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Old 11-12-1999, 02:15 AM
Youknowme Youknowme is offline
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I am planning to put a 4 inch lift kit on my 85 R/c. I want to put big off-road style tires on it. I also want to put on wider wheels. Do any of you have recomendations on what wheels or tires to put on it? Should I change the spindles to change the wheels from 5 bolts to 6 or 8 bolts? What should I do about the fifth wheel?

Thanks
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Old 11-24-1999, 01:05 AM
PRO PRO is offline
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I TAKE IT YOU MEANT A SUSSPENSION LIFT NOT BODY LIFT. 5 LIG IS JUST FINE, THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR AND MOST COMMONLY OVERLOOKED IN SELECTING TIRES AND WHEELS IS OFFSET, MANY WHEELS MAKE THE TIRES STICK OUT OF THE WELLS FURTHER SO AS NOT TO OFFER SUPPORT DIRECTLY BENEATH THE WHEEL BEARINGS, THIS IN TURN SIDELOADS THE BEARINGS AT ALL TIMES AND WILL SHORTEN THEIR LIFE CONSIDERABLY. ANY TIRE SHOULD BE WILLING TO MOUNT UP SEVERAL COMBOS AND INSTALL ON TRUCK TO VISUALLY ALLOW YOU TO CHECK FOR PROPER CLEARANCE, NOT ALL 4" LIFTS GENERATE 4". REMEMBER NARROW TALL TIRES WORK BETTER IN SNOW AAND ICE AND WIDE TIRES WORK BETTER IN MUD AND DIRT. TIRE HIEGTH CAN REDUCE GEARING IF TALLER THAN STOCK SO KNOW WHAT GEARS YOU HAVE. RULE OF THUMB IS SUBTRACT .18 FROM GEAR RATIO FOR EVERY INCH TALLER THAN STOCK (29" ON TRUCKS 26" ON CARS SUBTRACT .18 FOR EVERY 1.5") A 31" X 9.50 15 IS PROBABLY REASONABLE YOU COULD GO 33" BUT IT MAY EFFECT GEARING TOO MUCH BY MAKING IT SLUGGISH ON TAKE OFF...PRO..
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Old 01-25-2000, 02:14 AM
RufusTheRam RufusTheRam is offline
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ditto to most of what pro said... i just disagree on the tire size. it's been my experience with 80's ramchargers and trucks that you can run up to a 35x12.50 on these with a 4 inch lift. depending on what offset you use on your wheels, minor fender trimming may be required especially if you plan to take the truck off road to any extent. 31x10.50 will fit on your stock truck. if you go as big as 35's, i would reccomend 4.10's if you would like to keep fairly decent mileage, but sacrafice a small amount of performance. personally i would go with 4.56's. this will give you a little better power than stock, at the loss of a little gas mileage. off road capability would be much better as well. as far as your spare tire, you can get by with the stock one for a short while if you need it, but i would go with a mount that goes on the back. some sort of swing out tire carrier that can hold an oversize tire. or, if you don't care about space in the back you can just lay your new one back there. this also allows you to have a 5 tire rotation, or you can only buy 3 tires on your next go round and use your good spare and then take your best used one and put that on as your spare. if you are going to go off road a lot, you may want to consider going with some sort of traction device when you change your gears (ie a locker or limited slip). anyway...hope that helps. i'd go with skyjacker for your lift. it's a true 4 inch lift even after it settles. i've used two of their kits over the years on trucks of your vintage, and they've been great. hope this helps. let us know how it goes....
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Old 01-25-2000, 03:24 AM
Elwenil Elwenil is offline
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Join Date: Dec 1999
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I have an 84 Ramcharger so I've had some experience with these. I run BFG All-Terrain T/A's in a 32x11.50R15 on 15x10 rims with the stock suspension. All this requires is the front lip of the fender be rolled in about a half inch to clear the corner of the tire when turning and under suspension travel. Also I have a matching rim and tire mounted in the factory location with no trouble. I don't like lifts on Ramchargers personally. I think it makes them way to unstable off road. If you are going to use it for street or just mud bogging it should be ok. Around here in the mountains it's too easy to get off camber and roll over. (This coming from someone that rolled a W150 with 7" of lift) I also hate the idea of body lifts on Ramchargers. The body is really to heavy and after bumping around it can snap the longer bolts required for the lift. Trust me, I've seen this happen on a few full size Broncos and Blazers. Another thing to think about is your front axle. If you have the vacuum actuated axle, and I think the 85's do, they won't handle a lot of off road pounding either. They have been known to break, so if you have one, keep an eye on the joints in the axle tube for leaks that would signal a failure. I know all of this info may not apply, but it's what I've learned with mine. We push our 4WD's pretty hard, and have broken just about everything at least once. I also think a locker of some sort is a good idea for serious off roading. I have used the PowerTrax Lock-Right before in mine and it worked really well until I did something I shouldn't and broke it. I knew what I was doing could break it, but hey, I paid for it! If you are into serious off roading or just want to show it, I can answer a lot of your questions you might have. Check out the link below. My site has pics of my Ramcharger and my lifted 88 W150 (which needs a good home) Good luck!

------------------
~Elwenil~ ~.\|/.~
Elwenil.cjb.net
DodgeChargerSE@aol.com
72 Charger SE
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