nes999

I'm going with a 6.5 inch mcgaughy lift. They say a 35 inch maximum tire. Would 33inch tires look out of place? I'm worried about wear and tear also. I called around the cheapest regear was 1800ish for gears only not including bearings, lube, Labour.

sportster07

Yes. 33's are far too small for a 6 inch, 35's even look a little on the small side IMO. You don't need a regear, it's not manditory. I did without one for awhile but when I got my income tax back, I decided to go with 4.10's. I spent about $1500 and I didn't regret it. I say get the truck lifted, go with 35's and try it then. If it doesn't feel like it has enough power for you, regear. It may be okay, depending on if you haul anything or not.

Levelling kit - 33's
4 inch lift - 35's
6 inch lift 35's / 37's (bigger then I'd go on half ton rigging, IFS if it was me. Needs a regear for sure).

uzikaduzi

sporster07 is dead on with this. the 4" lifts look perfect with 35's IMO but most 4"s are actually like 4.5-5"

nes999

I've decided on the 4.5inch lift. Is there any 4.5 inch lift that requires no cutting. Similar to the mcgaughy 6.5 inch lift.

uzikaduzi

I can see why it is confusing but mcgraughy still requires the traditional cutting of the cross member mounting ears. they don't require cutting or grinding on the differential which actually seems pretty common. I don't think a lift exists that doesn't require cutting those ears off the cross member mount because they interfere with dropping the front differential.

nes999

So if I'm understanding you correctly, most kits have the same amount of cutting?

uzikaduzi

yeah pretty much. i know it's kind of scary cutting stuff that would make it difficult to go back to stock, but as long as you keep them, you could weld them (or have them welded back on for cheap) if you wanted to go back to stock.

nes999

That makes sense. Do any lifts kits the stock rake? I guess I could always add an add a leaf or air bags.

uzikaduzi

actually I've never seen a kit do that... everyone I've ever seen leveled and some are even slightly higher in the front. you have a lot of options for the rear if you want the rake, AAL, shorter shackles, bigger blocks, new leaf packs, air bags, RAS,... maybe even a slightly shorter spacer in the front. personally I don't like the block method because of axle wrap but people do it all the time. a lot of 4" kits want to stack your factory block on top of their block... I'm in no way comfortable with this, but if you want to do it, it's your truck and I'm sure they test these kits a bit.

I personally really like the rancho kit because the drop bracket is one piece and the steering knuckles allow for more backspacing on the wheels... I assume it does this by slightly increasing the front track width but i'm not sure... the rest of the 4" kits look pretty close to identical IMO

nes999

I really appreciate the help.