I've searched and read probably hundreds of posts but still feel I have not found my answers. I've got 265 70/17's all around and as a spare. This size does fit underneath with the Nissan hitch, but because of the diameter (almost 33") the rear sway bar is directly under the edge of the spare. Under rear suspension compression, I assume there is contact between the bar and the tire. I do tow and very often carry quite a bit up on the roof so I need to keep my sway bar onroad. I need AAL's and stiffer shocks (bilsteins), so it seems that I need to run the rears "can up" to prevent contact between the bar and the shock body on the passenger side. I suppose a rear tire carrier is my only option for the spare tire so I can still fit into my garage. Can I run a Calmini quick disconnect sway bar and the larger can bilsteins in the back inverted on road, and still do so much as hop curbs (while still connected) if needed? How much suspension movement is needed to make contact?

Another subject: If more than a mild crank is done to the front to match AAL's and short SLR shackles, are new Calmini or SLR UCA's needed for the truck to be correctly aligned? With this small amount of lift, I assume longer shocks are needed.

Thanks in advance for your patience and replies. I just want to get it all straight to prevent having to order something twice.
Bryan

First AALs + shackle is WAY more then you can crank and still allign it. If you want to fit in the garage, get the rear carrier. Under compression the 33's are going to do damage without trimming and somthing more of a lift.
Huey in our club has 33's, and a 3" calmini lift, and he rubs offrosd. (he also has the rear tire carrier) without changing the bumpstops, your compression is the same as stock ,and will compress jsut as much as stock (unless you get majorly stiff aal's) The suspensio lift is more to avoid rubbing on the street.. I belive Ian mentioned a few years ago, he rubs backing out of his driveway..

For 33's, to avoid rub...you need a body lift or a sawzall.

I went with a 2" BL, and I have 33 x 12.5's that fit w/o rubbing on compression, w/o adding bumpstop extensions.

I also have a 3" SL.

If you are just doing a t-bar crank, 1.5" or so is about as high as you could go.

An AAL out back would match the height, and help provide towing stability better than just going with shackles. (Shackles alone would also match the height, and be cheaper, and add wheel travel, but be less stable towing)

Stock shocks are OK for the above.

Hope that helps!

I don't understand. I do not get any rubbing on road. All I did was trim about a 1 inch x 5 inch piece of plastic from the bumper in front of the tires. They rubbed when turning the steering wheel all the way to one side or the other.

Today I had the trailer loaded up and I scooted underneath to take a look. The sway bar pretty much moves with the body of the truck and does not come in contact with the spare, on the road. Well, big bumps I'm not sure.

With just me in the truck, I've never had rubbing issues while climbing anything up to eight inches or driving on some very primitive roads. I've never been rock crawling, but what you are saying is that you recommend some significant lift if I were to visit, say, Paragon?

I re-read your initial post...

I noticed you said your tires were about 33"...I did not notice that you had 265/70/17's...which are not even 32's...so yes...there is some confusion with advice on what to do to fit 33's, when you have big 31's...or essentially, stock-ish sized tires.

So - Yes - you trimmed enough...you can avoid a lift unless you need more ground clearance.

Paragon rewards ground clearance, but I would not recommend lifting soley in case you go there....it would be better to go with just some rock rails and skid plates, rather than just a lift for example.

My *limited* understanding of lifts is -

AAL or Shackles in the Rear + a minor T-bar tweak - no UCA's needed.

If you add both Shackles and AAL's in the rear you will need New UCA's in order to get proper alignment when you crank your T-bars to match the rear. Otherwise your will suffer from some wicked tire wear as well a host of other issues.