AboutCarl Brandt Expertise Will discuss suspensions, lifts, lockers along with tire suggestions. Trail ratings and possible requirements needed for specific type of trails. Safety equipment and what you should carry with you. Certified off-road instructor.
I am not a mechanic, and 4-Wheeling is a hobby, so if I can't answer a technical question it is due to my mechanical knowledge being related to vehicles that I have owned, or have worked on. I do not have manuals on all vehicles.
Experience Experience in the area 40 plus years of 4 wheeling in a variety of vehicles. At the present time, my major off-road rig is a 94 Jeep Wrangler with a spring over and a 3 1/2" suspension lift. This gives me a total lift of 9" or so. I have lockers front and rear. I have removed the track bars, and sway bar for maximum articulation. I am running a stock 2.5 ltr 4 cylinder with a Jacobs ignition along with a K&N air filter. It has 4.56:1 gears with a Dodge NV4500 transmission along with a 3.8:1 Atlas II transfer case. This gives me a final ratio of 95:1 in low gear/low range.
Other vehicles I own, are a 95 Ford F-250 with a 6" lift, posi rear end, 35" MT's, 5 speed with a fuel injected 460 ci engine, and a stock 2000 Grand Cherokee.
Trails I have run are the Rubicon (10 times), Dusey Ershim, Fordyce Creek trail, McGrew trail, several trails in Moab, Utah along with local monthly runs.
Organizations I belong to
President of Lost Coast 4x4's (8 years)
http://lostcoast4x4.org
Blue Ribbon Association
United Four Wheel Drive
Corva
Cal 4 Wheel
Question I want to level out my dodge ram truck. I believe this means raising the front about 1.5 to 2 inches. I also want to go from 16 to 17 inch rims on the tires. I don't want the truck to be a huge off-road style truck, just a little bigger like a 2500. Here's my question. I have seen leveling kits that use coil spring spacers, but my mechanic told me he could do the same thing by tightening up the torsion bars. I don't really understand how. What are the pros and cons of each method? And will this be enough room for 17 inch tires to fit ok? It looks like it would be plenty of room to me.
Answer Lewis,
The amount of lift you want is determined by the size of the tires (IE 31", 33", or 35"), not the size of the rim. You can put low profile, or hard core large tires on any of the rims, so you need to decide what size tire you want to run. You can get some lift by tightening the torsion bars, but this will also limit your travel to a certain extent. I lifted my Grand Cherokee 2" with an inexpensive lift kit, but I only do minor to medium trails with it.
You can try adjusting the torsion bars and see if it does what you want. If not, you may need to go to a true lift kit. Remember, 1.5" to 2.0" is not much of a lift.
