Hey guys, just bought a 1996 supercab shortbox with the 5.8 liter 4x4...interior is absolutly mint and the engine only has 161,000 KM and some minor rusting which fender flares should fix up...i'll get some pictures up hopefully by next weekend.

I definitly want to look at lifting to clear some bigger tires, as this will be a dailydriver as well as half decent performance off road, nothing extreme mind you.

I guess first of all whats the biggest tire I can run without feeling like I need to change gears.

Im thinking 33? maybe 35?

and what would be a sufficent lift kit but im mostly lookin for a kit thats easy to install and keeps the truck reliable...like stayin away from having to extend and fab too much stuff.

4inch perhaps???

thanks dan.

 

nice! and welcome!

for fender flares i did bushwacker extend-a-fender flares.

im running 35's with stock gears(3.73), although when i rebuild my tranny ill swap in new gears

i did 6 inch rough country, it was all bolt on. me and one buddy had the lift completely installed in my driveway in a day and a half with basic tools. i bought the lift from Top Gun Customz for right at $515 shipping included, their in Tennessee and customer service was great. 4 inch will clear 33's, 6 will clear 35's.



heres a link to some pics of all the work i've done if you havent seen it yet.

 

First off, unless you do a cutout style flair that actualy requires cutting the fender, flairs will only cover rust, not stop it.

Second, 33s will fit stock, with bumper trimming. They fit great with a leveling kit. You can fit 35s with a 4 inch lift. I will reccommend Rancho for a 4 inch kit and BDS for a 6 inch kit. They are the best in thier class for suspension. Whichever you go with, dont use the shocks they come with, replace them with Bilstiens. Also go with the extended radius arm option for whichever kit you use. Both kits are bolt on, other than some cutting to remove stock parts.

Good luck.

 

perfect thanks for the quick answears...how bout gettin a little more oomph out of her?? intake exhaust chips? wheres the best bang for your buck?

for exhaust what are guys doing, my other vehicle im sellin right now is a 98 durango with the 5.2 l and all i did on her was cut out the stock muffler and put in a magnaflow..it had a great sound but it could have been louder, like im not talkin wake the dead loud or attract all the cops within a 3 block radius lol

thanks dan.

 

i didnt was to do any fender or bumper trimming because my body has zero rust anywhere...

i did k&n intake and filter, some cheap longtube headers, some mandrel bent 2-1/2 inch exhaust pipe and flowmaster super 44's, true dual set up with no cats... its nothing special, sounds awesome though!

i originally had a FM 50 series and it had a nice mild rumble.

 

Easy power and performance gains for these trucks:

1. Complete tune-up and timing bump. Search about the timing bump part.

2. Exhuast. Shorty headers, new y-pipe with high flow cats, muffler of choice and SINGLE 3" pipe.

3. Insulate the stock airbox and make sure you have a good clean filter. All of the "cold air" intakes like the K&N are really hot air intakes as they pull hot air from the engine bay. The stock setup is designed to pull cool air from the outside.

4. Make sure all other fluids and filters are clean or topped off.

That is the most simple stuff you can do. You have a 351, so you could gain some from swapping heads and intakes, but that is a little more involved.

Dont waist your time with throttle body spacers and chips. They are useless for these trucks. Same goes for all the open element intake kits.

 

the k&n has a heat shield that seals up nice and tight to the hood on my truck and it actually keeps the stock air scoop by the grille forcing in cool air as you drive, heres my k&n:

 

so i lied...well I didn't actully have the truck when I first posted this...went and picked her up yesterday and it's actully a 95 aposed to a 96...which im thinking is a good thing for me. as far as i know the 96 they went to obdII...which i heard is a pita to deal with the o2 sensors (3 of them?)

so mine I crawled under and has just a single o2 right where they combine and then stock cat to the muffler

which direction should I be heading for the exhaust..should i look at gettin a set of headers? is the gain worth it?
also removing cat would that be ideal..we have absolutly no emmision control here in alberta...dont want extremly loud letting everyone know im coming within a 3 block radius expecially the cops...including some of my buddies there trucks had the most annoying highway drone...going 100 (km/h) the rpms are at about 1600-1700...coming from my durango constant 2000 should get better mpg...on the durango I let everything stock and went with a magnaflow muffler...and it had a great sound i'd maybe like just a tad louder...if i deleted the cat and went with a shorter magnaflow muffler would I be good to go?

thanks
dan.

 

Headers are a great idea. Do not delete the cats, regardless of local laws. We all breath the air around us. Go with a high flow cat and the muffler of choice.