body lift question

i just htought of this and was thinking if any one has done it here yet. doing a body lift (2 or 3 inches) and getting like tokio trek master shocks or something? would that help out with the ride? better for towing and have larger tires?

None of that except the shocks will help towing. If you do a body lift you will need a custom hitch receiver ($$$)...that receiver will require a larger drop hitch, which will have a negative effect on towing. Well, unless you want your tow hitch to still come out where it normally would and ahve the body 3 inches above it. The other thing is that larger tires will suck power and effectively lower your final drive and that is never good for towing. FOr towing you want a less aggressive tread and less rolling resisitence. The lower gearing effect is also important.

One of the guys in our club has a 2" body lift and runs 33's when offroading, but uses a 30" tire for towing.

The other thing is for towing you'd be better off using a more substantial shock than the Tokiko. The Tokikos are certainly better than stock. but the Bilstien shocks with either the +10 or +20% valving would work much better in controlling the body movements with heavy towing loads.

Anyway, you need to prioritize things a bit better. Sounds like you want it all and you really can't have it. Decide what you're towing and what your ultimate goal for the truck is. BTW, I never, ever recommend a body lift before a suspension lift...it's a lot of work and the only real benefit is the ability to run 33" tires.

thanks for the input. i was thiking of getting the 2 inch lift from AC and runing 32" tires. i was not aware of needing a different hitch if i did the lift. that will definately be a huge factor now. i dont think i will be towing anything more then like a wave runner or jet ski. but if there is going to be a cost issue with getting the lift and then a special hitch then i think i will just go with 31" tires and upgrade the shocks to something better. thanks again for the input ChuckH!

Ah, if you're just towing a waverunner that changes things a bit.

The hitch receiver doesn't really have to be changed...the regular one just looks funny with a body lift, IMO. WHat happens is the bumper ends up sitting 2 inches above the hitch assembly so you have a gap. With the 3" body lift it looks even more weird.

You can easily tow light loads with 32" tires. You really don't need a body lift to run 32" tires either. A little trimming of plastic and maybe crank the torsion bars up an inch or so and add an AAL pack in the rear springs (not necessary, but that will give you a small lift for cheap. You also won't have to worry about the tow receiver that way either. You still may want to get a slightly longer tow hitch insert, but they don't cost much. Just depends on how high off the ground the hitch ball ends up when done.

Anyway, you'll be OK with what you had in mind. I had a vision of you running 33's and towing a 4,000 lb ski boat or something!

Oh good God not a ski boat! that would be if I ever got a chevy HD crew cab (like I want) thanks for the input. I have considered doing the t-bar crank and the AAL's. I guess I want to see which tires would fill out the wheel wells the best and not look like they are too much or not enough, ya know? my brother had a 96 pathy with 31 tires and it looked hot as hell i kinda wish he stil had those rims though i think they would fit on my X. Oh well Thanks again!