You guys are making me really excited about the next few months as I start to buy things for my truck. So I'm leaning towards 305/65s now. and i have 3.55 geara right now but I'm tossed up on new gears because I do a pretty even mix with highway and city... (Probably gonna wait it out like pizzaman said) But thank you again Kmac and pizza manfor your help. Before I started this thread, I read probably 10 of each of yalls posts and I just am so glad I have y'all teaching me things I've been trying to learn for months. And as for the stabilizer, I'm not getting it. You guys were spot on. I do have a new question though.. What is a locker... I've heard about it on 2wd trucks but I can't really grasp what it is and what it does... If it helps for traction off road I may need that because where I do my fishing and outdoor activities is basically mud city to get around... So any insight is always appreciated and just just so y'all know, I love both your trucks, a lot. I love the looks you have and the work you've both put in! Edit: oh and I was wondering what I should do to achieve the 1.5 inch level up front. I know you said lift xoil but I'm apacwg trouble finding one! I can only find the 1.5 inch Daystar polyurethane spacer and I always here they compress (

 

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/...psuutxkxge.jpg
http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4m6nw7wj.jpg

How it sits right now. Nearly all plastics have been rejuvenated with plasti dip(lower valence, grill, grill surround, wiper cowl, side steps, rear bumper, rear tag lights, tail gate handle, rims) and it has newer upper and lower control arms up front and a turn down dual Flo series exhaust. There has been no other modifications done. My parents kept it stock besides a sound system and exhaust for 14 years

 

Waiting on gears is definitely smart, cause I am too. It may be 2 weeks or a few months, but I want them for the extra power and reduced stress on the transmission.

Thanks for the compliment on my truck! Pizza/Paul just got a new white 2011, if you haven't seen that. Think he's got his black one sitting around still.

Paul knows more about the 97-03s, so I'm not sure why you can't find lift coils. Are there any 2" lift coils you can find?

I'm not really qualified to talk about lockers, but one should provide better traction and keep both tires locked when spinning instead of the stupid open diff my truck has (only one wheel will spin a lot of the time when there's little traction). I know what some of them do and how they work to an extent, but limited slip, lockers, Tru-trac, etc. all melt together for me. Haven't researched them recently enough to remember.

 

Well Kmac, my money went into savings today and the deal me and my parents made so I have $200 and I will jiar have to wait a little longer to start my trucks transformation. I have ddecided I want 5 inches of lift if its 3.5+1.5 or 3+2 I'm getting spindle and lift coils if I can find any. I'm gonna run a 33.6 inch tire and an 18 inch rim for sure. My list is this: door actuators (mine are barely alive, , seat covers, tuner, bull bar, 20 inch LED light bar to mount on it, SCT Flashpaq, wheels, tires, then wishfil mods are a double din head unit, 01+ p.i heads or new headers, true dual exhaust, gears and finally a locker. And you're welcome. I really like your truck 2012 is the last year I really like so I'd love to see your new truck pizza!

 

Sorry to pester you guys again but I want to learn and I know guys have a ton of good info.. Well I will be working as much as I can to earn money for my truck. I want to get 325/60/18 toyos for tires which are 33.0 inches which I think will look fine with 5 inches but is it too wide....? But my question is what should I do. 3.5+1.5 or 3+2.... I'm really tossed up but once I price everything else I think my parents may buy some and let me pay them back in full... So any advice or experiences are very helpful...

 

Sorry, I don't know how I didn't see this!

I don't think those 325/60/18's are too wide as long as the wheels are at least 9" wide. Pizza may be able to comment, but those would only be an issue if they would rub on the inside of some suspension components/ the spindles.

It's never pestering though, cause we like to help, and your questions aren't the same ones we see asked every day!

 

Sorry I haven't seem this thread in a while, work and moving is keeping me pretty busy haha.

But to answer some questions, 2" lift coils should be readily available on sites like eBay. 1.5" ones may or may not be discontinued just due to how old the 97-03's are, but possible doestch, springtech, or Canuck motorsports may still have some in stock. Otherwise a 1.5" spacer should be okay.

As for deciding on the lift to go with, I'd go spindle plus the spacer/lift coil to get the 5" since it'll ride a bit better and the angles will be somewhat better. But this is only of course if you don't mind the spindles making the front track width 1.25-1.5" (depending on brand) wider per side. Otherwise a body lift with some gap guards and maybe some running boards would work and look nice as well.

As for lockers, if your truck doesn't have the factory limited slip, they'd definitely be something worth looking into to. Every little bit helps in mud with 2wd. Also, in addition airing down the tires some and adding some extra weight to the bed would help too, just if you air down you have to be careful not to spin a tire of the rim or split the bead.

The 325/60r18's would work nice on a 8.5-9" wheel with about 4.5" of backspacing and rubbing should be non existent with that combo with maybe the exception of the frame at full lock on unlevel ground or the corner of the valence, but that's an easy unnoticeable trim to fix.

 

I'm think 2 inch lift coils if I can find them and a 3 inch spindle with 3.5 block in the rear....I'll wait on the locker and just stick with 4.10s and a tuner. Wheels and tires with my discount still are rough

 

Yuuup! I can swallow the $2700 for my lift, and the $1100 for my wheels, but the $1700 tires are what's killing it for me.

 

I'm looking at $800 for wheels, $600 for lift but these $1100 tires...... holy crapppppppppp.....

 

Man, you're doing this for a full $2k less than me . . . wish I was getting off that easy! But right? Why are the disposable wear items more expensive than everything else, especially the pieces of metal they're attached to? Haha

 

Well that's just the spindle lift, level and blocks... I'll still need shocks... And the labor for wrapping the wheels and the alignment.... Not a lot but still having to fork more cash over... Since I'm buying it all now I think I may get cheap 33's and let my parents buy my next set for graduation in a year....

 

I'd look for used 33s if you're gonna do that. Otherwise it'd be cheaper (for the family in the long run) to just buy one good set and be done.

 

You're 100℅ right about saving money. And earning all this money for lifting it is great but I could get a running low mile 5.4l from my neighbor for $300(2002 4x4 expedition that just isn't wanted anymore) .. Get a leveling kit for $150.... Free labor... 1 a/t tires 31 inches with 18 inch rims for $1400... (With discount) and potentially do the swap for anywhere from a few hundred to a grand to swap it in and make it safe... And boom I'm at the same price.... I'm just tossed up now... Mpg will suffer and college is gonna be expensive any ways.... I don't wanna hurt my parents wallets too much.... And my scholarships aren't very extravagant.... I just can't bring my self to lift it now seeing what big tires can do to mpg even with bolt ons and tuners... I get about 17-18,city... And about 1920 highway with a stock 4.6l and a rebuilt tranny with a clean engine... That's awesome for my truck and I don't want to lose that.... So what do you guys do to rationalize the lift of your truck and lower mpgs? Besides the fact that lifted f-150s are absolutely gorgeous vehicles...

 

33s and a small lift really won't hurt you that much. 35s or 37s and you have a problem. My 33s, though narrow, basically didn't affect my mileage at all. 275/70/18 would be the same size as mine for 18s and I can vouch that the mileage change would be minimal.

My justification? I've wanted a lifted truck for a long time, and if I don't do it now, I may never be able to have one in the future. Maybe I'll have 10 lifted trucks by the time I die, but maybe I won't have any. Cars are the one thing I care about and that I HAVE to have all the time (like have a cool car/truck), but kids/family may come first for the next 30 years.

How far away is your college from where you live? Cause you really don't drive much at college, especially if you live on campus. I only drove on the weekends pretty much my whole first year. I'm gonna get 9 MPG, but when a tank lasts 3-4 weeks, who cares?

If you're thinking of swapping the 5.4 in, (?) I wouldn't open that can of worms.