I have purchased a 6" Fabtech (not installed), however, I am thinking that it is going to be taller than I want w/35" tires. I use my truck for my daily driver, 100 mi/day, and would rather run 33" rather than 35" tires for power/fuel economy reasons. I also commonly tow, and am thinking of purchasing a camper (Lance Lite for the light duty trucks). So I think I am going to go the 4"+ lift route. I have read some information on here about the 4" Rancho and the 4.5" Superlift as well as their websites. Can anyone tell me why one is better than the other, of those 2 brands? What should I be aware of? Why should I go 6" over 4"? Do 35" tires dramatically cut down on power/Fuel economy? I see a lot of suggestions to re-gear with larger tires, which I do not want to do. I am coming from an '04 Ram Diesel not lifted. You all have provided a lot of insight for a new owner. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am torn in what direction to take. Thanks in advance!!

Truck Details:
2007 Lariat, Screw, 5.4L, 4x4, 3.73LS, 6.5' bed, looking at 18" Helo Maxx 6's

 

I recently had a 6" Fabtech and 35's installed on my truck and absolutely love it!

Mine is also my daily driver and I easily do 40-50 miles a day in it. Right now my odometer & speedo are off so not sure how accurate my gas milage is, but last tank I got 13.8 mpg's, that's down from ~16 mpg's I got before my lift & tires. I think I'm actually getting better than that because when I guage it on the highway I usually travel .8 miles on my odometer when by the mile markers on the road I have actually traveled 1 mile. So my odometer is reading less than the actual mileage I have traveled.

You don't have to regear with 35's, it's suggested anything larger than 35's that you do regear though. That's why I was not even entertaining the thought of going bigger than 35's, didn't want ot have to worry about having to regear. Now it may be something I do eventually, but I wanted ot keep it an option rather than a must do item.

Honestly I would just do the 6" since you already have it. Oh yeah check out my gallery, my truck has the 18x9 Helo Maxx 6's that you say you are looking at. I say go for it, they are great looking wheels.

 

If you want to go with 33" tires then I would definitely suggest a 4" lift for looks. I'd also pick the 4" w/ 33's if you want to tow a camper.

Between the Rancho and Superlift, I think you'll be happy with either one if you decide to go that route.

As far as 35's go, I've noticed a significant decrease in performance, but not bad enough to want to regear.

 

I'd just stick with the 6" and 35s, grab yourself an Edge tuner and you'll be fine.

But if your set on a 4" lift, I wouldn't do either, I'd go with the 4.5" RCD.

 

Why would the RCD 4.5" be a better option than the 2 I have looked at? I am not familiar with them.

It will be easy to return the lift. It is on order. I actually purchased it before the truck was delivered ( I ordered the truck) since I received the good deal.

 

there isent going to be a big diffrence between the 4in rancho and 6in fabtech because u can run 33-35 on both and the site about the same hight. But there both nice but i would go with fabtech. jmo

 

There was rumor floating around for a while that the Rancho lift actually gives you 5-6" of lift rather than the 4" it claims. This is not true, you get exactly 4" of lift with the Rancho kit.

Just making sure you have accurate information

 

RCD is a TOP NOTCH company that will stand behind their products more than any other company. I'd say Rize and CST are tied for the best lifts for our 2004+ F150s with RCD coming in second.

 

Of the three 4" lifts, Superlift, Rancho, and RCD - can you run factory rims/tires, just-in-case? Rancho says yes, does anyone have any experience with the superlift or RCD? I see the superlift has some sort of F.I.T. system that appears to bolt on as one unit on the bottom vs. other lift styles, anyone familiar with this? Anyone have pics of a RDC 4" lift?

 

I think you may be thinking of the Rancho with the connected subframe:



Here is the Superlift:



And yes you can run stock wheels on the Rancho kit. I have a picture of it in my gallery.

 

What is the advantage to a rear 2" block for a 4" lift vs. a 2.5" add-a-leaf, other than the obvious .5"? Meaning is a block style a better/worse than aal at this height?

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think AAL's stiffen up the ride a bit more.

 

The most important part of your post concerns putting on a camper. Lance makes two campers that fit our trucks, providing it has a 6.5' or 8' bed. They are the 805 and 815. The 805 does not have a bathroom and you can expect it to weigh around 1500-1600 lbs loaded with gear. More if you add A/C. The 815 (my brother has one of these) has a bathroom and weighs over 2000lbs. loaded.

The stock springs are too soft to hold up that weight safely. So you'll definitely need helper springs or air bags. All of which is doable with a lift kit. Now, take the already high bed of the F150 and add 3-4" to it and another 6" to the front. A camper is going to be way up in the air and will cause a lot of lean. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of and drive accordingly.

The biggest problem you'll have with any lift and a camper is loading and unloading. Especially on uneven ground. The camper jacks only extend so far and may not provide enough clearance for a lifted truck with big tires. So you put spacers under those spindly little legs and with about a ton of camper 8 feet in the air... Yikes! That's a hairy situation.

Most TC guys recommend no lift with a hard wall camper. Maybe you should look into a popup truck camper. There are lightweight models that are specifically designed for lifted trucks and offroading.

Check out rv.net/forums in the Truck Camper section. Those guys can give you tons of first hand experience about anything truck camper. Sorry so long, but there can be a lot involved with hauling a truck camper.