Hardracer
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2017
- Posts
- 478
- Reaction score
- 526
- Location
- Swfl
- Ram Year
- 2010 1500 laramie 4x4 crew cab
- Engine
- Hemi 5.7
Great write up and pics sir...I'll give you a different perspective as you mention light offroading and i do light to moderate offroading with the truck. We go offroad, a lot, and i have modded to suite certain needs, I also have a Jeep for more aggressive wheeling but for a space of 3 years when i didn't have the Jeep, the truck was the to go rig to go out remotely with the family and as a matter of fact it continues to have that task. Never seen a 6" lift in my horizon because things like towing or hauling could become a little more challenging but honestly for me i've never had the need to go that high, I know somehow truck fellas seem more attracted to a big gap between their tires and fendersFor me i've been more interested to have enough lift to clear my tires. I've been offroading for years and none of my trucks have never been lifted more than 2.5-3" and i've been places with them on 33's/35's. One of the big pluses with the 4th gen RAM 1500 is that you don't even need much of a lift to run 35's. Some other applications require you to cut a 2-3" piece of metal and weld a cover for the hole. Running 35's with the RAM is simple, and even with a little massage in key areas you could run 37's without having to resort to a 6" lift.
I'm already using a small ladder to reach inside the engine bay when i change the oil, or deal with the spark plugs etc, and i'm only lifted 2.5-2.75" in the front depending on how i measure. The rear is lifted 2" and there are times i wish it was a little lower but that's only when i have to reach deep into the cab bed to load/unload things as i use a step to get inside the bed. I'm 6ft tall and given the way the truck sits at i'm comfortable lifting 5 MTB's in the rear for example. Not sure that will be an easy thing with the truck lifted more.
View attachment 5474172023-06-25_11-39-23 by RAM RSM, on Flickr
If you have issues with rubbing at the back of the fender you could raise the caster with a set of performance UCA's that have a built-in offset so your alignment shop can add a little more caster than stock which would move the wheels away from the back of the fenders wells, ideally 4.8-5* will do the trick perfectly well and make the truck track even better.
This was back when i was running KO2's 37x12.5x17 ,in here i wanted to test for rubbing at the back of the fender wells. No issues for me at 5* caster with these tires. and i tried with the front sway bar disconnected as well to see if the tire came too close to touch the fenders at all. Zero issues in that regards. If anything there is a piece of plastic you can also remove from back there to give you a tiny bit more room. My wheels are 17x9 with a -12mm offset or 4.5" backspace.
View attachment 547418Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr
37 KO2's side by side with a HD RAM with stock tires
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Another area to keep in mind is parts longevity, truck has almost 138k miles now and i haven't touched the cv axels or hubs or front lower control arms or tierods. They're bone stock and have had zero issues with those so far. Talking about investment with good parts, most of the good mods i did to the truck were done between 2019 and 2021 when the truck had 40-50k miles, haven't changed a peep since then so a testament of the aftermarket reliability when it comes to the good stuff with Icon UCAs, Clayton offroad control arms and trackbar and King 2.5 coilover and shocks. I have rebuilt the Kings twice now, but overall the truck don't have it easy when she goes into dirt roads. It's just too much fun to give the rig some throttle especially with the Hemi.. Geometry wise you keep your front IFS cycling where it should without overextending anything and caster where it should so your front end will will last for a very good while and track as it should without any issues.
View attachment 54742020191231_125053 by RAM RSM, on Flickr
View attachment 547421Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr
with the 37's I hammered the front fender lips towards the inside of the fenders, this is how they'll look normally, didn't have any issues after all but i did it for the just in case with the 37's
View attachment 547422Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr
35's will have plenty more space and will have zero issues with the fenders whether you're offroading and going fast or not with a similar setup. The tires are not even close to the fenders at full tuck, but King coilovers have extended travel and their assembly is not only a little longer than stock but even fully compressed they will be perfect for 35's to keep the tires away from the fenders even if you're giving the truck hell on washes and whoops. You don't have to go with King CO btw if you like something else, any extended travel CO for the RAM will work here with the 35's They key is "extended" travel and "go fast". Standard travel won't cut it on it's own here. If you have standard travel assemblies you could add little 1/2 top spacers to those to give you a little cushion in the fenders, don't know if it'll work as good but at least would be better than nothing, ramming your tires against the bottom portion of the fenders is not fun and in some cases it might do some damage if you don't slow down. Do not add those spacers if you have an extended travel assembly. Do not.
View attachment 5474232020-09-05_05-47-52 by RAM RSM, on Flickr
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Have fun.
Enlightened me on stuff I didn't know about geometry.
Thank you for the Info.
