if someone just slaps just spring extension blocks or just an extended spring and call it a day, I'm sure that'll lead to issues.

But if I put 2-3" spring in front and the next:
Add carli control arm drop bracket...that should zero out the difference in the control arms
Add carli or thuren track bar, that should re center the axle from left to right.
Add swaybar drops or just add extended sway bar... that should bring the sway bar to correct angle
Add longer shocks designed for the extra 2" of travel like bilstein or king, etc, that should ensure the shocks are traveling the right stroke
Have everything aligned by a reputable alignment shop with state of art equipment.
Other than the front driveshaft angle being a little more, I don't see what else is really off from factory geometry.

I'm not a mechanic, nor do I claim to be, but I am mechanically inclined and fairly intelligent and I've seen and heard enough experienced "master" craftsman do or profess one thing or another and when I ask them why that is, they really can't articulate it. It's more of a "my fathers brother in law taught me and he used to be a race car builder so everything he says is fact" type of thing.

I guess I'm really just looking for the logic behind it.
Same thing with tires...apparently if I put 35's on my truck is gonna fall apart tomorrow. Now I understand how some of these rims with extreme offsets can crank some leverage on bearings and ball joints, but I don't see how just adding a tires that is 1.5" more than stock (.75 per side /radius) is going to wreak that much havoc on a truck that is capable of towing 12k pounds through the mountains every day.

Thoughts and conversation is appreciated

 

[Shadrach]

I prefer stock. My 08 has a 2" lift on the front end that the original owner did. Personally I would like to remove it because I tow. If you want to spend money on stuff like this then do it with Carli or Thuren parts from companies who have done the research. In other words do it right or don't do it at all.


David

 

[Regcabguy]

Consider Thuren's 2" leveling kit.