Lifting 1997 C1500...need opinions

[zRobx71]

I have a 1997 C1500 2WD 5.7L V8 pickup that I'm going to be putting a 6" suspension lift and a 5" body lift with 37x12.50x16.5 military tires. I already have someone that is going to install the lifts and the tires are reserved for when I actually will absolutely need them. I did some research and I read some about gears needing to be higher and that mpg will go down. I know my truck is only a 2WD and people have told me that it's stupid to do this but I disagree because I have a friend in school who has a 5" suspension lift and like an 8" body lift on his truck which is exactly the same truck with more miles than mine and his is amazing. So I just need to know the pros and cons of my plan and what else I'm going to need.

[MagicRat]

Pros? There aren't any.

Cons.. there's lots.
1. You center of gravity will be way higher, inceasing the chance of a rollover or accident. Your steering and handling will be much worse, and you will have to drive around much more slowly.
2. A lift messes up the steering and suspension geometry, leading to troubling stuff like odd vibrations and bump-steer.
3. Your acceleration and braking performance will be MUCH worse. The big tires will weigh more than stock. All that extra mass takes more energy to get rolling and more to stop. The larger diameter also contributes by reducing the effective leverage of the brakes and makes the overall gearing taller.
4 The tires will vibrate and be really noisy.

Since you do not have 4wd, why do this? For customizing - appearance? You will spend huge dollars and time to ruin the function of your truck with no benefit.

Personally, if I had your truck, I would put a 2 inch lowering kit on it (the dropped-spindle type so all your suspension and steering geometry stays the same.) get some nice, 18 inch rims and low-profile rubber. A classic GM truck as hot-rod.... it would be totally cool, with improved handling performance.

Besides, these days lots of people feel that a big. lifted truck, especially one that not off-roaded is a poser with a small .... um ... principle reproductive organ. All you need is for that to get around, and you will have to change schools

[zRobx71]

I've already decided to scrub the lifting of this truck in particular. As for the lowering kit...it's co and all but it's not the type of thing I would like to do to a truck. That article that you posted was interesting but not everything on the internet is true. Think about it, there is absolutely no relationship between those two things no matter if some random guy posts an article on some random site saying otherwise...I could of made up a completely false story like that too and throw some quotation marks in there as well. I have a 4x4 lined up....a 2002 Dodge Ram in very nice shape that I'm going to lift. Not extremely high as I feel you were thinking but enough to take it for some higher intensity off-roading. I now admit that it would have been stupid to carry out a lift kit on my 2WD.

[zRobx71]

Just found out that my dad is getting me a really nice truck soon so...yea I'm happy. It's a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4X4 with a brand new paint job, 285 tires and 18" wheels, with one of the glasspacks I believe it has and amazing interior. Chrome trimming everywhere....really nice. So I don't care about lifting this ol truck anymore.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by zRobx71

Just found out that my dad is getting me a really nice truck soon

First Guess: It won't stay that way for long.

[zRobx71]

Originally Posted by Schurkey

First Guess: It won't stay that way for long.

Being how it's a lot nicer than my old truck, I'm inclined to take a lot more care of it. It'll stay nice for a good long time.