Should I do it?

Well, a deal has arisen and I'm trying to decide wether to jump on it or not.
My truck has 3" suspension lift, with a 3" body lift and 35's that was all installed by the PO.
I HATE the body lift... the gaps in the fender wells look shitty, it makes it a PITA to design armor and other things on the truck, and I feel like the body moves around more than it should ex: the top of my bed has tapped the back of the cab once in a while when on rocky trails.

So this said, the 35's would take a lot of cutting, hacking, test fitting, and patching of the fenders to fit with only the 3" suspension lift if I take the body lift off. While I like 35's, some 33's on 3" suspension lift sounds better than 35's and keeping the body lift on(I still rub after hacking for the 35's anyways).

I found a guy looking to trade some 33x12.50x15 Duratrac's with 95% tread, for some 35's and he'll trade for my 60% tread KM2s. Sounds like a good idea, but I'd like to hear some other opinions if I should downsize or not.

From what I can see:
Pros
-Better gas mileage w/33's than the 35's.
-Better acceleration, and less drivetrain wear; No need to regear for the time being(4.30 gears currently)
-Better street performance(handling, ride, quieter) and not much less offroad performance with the Duratrac 33's
-Newer tires at no cost to me, would need tires by next winter anyways at the rate im going.


Cons
-Smaller overall size; I like the current size of the truck on 35's
-A little less ground clearance
-Less agressive tire for off road use. They might chunk out on the NV desert rocks.

So, what's your take on the situation?


PS. I'd run the 33's a couple years, then SAC and jump to 37's anyways, just hate this body lift and think it makes sense to ditch it. lol

 

Kill the body lift and keep the 35's. Just start hacking away. It'll be worth it!

 

Maybe have someone photoshop 33s on and see what it looks like. Btw, the 35s look really good and if your going to get new tires next winter might as well keep them.

 

Well, I know there are guys that do that(like I did on my 07) but its just a bit harder to fit them on the 1st gen and I'd have to do MAJOR hacking and tub the fenders to make that work. I dont really want to hack the truck that much.

As it stands with the setup I have now, I have to run 1.5" wheel spacers to not rub the frame rails when turned hard(will still rub them compressed offroad) but it rubs the fender wells worse even with trimming/beating, or without the spacers my turning is limited but they rub the fenders less.

 

Kinda thinking that, but I think my GF is gonna fight me. lol. I know she really likes the current stance of the truck with 35's.

Well I'd need to replace the KM2's, but with the duratracs I should be good for 2-3 years. I'd imagine I could get 50K+ out of the duratracs with how little my truck wears the KM2's. I mean, I've put 17k miles on the KM2s since I bought the truck, and they were already at like 80% when I bought it so only 20-25% wear in 17K!.

 

It is a pretty good trade off, getting rid of the body lift, new er tires and less rubbing is probably the way to go Imo.

 

33s are a better setup for that rig. But since I've seen it in person I gotta say it will not look near as cool if you downsize... It will probably drive you nuts seeing it go smaller, but it will be just as capable for our local trails if you do.

IMO, keep it as is and start piecing together your SAS now and hopefully have it ready to ride by the time your 35s are worn out. From the rate your tires are wearing at I'd say you got a whole year to get a SAS dialed in...

 

I don't put many miles on my truck (08 and only 34K) are you daily driving it?

 

Thanks for the feedback.
I agree, seeing it smaller will kinda kill me, but I have a few ideas for things I want to add that would make it pretty nice still, and then after the SAC just awesome.
Just gotta decide if keeping the 35's for the time being is worth it with the issues it causes, and the trade offs involved.

Yeah I am DDing it now.
I'll probably stack on 15-20k miles a year onto it til the SAC gets done.
I piled a whopping 26K onto my 07 in the last year I owned it from all my trips wheeling, and mostly finding where to move then actually moving all my crap. haha

 

Well then i'd change my vote to get the 33's are kill the body lift. But keep those tires for when you do the SAC!!!

 

I like my 33's.I'd kill the body lift and get some 33's

 

33''s all the way brother!!

 

Looks like GF is laying down the law and not letting me swap, since the truck is part hers

 

Do it! 6" lifts and 35's are too big for a first gen in my opinion. 3" and 33's are sweet