Caribou Gear

Considering Lifting for Function v. Form

L

lifeisgoodsteve

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Joined
Feb 2, 2019
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227
Location
the Bitterroot
Hi All,

Been enjoying a great season in the mountains and seriously considering lifting my truck (2011 2500 duramax, crew, longbed). I've hesitated as it's been so good to me so far in being pretty darn solid on the dirt, mild-mud, and low (2"-8") snow. However, some of the roads I've been on this year have some ruts on the that I'd be afraid to drop into and did bottom out once or twice over bumps.

I'm running larger tires 285/70/17 (KO2's) which have been great, but:
1. Prefer some room so don't get stuck in ruts
2. Avoid bottoming out on the rough stuff (I do go very slow when rough)

I've looked into some of the truck based forums, but so many don't seem to actually hit rough roads, but mostly mod for looks. My truck has enough sexy mountain pinstripes that I'm not worried about looks, but mainly function so figured I'd ask folks who actually use their truck like a truck.

  • Any general tips if I do a 4" lift, for the sake of helping reliability and performance?
    • I'll keep the rake as I tow a 25' travel trailer often
  • When lifted, are most of you running 35's?
    • Mine now are about 32.8" and figure when airing down on the rough stuff might be nice to have the extra height/clearance.
    • With the Cognito kit I'm considering I can't use the stock wheels due to offset. Since I'll target some basic functional new wheels anyways, it'll allow me to get ideal size for tire size.
  • Rather than lift, have you simply added a front bumper for front clearance and skid plates to protect underbody?
  • If have lifted, any regrets and why?
Perspectives from actual experience on one or all of the above is much appreciated as it's a healthy investment to consider.

Thanks,

Steve
 
Honestly, I feel like lifts on a 3/4 ton truck don’t really make any sense. They are built to tow. I feel like a height transition would be mostly cosmetic. Obviously a 2011 won’t have much warranty left to void but you do compromise your reliability. Depending on the lift you also compromise ride quality. I read that you bottomed out a few times, but I feel like you are compromising fuel, economy year round in exchange for just slowing down a bit or straddling ruts.

if your inquiry was about cosmetics, I would say do it, but function is a stretch in my opinion. It’s a lot of money to spend. I am a fan of tire chains, locking diffs, and good driving and a winch over height, and flashy offset oversized tires.
 
Similar situation here (2016 Tacoma Off-road), I ended up keeping the current stock wheels, slightly larger/better tires, skid plate, and rock sliders.

When I started adding up the costs for a lift & tires it was going to be +$3k to do it correctly.

Directly answering your questions:

1. For Tacoma’s - 2.5” is the max before things get really expensive (driveline, CV’s get too far out of spec
2. This is the route I went (as stated above)
3. No experience to date

Some advice that’s thrown around on the Truck forums I’ve heeded “Buy once, cry once” e.g. don’t buy upgrades that will need to be replaced / upgraded again at a later date.
 
A guy here at work did a 6.5" lift and could still only fit 35's on his 2500 chevy, was a 17 or 18 I believe. Its the bumper that gets in your way, so I would do some research on if you can fit them on a 4" and also see if you need to change rims with a different offset.

There are a few lift kits that really do it right, others do a good job, but your still not at factory geometry levels.

I have a Ram 1500 and did a 2.8" front lift/level with struts and 1.5" spacer in the rear. Will be upgrading the factory 33's to either 34's or 35's. I could fit 37's with some rubbing on the inner fenderwell. Probably go with 34's as 35's require spacers or different offset rims.

I know your pain on some of the deep ruts.
 
A 4-inch lift on a truck that size seems excessive to me, but I drive a Jeep Patriot that carries Jeep’s Trail Rated designation, and even it can plow through 19 inches of water. The three skid plates (engine, fuel tank and transaxle) and additional low gear are more important than added lift when crawling over the rough stuff.
 
Im a long time 4wheeler and had a custom built rock crawler and traveled all over the west for years. That was the extreme end but I have my opinion about daily driver, do it all trucks.

My personal experience on 3/4 ton, 1 ton and even 1/2 ton trucks and their capability as
"ALL AROUND" trucks is this for what its worth.......

If you want a truck that will do it all (not a specialized rig like my trailer queen Toyota). A truck that will tow, get you into any "reasonable" backcountry area (I'm not talking jeep trails here), has great street manners and the ability to do the things you are talking about occasional "deep ruts, deep snow, nasty dirt roads.

Keep the truck in a state that will allow you to run chains when needed under the worst ice conditions (putting over size tires will destroy that capability and no matter how tall it is or how beefy your tires are I say good luck). The biggest bang for the buck is to put a locking rear differential or front differential in the truck. Front lockers for a rig that has the ability to unlock the hubs would be my first choice. Any other would be a rear locking differential. STAY AWAY FROM FRONT LOCKERS ON IFS TRUCKS. If you have never driven a 4x4 with a locking differential or two you would be absolutely taken back by it's capability. I know you want clearance but my thoughts about multipurpose trucks is if you can't get around a clearance situation you probably shouldn't go there. After all this is a truck that needs to get you home, maybe tow your trailer with it.....I would lean you in the direction of a portable winch or high-lift jack, chains and finally a locker for a little more serious issues. Keep in mind there is no substitute for traveling with a 2nd rig and all the necessary "get unstuck gear". Yes lifted trucks look great and most will function reasonably well but prepare to give something up (driveline angles, u-joints, wind resistance, fuel, mileage with bigger tires, less power with bigger tires and so on) Just my .02 for what it's worth.

Here is a good place to start:

www.fourwheeler.com

Off Road Truck Differential Locker Guide - Off-Road Magazine

Take a look at this buyer's guide for Off Road Truck Locker Differentials featuring Eaton E-Lockers, ARB Air Lockers, OX Locker and more from Off-Road Magazine
www.fourwheeler.com www.fourwheeler.com
 
A lift won’t get you more clearance for ruts and rocks. It gives you the ability to get larger tires. And if you go from your tires to 35s your not gaining enough clearance to make hardly any difference. So if spending a good amount of money to gain an inch in clearance is worth it then by all means go for it.

And if you go with the bigger tires you usually want to regear your axles to help with highway rpms and towing. And rehearing on a 4wd means front and rear which gets very pricey.

So with that I’d go with what ntodwild suggested.
 
Sometimes it pays to step back and think about it. Do I want to put thousands of $$$'s into making my truck semi capable of getting into more trouble than if you stopped and didn't try the road/trail? Quite possibly stopping before the road gets bad and unload the dreaded /hated ATV and then continue up the road trail as far as you can LEGALY go. In situations like this I think ATV/SXS have a place. But only if they are kept on legal open road/trails. I have spent a lot of money to have a good truck and hate to beat it up when there are other options. YMMV
 
Hi All,

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences of running different options.

Yes, the def tank is silly exposed and some skid plates would be most helpful at whatever height.

Locking Dif - I THINK, but not sure, that my truck may have the Eaton G80 locking dif in the back but haven't gone to a dealer for them to confirm. The codes sticker in the glove box is gone so I can't check myself.

Sounds like a lot of people fit 35's on these Duramax models with a leveling kit and fender trimming, so I'm looking at a simple, lower cost way to fit 35's and trim or swap bumper for enough clearance to fit chains too. It may just be 2 additional inches of clearance running 35's, but if can combine with 1-2" of lift rather than a 4" lift with 35's, then that could be the bang for the buck ticket and middle ground to suit me.

ATV or Dedicated Hunting Truck - Like and totally understand the principle, but this season I've been working remotely/hunting this past few months towing a trailer through MT/WY, so an ATV is not in the cards for a while.

K02's getting a little too low in tread for my comfort come winter here in MT, so will pull the trigger on something middle of the road soon.

Thanks,

S
 
While this truck is not a 2500 like yours, I did install a 4" lift. That gave me room for 33' tires and gives me much better approach and departure angles. There is plenty of room for chains all around.
Yes the bigger tires gave me a good excuse to get 4.10 gears as well and also a locking rear diff.
It was my daily driver and hunting/towing vehicle for over 20 years and now it belongs to my son.

DSCN0365.JPG
 
I would personally recommend you upgrade the factory tie rod ends and install a pitman arm/idler arm support kit. Very easy to bend them especially in 4WD. Checkout Coginto Motorsports. They make some good aftermarket parts for the HD.
 
Thanks all. Pretty much decided the plan. Will target fitting the tallest tires (and allow chains) without level/lift, but with front bumper and fender trimming. Thankfully recommended to a shop here in the Bitterroot Valley that sounds like they've got plenty of experience fender trimming to make it work cleanly.

Figure to save money on new wheels, lift/level and keep stock components to hopefully help longevity and apply some of it to bumper now and in future possibly winch and skid plates which, knock on wood, I don't think I'll need until next year's fall hunting season.

Front bumper for:
  • tire/chain clearance
  • deer impact protection
  • attack angle - which honestly I could have used with some of the small forest road U-turns
  • jack point for hi-lift jack
  • winch mount (in future)
Will try to keep it simple as I can.

Thanks for the experiences and enjoy the fruits of your hunt season harvest!
 
Think about adjusting your torsion bars. Gain an inch or two for free. I have a 4 inch lift and 35’s on a dodge and to me it’s the perfect set up. Can run a more aggressive tire. Still pulls a trailer great sitting nice and level. Diffs are a couple inches higher than stock and I rarely ever drag. And still tracks down the road straight and handles as good as big heavy truck can. If you want to go the bumper route and can weld, look at move bumpers. Costs like 1/4 of the price of road armor and can be welded together in a day. It gives you just about the same clearances and is customizable.
 
nevada_stw said:
Think about adjusting your torsion bars. Gain an inch or two for free. I have a 4 inch lift and 35’s on a dodge and to me it’s the perfect set up. Can run a more aggressive tire. Still pulls a trailer great sitting nice and level. Diffs are a couple inches higher than stock and I rarely ever drag. And still tracks down the road straight and handles as good as big heavy truck can. If you want to go the bumper route and can weld, look at move bumpers. Costs like 1/4 of the price of road armor and can be welded together in a day. It gives you just about the same clearances and is customizable.
Click to expand...
Sweet, thanks for your experience. Yes, the 4" lift that does NOT use the upper control arms is tempting as, in general, I tend to trust stock parts for longevity.

Tomorrow they're going to fit the 285/75/17 (33.9") and trim the fenders/bumper as needed to allow for tires and chains. They sound confident to be able to make it fit and be clean, so I'll run that a bit and hold off on new shocks a little until make a final decision.

If I can get a 33.9" a 35" tire (actually 34.5") would just get me .5" more dif clearance, so it's hard to justify, plus I might be able to get that as you said with just a front level of an inch or more. Also, I like keeping a slightly more narrow tire for snow as I don't really need the width of tire for added traction so far on the roads I've been driving to hunting spots.

We will see how it goes fitting and running the 33.9" KO2's.
 
In my opinion that is the best tire I have ever had on any of my vehicles. I love the bfg ko2s. Work awesome in the snow and ice. Great in the dirt. Quiet and smooth on road and descent in the mud. I have a set on my Tahoe with over 50,000 on them. I might get another 10k out of them. I always change tires early too.
 
nevada_stw said:
In my opinion that is the best tire I have ever had on any of my vehicles. I love the bfg ko2s. Work awesome in the snow and ice. Great in the dirt. Quiet and smooth on road and descent in the mud. I have a set on my Tahoe with over 50,000 on them. I might get another 10k out of them. I always change tires early too.
Click to expand...
I have a 2018 Chevy 4x4 1/2 ton..Skip the expensive lift pay a few 100 bucks and get a level kit. Mine has 33s and you will get a inch or so higher just from that. Spend money on good tires and a interchangeable front and rear winch . Lifts on 3/4 ton trucks are for guys with little dicks
 
Refugeguy said:
Spend money on good tires and a interchangeable front and rear winch .
Click to expand...

Been looking at that winch option. Have you used it on both front/back? Any issues with the front hitch strength as I hear many are rated up to 9k lbs while folks tend to get a winch for a 3/4 ton in the 12k lb range?

I do like the option of keeping the winch out of the elements when not using as well.
 
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