3" or 6" lift for towing?

i have a 2010 DC 4x4 and i tow a 4500lb wakeboard boat. looking to get a lift. any problems with the 6" and that much weight? or should i stick with the 3"

thanks

 

Most 6" lifts come with a block and/or add-a-leaf for the rear lift. This won't fair well over time while towing.....you'll probably get some major sag in the rear. Alot of guys eventually swap the blocks/add-a-leaf out for a full leaf pack.

 

so youre saying go with the leaf pack in the first place and i should be fine? or are there other problems (power, tire size, etc.) to consider about the 6"?

 

the lift doesnt matter as much as tire size, on stock gears with 35's i dont believe my truck would tow a 4500lb boat very well

 

im debating between 3" on 32's or 6" on 33's i know 33's will decrease the power but will it decrease it to the point that it would strain the truck or possibly break something?

 

If money wasn't a big deal I would get a 6in lift 35s a new leaf pack in the rear or air bags, and most importantly you will have to regear your diff. I absolutely love the look of the 35s With the 6in but it's not cheap. if you can afford it then do it. If your towing something that heavy you would probably want to regear with 33s as well in my opinion. Mostly for the low end power for pulling it out of the water without trouble

 

how bad will the gas mileage be if i regear?

 

depends on the gearing you put in. stock on our trucks is 3.73. my last car had 4.70 gearing, but it was also a car designed for acceleration. you will probably lose about 2 mpg to get that much lift, the 33s and regear.

i personally have a trailer that is 2600 lbs empty that my wife pulls. when it is loaded, i am guessing it weighs about 4000 lbs. the horse is pretty heavy (1200 lbs) and when he moves in the trailer, we feel it in the truck. if your boat/trailer is really 4500 lbs, i would be surprised. my boss has about a 26' bayliner and he said it weighs something like 3500 lbs. also, if you really need more torque when pulling the boat out of the water, you can put it in 4low.

 

It's a wake boarding boat so he has a tower. It probably does weigh that much.

Well if you have 33s and regear you will probably loose gas mileage (probably 2mpg). But your lifting your truck and putting a heavier tire/wheel combo. Your going to loose mpg no matter what you do. I was just saying you would want to get your stock power back after lifting and a regear would do that.

 

Here is a link to a bunch of people who have rear air bags and some of them have no lift. Just thought you would like tO see what some other members do when they have heavy loads.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/203919-rear-lift-airbags.html

 

rear air bags would be a good idea, i didnt really think of that. im ont worried about the power really, just the possiblility of breaking or straining something. i have ballast bags and ive pulled it out of the water in 2wd before with no problem forgetting that they were full (an extra 1200lbs) so 5500lbs+ with the bags full

boat weight is 3300lbs, boat and trailer 4150lbs plus gear thats where im guessing 4500 + or - your boss might be talking just boat weight

like i said i think there will be a power loss but not too dramatic as long as the strain wont break anything im happy

thanks for all the info

 

If your worried about power then lift it and regear it. That's honestly your best answer next to a supercharger

 

x2

 

Sorry, should be NOT instead of ONT

When I read it again looks like only

Not worried about power, only worried about breaking something from stress
Sorry for the mixup

Supercharged would be nice but way down the road, too much $$$$

 

nevermind towing, just get a 3" lift. too many downsides to a 6" lift anyway. also someone mentioned airbags... they may work with modification with a 3" lift but no way with 6" lift, and i highly recommend them for towing

 

If you want to tow successfully, leave it STOCK, if not, match new gears with new tire size and it gets expensive FAST.

And if you build a new spring pack with 6" more arch, it might be awfully stiff for daily driving.

Howard

 

I've got 33s, stock gearing, and I tow a travel trailer that I figure ends up around 5k lbs loaded. It works, but feels very heavy. I need to regear pretty badly. It works for now though.

I put +3 Deaver 10pack leafs in the back last year. I had them done custom to inlcude the load leafs (they don't usually have load leafs on a 10pack). Anyways, rode great, looks great, but still sagged badly with the trailer. I've got airbags now.

So...my recommendations would be to plan on the regear and airbags if you lift it. (maybe airbags even if you don't lift) Of course it gets expensive, but is certainly doable.

Also, look at the way the airbags mount when choosing a rear lift. I had to do some modifications to the mounting hardware to get the airbags to work with my setup.

 

I'd say go a 33 or 32 on 3".