Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Toughts on putting in a 2" - 2.5" lift kit

I am in the same boat and have done a bunch of research on how to get bigger tires under the truck. First off, I don't think they make such a thing as a "proper" 2"-2.5" lift. Most are variations on leveling kits where you crank the keys up.

If you have a newer truck, you probably don't even need to get new keys, you can just crank yours up. All the BS the aftermarket key makers feed you is just that, BS. If you can get the lift you want from your stock keys, there is no need for their aftermarket keys.

They typically package these with nothing else and sell it as a leveling kit, or with a short block for the rear as a 2"-2.5" lift. No matter how you cut it, cranking the keys all the way up isn't good for the truck. The first thing you need to do is buy longer shocks or get shock extensions, or it will ride really, really bad. Once you do that it just rides really bad, instead of really, really bad. You have to get an alignment after a key crank, and sometimes they cannot get everything to spec if you crank a lot.

Then, your ball joints on your upper control arms are pushed all out of their proper alignment, leading to premature wear. You can fix this by buying aftermarket UCA's from someone like Cognito.

If all this isn't bad enough, the fatal flaw in the whole torsion bar lift is the CV angles. No mater what you do, if you are getting 2.5" of lift from cranking the keys, your CV's will be at awful angles (they should be nearly level). This wears them really fast and they can bind and snap in 4 wheel drive. You can probably go up in the front about an inch before you start to run into troubles. It just depends on how your truck is setup now and what you feel you can live with.

Since you say you want this lift because you go off-road, I assume a functioning 4 wheel drive system is important to you. I believe you will be much happier in the long run if you pony up for a proper 4" or bigger lift and set it so the CV's are at the proper angles. A non torsion bar drop lift (NTBD lift) will keep the bars tucked up under the truck.

As you probably know, the whole point of a lift is to put bigger tires under the truck, as they are what really gives you clearance. Even with a lift, you are probably going to have to do a fender modification to get them to fit, especially if you run 35x12.5's. It is easier to fit a big tire under a truck with stock wheels than aftermarket a, as the aftermarket wheels typically stick out further and exacerbate rubbing.

If I were you I would start with the following.
1. Google "2500hd level green zone" to learn about how far you can go by cranking keys.
2. Google "nor cal nick small fender mod" and "nor cal nick large fender mod" to learn what level of cutting and hammering it takes to fit the tires you want under your truck.
3. Try a small crank and fender mod first. Just don't crank the keys past the green zone. Most good tire shops will do a test fit to see if your tire choice rubs.
4. If you are unhappy with the results, go with a 4 inch lift. You need the fender mod anyway, so you didn't spend a dime trying out the key crank.

Or just screw it all and buy a Jeep and a trailer to haul it on. Good luck!