new shocks and lift

right now i have a 2.5" spacer lift for my prunner. it rides like crap, i was woundering if you could buy bilsteins and put the old spacers on.. would it still ride bad or would the new shocks with the spacers be alittle better?

 

if you get bilsteins for the front you wont have to use a spacer as they have adjustable ride-height.

 

right, but what if i want more than 2.75" of lift? can i add the spacer on there? what about the back. i have shackles, it sucks! would is the proper way to lift back? AAL? and where can i find that

 

if i remove the shackles and AAL will that smooth out my ride.. when i hit a bump with the ass end.. it Jumps the bump going 2 mph.... it has no shock and is fuully extended from the shackle.. Well since the shackle is adjustable.. should i drop it a notch or to to get mmore travel in my shock?

 

i think the most lift you can get in the front with the stock A-arms is 3 inches (someone confirm) and if you go with 3"s you need to drop the front diff to make your cv joints last any sort of time.
in the rear. i think AAL's from what i have read on here are a much better way to go. that being said i think a new set of shocks will make a huge difference in the rear end handling bumps.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^and what mjp2 said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

For your truck, I would recommend the Bilstein 5100s on the middle setting with either the OME 880 or 881 coils, depending on the amount of lift you want. If you have shackles and aal in the rear, I would check out the aal to see if it has square cut ends. If so then I would remove that and install a 3 leaf aal set in its place. Also throw some new shocks on the rear (5100s or OME).