re: Wanting to put leveling kit and mud tires on my truck

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GREENHEAD22

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I would mildly crank the front torsion bars(get an alignment) and go with Cooper Discovery AT3 xlt tires in 275/65R20

@DTD

the picture doesn't do it justice but they are definitely more aggressive than the Discovery ATP with a 60k warranty

Just put these on my '11 GMC 2500HD and they are quiet and ride great.

How bad does the mud get where you hunt?

Ours gets really bad since it’s right on the Black Warrior River

Leveling kit design varies by suspension setup truck to truck. For the front some are coil spacers, some are adjustable height shocks or coil overs, some are reindexed torsion bar keys. For the rear same thing, they vary by application, to be lift blocks, coil spacers, etc. Some but not many only lift the front of the truck to level with rear factory ride height, while others lift rear an inch or two and level the front to the new rear ride height.

Most if not all designs compromise ride quality by limiting suspension travel or stiffening suspension feel. Also by changing geometry handling is changed and accelerated deterioration of things like ball joints and control arm bushings are to be expected.

Also to consider are effects on speedometer/odometer readings from installation of bigger tires. Recalibration through the trucks computer is necessary afterwards. As well, loss of torque multiplication will be noticed by the change in effective gear ratio. Bigger tires equates to higher (numerically lower) gear ratio, so less launching power and towing power will be noticed, obviously worsens as the tire size increases. This causes more stress on drivetrain parts like clutches, torque converters, transmissions, even engines. Effects are more pronounced when starting out with higher gears. The correction is to regear the truck with ring and pinion sets that restore or improve final drive ratio. Figure $1000 per axle for a shop to do this work.

Use of wheel/hub spacers and or wheels with different backspacing to widen stance also cause premature wear to front end suspension, steering, and rolling parts.