Offroad capability between off road package, 4" and 6" BDS lift?

[THEBLU3SER]

Hey there! I've searched quite a bit in finding more off-road specific benefits of these lift kits and couldn't find anything in comparison. My personal dilemma - I have a 2020 Rebel without air. I want to lift it for better off road capability. But at the same time, I don't want to sacrifice off road capability by going too tall. I'm looking between BDS 4" and 6" lifts. I believe with both kits I'd go 35's (possibly 37's with the 6"). The type of offroading I enjoy is explorative, semi technical (not the crazy stuff but also not just dirt roads). I just want more clearance and meatier tires while at the same time making it look beefy as hell! My Rebel has the off road package already, which gives me an extra inch or whatever... and I guess I could get a leveling kit with wider tires/rims to give it a wider stance.

So ultimately - for off road capability - how do these compare? Will 6" be too tall (center of gravity issues, etc) Is 4" perfect for most trails (this is what I'm thinking)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Center of gravity problems will take much more than 6 inches of lift in a full size truck. If you really off road, the higher lift will be better.

If you want to go where a truck won't, put that 6 inches on a 2 door Jeep JL Rubicon and challenge a trail to stop you.

 

[jimothy]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but with lifts like both these BDS kits, isn’t the only ground clearance increase from increased tire height?

Going from 32” inch tall tires to 35” will net you 1.5”. Going to 37” will net you 2.5”. But if you put on say, a 2” Mopar lift and 35” tires, you’d gain 3.5” in clearance.

edit: since you’ve got a Rebel, you’d be going from 33” tires. So the increases should be 1”, 2”, and 3” (half an inch lower than my first set of numbers).

 

[Ram1500rsm]

Some fellas have never seen off-camber trails in a 6" truck. Lol. i think the only benefit of a 6" lifted truck will be more rocker panel clearance, better approach/departure angle, at least if you're comparing stock truck vs truck.
Here in socal you can go lots of places if you get 2" more in the front and 1.5" rear, rock sliders, steel bumpers.. I don't have rear lockers cause I drive a 4th gen RAM 1500 and I've taken my truck many places with the factory LSD and factory brake locking diff. As long as you're not affraid to bang your skids/sliders she can go lots of places even more with a winch to get you out of a pinch. Ive ran 37's with the same setup but I'm back to 35's cause my offroading is a little bit tough sometimes and 37's are hard on IFS,MPG and acceleration,brakes etc. You guys have rear lockers now in the 5th gen Rebels and gas tank skids so your truck is more capable than you think on 35's, put a nice suspension with race shocks and aftermarket good UCA's and you'll have a very capable offroad truck that can surprise a lot of people.

This is my 2.5-2.75" liften 4th gen, you guys can go 3" easy. I don't like brackets anything and i don't believe a higher center of gravity will do me any good in the trails i run with a IFS and short arms IFS. ive put longer shocks in the back to have a little more reach when off camber. This is with 315/70/17 Pat MTs


2020-11-27_04-16-21 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-11-27_04-16-26 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-11-27_04-13-57 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-11-27_04-12-57 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-11-27_04-11-35 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Switched to 315/70/17 KO2's last month so I'm doing the break in
2021-04-24_08-28-28 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2021-04-24_08-27-14 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2021-04-10_04-59-28 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

I also like to run a little faster trails so being at 6" will hinder cornering, i really prefer a lower center of gravity for a lot of reasons.
This was back on 37x12.5x17
2020-06-06_09-39-39 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-01-01_02-32-25 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr


Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[JerryBsizzle]

I have the Off Road Group plus a 6" lift. I came from a 2020 Rebel. My take is if I were doing more higher speed stuff like forest service roads etc. I would rather the Rebel setup. But with the lift now I can do slower slightly techy stuff better, like high points, some mudholes etc. Granted I live in Louisiana so I'm not rock climbing. The rebel with fox, king, icons, bilsteins etc. Would be the ideal off road rig.

 

[LaxDfns15]

Depends on what you're doing, but 3" lift (2" + 1" from the Rebel) with extended length coilovers and 35's will get you through most places.

 

[Ram1500rsm]

Something some don't think but when selling time comes, anything you did to your truck that didn't involve cutting and adding brackets is a simple install back to stock. Keep your stock parts in your garage. If you went with race shocks expensive UCAs, aftermarket parts, etc you can sell everything and recover 50-60% of your investment, to reinvest in something else plus you get max return on your truck. Win win.

 

[JerryBsizzle]

Another thing, along the lines of what Ram1500rsm brings up, Kings, Fox, Icons are rebuildable. This is a big deal when you are dropping that kind of coin. They will be good for the life of the truck, or you could take them off and move them to a new truck (assuming they fit, but we all know Ram won't change for a while now).

 

[THEBLU3SER]

Thanks for all your responses guys! Seeing Ram1500rsm's RAM in action is definitely inspiring! Sounds like 3" with 35's will get me everywhere and allow me to do faster desert type stuff. 6" + 37's will allow some more technical pieces but really won't see much more benefit other than approach angle and higher height. Is an inch or 2 worth $2,000 more!? All really great insight. It's wild how little information there is online about the 5th gen rams offroad with these lifts. Most I see do it for looks. All I care about is reliability and the ability to go where I want (within reason with such a big rig).

I'm leaning towards 6" BDS + upgraded BDS UCA's and 37's. I don't do too much high speed stuff. I like the slower slightly techier stuff and that sounds like it'll be the best of all worlds for what I enjoy. If you guys have more pics, I'd LOVE to see what you guys are doing with your Rams offroad!

 

[lkjk]

Usually, strictly speaking performance, a lift should be dictated by how big of a tire you want to run. IE, what's the smallest lift I need to clear 35s/37s.

Yes, a taller lift will increase approach/departure/breakover, but you do it at the expense of decreased downtravel and worse road manners. That's the downside of IFS, assuming you aren't able to go wider. Personally I'd look at increasing departure/approach with different bumpers and then rely on skids/sliders to make up for the breakover

 

[THEBLU3SER]

Usually, strictly speaking performance, a lift should be dictated by how big of a tire you want to run. IE, what's the smallest lift I need to clear 35s/37s.

Yes, a taller lift will increase approach/departure/breakover, but you do it at the expense of decreased downtravel and worse road manners. That's the downside of IFS, assuming you aren't able to go wider. Personally I'd look at increasing departure/approach with different bumpers and then rely on skids/sliders to make up for the breakover

This is also a very good point and well put. My longer term "build" will include new front/rear bumpers. I love the idea of 37's. Would I be happy with 35's - for sure. I'll keep this in mind.

 

[LaxDfns15]

Some more points: Is this your daily driver? Are you like me and on the short side so even a modest lift means you need a step? Do you care at all about gas mileage? Do you regularly put things in the bed that require you getting in/out? Are you ok losing bed space due to needing a 37" spare tire mounted in the bed?

Lifting a truck that high looks great, and can perform great off-road, but the side effects have to be lived with too.

 

[THEBLU3SER]

Some more points: Is this your daily driver? Are you like me and on the short side so even a modest lift means you need a step? Do you care at all about gas mileage? Do you regularly put things in the bed that require you getting in/out? Are you ok losing bed space due to needing a 37" spare tire mounted in the bed?

Lifting a truck that high looks great, and can perform great off-road, but the side effects have to be lived with too.

Also great questions. It is my daily driver, but daily is a bit misleading since I work from home and drive a couple times a week - to/from the gym and for offroading trips. So in reality, I don't drive much.

I'm 6'1 and also have an AMP motorized step already installed - bought it for my kids but love it for myself!

I don't care about gas mileage. The bed height is a BIG thing though. That question right there just made me rethink my entire approach down to 4" with 35's. I'd have to measure bed height on 4" with 35's and 6" with 37's to understand the true detriment in the height difference, but that is a big deal. The 37" mounted in the truck bed - I thought hard about this one too, great question.

You guys all leave me with a lot to think about. Financially speaking - 4" on 35's would leave me ~$2200 extra to invest into front bumper for better approach and some skids underneath. That is now likely the way I'll go. Wow, I'm back and forth a lot but I think this is solid. Esp seeing what @Ram1500rsm is doing with his.