I have the 2wd SCREW with the AS2" leveling kit. I am still not satisfied with the stance of the truck. I do not have the funds to go all out with a fabtech, wheels n tires etc, but i am wondering what my best results will come from. What are the differences in the look of stock 4X4 blocks (how do they mount on my stock leafs?), AS AAL 1.5, or the PA 3" body lift. Any of these are within my budget. I am looking at adding some 285 70 17 AT's, either the toyo, mickey thompson, or bfg at a later date also. What will make the truck look the best out of the three i listed?

 

What do you mean when you say you're not satisified with the "stance" of the truck? Do you want the truck to be higher/lower in the front or back or just the whole truck higher?

A factory 4X4 block or the AS AAL kit will both raise the rear of your truck about 1.5 to 2 inches. The body lift will raise the entire truck 3 inches. Any of the three options will work on you're truck, but I've never recommended body lifts; I've had them in the past when I was young and wanted my trucks the highest I could possible get them.

 

I'm not trying to discourage body lifts. A lot of people use them and have no problems. I just don't like the fact that you have to raise up the front and rear bumpers with brackets that IMO make the bumpers very weak. I also don't like the way the rear trailer hitch and front tow hooks hang down after you've raised the bumpers. You can also see a lot more of the frame (3" to be exact) when looking at the truck from the side. There's a few other things I don't care for, but they're really just my opinions and I won't bore you.

 

I appreciate your opinion, that's why I posted the question. I too am leary of the body lift for the same reasons. I want the 4X4 stance for my truck in the rear now that i leveled the front, but don't want to defeat the purpose of the leveling kit. I guess the AS 1.5 aal wouldn't defeat it and would give it the 4X4 stance. Then the new shoes will give me another bit of lift.

 

I guess my question is which is best, easy to install and least expesive: AS aal 1.5 or OEM 2" 4X4 blocks?

 

I agree. I would go with the AAL in the rear instead of the rear block.

When you put a leaf spring block into a truck that didn't have one... or just increase the size of the block for a truck that did come with one, you're decreasing your shock travel in inches by the thickness of the block. You're going to maintain the same suspension travel, but if you add a 2" block you're going to extend the rear shock 2" so the shock is going to become fully extended 2" sooner and you've removed 2" from the total droop of your rear suspension. Hope this makes sense.

If you add the AAL, you're going to extend your shock the same way so you're going to loose droop in the rear suspension from the trucks resting position, but you'll increase the amount of compression travel on the rear suspension.

With either method you should really add longer shocks, but the AAL method is the better of the two if you're going to keep stock shocks. It seems like around here people just add blocks and add AAL's to their trucks without ever changing the shocks. For the most part that's fine if they're always going to drive on the street and never utilize the full suspension travel of their truck, but I like my suspension to be set up properly.

Note:
The same theory applies to the front of the truck when you add a leveling kit. You loose the droop of the front suspension in inches by the thickness of the leveling kit, but you never gain it back on the compression of the shock because the shock will bottom out on upward travel. This is why I feel that the Bilstein 0-2" adjustable shocks are the best method for leveling out the front of the truck.

 

Thanks for the helpful info I think the aal will be my route and will eventually replce all 4 shocks with bilsteins, but I also never leave the pavement. I just like the looks

 

Yeah I think thats the case w/ most people. It definitely makes the trucks look better.

Good luck!