3rd Gen suspension with 2" spacers?

Hey y'all. Got a low mile takeoff suspension off a 3rd gen and I was planning on running that + 3rd gen leaf pack and a 1.5-2" AAL kit to the rear. Is this an alright setup to run for a year or 2 until I upgrade to a better lift? I have a TG front bumper to add and changing the wheels and 33" skinnies. How is this sounding? If I don't run the front spacers then the rear will be lifted too much I feel like but I also don't want the squat look. Anything helps. TIA!

 

IMO, 2" spacer is too much. I'm also not sure if you mean a 2" thick spacer (4" lift) or a 1" spacer (2" lift). Either way, I personally wouldn't want to run that big of a spacer. My truck had a 1.5" thick (3" lift) spacer on it when I bought it and I got rid of that as quickly as I could.

The 3rd gen front suspension will give you 0.75" lift by itself. Combine that with some 3/8" thick (0.75" lift) spacers and you'll have a 1.5" lift in the front which will pair very nicely with a 1.5" AAL lift in the rear. I ran that setup for a while (except with a 1" rear block instead of AAL) and it was great. Especially because it was nearly free. Eventually I upgraded to TRD Bilstein 6112/5160 for a bit more lift and also moved to an AAL.

I'd wait to add that heavy bumper until you can get a better suspension setup to handle it.

 

I ran a steel bumper on oem springs for a couple years on my truck and definitely got a lot settling. The ride was okay, but if you want to keep your lift, you're going to have to change springs one way or another. Also, it sounds like you may do some offroading considering the mods, so be mindful of your bumpstops not working anymore since you're adding spacers. Definitely look into spacing your bumps if you want to do any sort of offroading.

 

So if I ditch the 2" spacers and go your route, do you think I'll be able to put on 255/85/r16 tires? I also plan on putting the rear TG bumper on as well as the front steel bumper. Would this setup you think be able to run it all well?

 

Lift isn't what helps you fit larger tires, all it does is change at what point in the suspension travel you would have rubbing. Tire diameter, tire width, wheel offset and alignment are what's important. There are WAY too many variables here for any of us to answer 100%. Check out the video below for more details but either way you should expect you'll need to remove mud flaps at a bare minimum to fit a 33", skinny or otherwise.
https://youtu.be/LAYGdcKSA3o?si=XWkT4maGi7stI1h2

I would skip installation of the heavy bumpers until you're ready to upgrade the suspension further. Or, perhaps use the 2" AAL in the rear with the rear plate bumper but not use the front plate bumper until you upgrade the front suspension. For me, the front suspension would sag too much for my taste with a heavier bumper and would just make things unbalanced aesthetically - not to mention less than ideal performance.

 

Gotcha appreciate. So even with the 3rd Gen suspensions heavier springs and "lift" it still would sag too much?

 

I think so, but that's a pretty subjective question. Additionally, you need to not only think about sag but the ability for the suspension to control that extra weight during motion, not just static.

Once I added sliders and front/mid skids that was my limit for the stock 3rd gen suspension. I lost more height than I wanted and it felt like the suspension was having a little bit of a harder time dealing with the weight. That might be more weight than your bumper, I'm not sure, but it's also more centrally located compared to a heavy bumper hanging off the front end of the truck.

You sound pretty set on doing this so you do you. Worst case you pull the bumper back off or decide to upgrade suspension sooner. But if it were me, I'd keep that front bumper off the truck until I was ready to upgrade the suspension. At that point I'd probably throw the bumper on first just to see but then be ready to upgrade.

 

Have you added the 3/8" spacers? I was going to when I did my 3rd gen takeoffs, but the threads on the strut weren't long enough to fit the spacers, so I went with just the driver side 1/4" spacer to fix the lean.

 

Yeah, installed a 3/8” thick (7/4” lift) spacer with mine. I had just barely enough thread. Definitely wouldn’t have been able to use a 1/2” thick one.

Perhaps your top hats aren’t stock and have slightly shorter studs? That’s the only thing I could think of. Many others have also used 3/8” without issue.

 

spacer single AAL BTDT rode like shit