So I want to get a lift on my Pathy. I upgraded my tires and they're a little too big (285/70/17s) and I get some rubbing despite the plastic melt mod I did that I found on here. I have right around a 1k to do this and I'd like a 3 or 4" lift if possible. I've been reading through here but I can't find a real good answer that I feel comfortable with. I'm not super mechanically inlclined but Im okay. Whats best bang for my buck?

This is kinda what I'm going for but I still want a nice ride...doable?

Here's some packages already put together...

http://www.4x4parts.com/c-1048816-suspe ... inder.html

You're not going to be able to get a 4" lift with a suspension lift, and will probably need a body lift because you'll never get the alignment back into spec with that big of a suspension lift. I'm fairly new to the truck world as my previous vehicles were sports coupes (kind of miss my Audi s5 some days ), but I think 3" would also be a stretch for a suspension lift, although you can get adjustable control arms to help with the alignment if you don't go crazy spending all your dough on struts and springs. You can see the setup I did (2" lift or so) and I think I came in well under a grand, especially with the rebate rancho is running. I had more than enough room to fix the alignment with the adjustable A arms up front, so you could probably get into alignment with a 3" lift on a similar setup, but the rear is pretty much maxed out. Again, I don't know a ton about this, just enough to be dangerous and install modest parts on my own vehicle, but I gather that you'll also be stressing ball joints and cv joints with a big suspension lift. There is the 5" calimini lift, which drops your driveline and suspension components down I believe, although I never really looked very far into it since it's a lot more lift than I want and, as I recall rather expensive. Here's a short article on it: http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/090 ... der-v8-le/

After that long-winded response, my recommendation would be to go with a more modest 2" suspension lift to avoid the negatives that come with a body lift (including lack of additional ground clearance for your frame, etc.) and you should be able to fit your tires and improve your ride within your budget. I'm plenty happy with my rancho and spc UCA setup, and you'd also be able to get good rear springs instead of spacers with a grand, so that's what I'd do in your shoes. However, if you want a big lift for the sake of a big lift, you're going to have to do some type of body lift or the calimini kit. I hope I'm not talking out of my ass (I've spent way too much time on this forum not to have learned anything) and that this helps somewhat.

after doing some further investigating I actually did settle on the 2" lift. I looked at the calimini but its like $2400. I went with the quick lifts up front and the 9000xl with the spacer in the back. I also went ahead and grabbed the airlift for the rear as well to knock it all out at once. I think with the 2" I get from the ranchos and my the increased tire size (285/70/17 Duratracs) it should look plenty aggressive. I'm doing to install mid next week so I'll post pics of the results!

I don't think you'll regret it. I'm sort of doing the opposite; I have the lift and just need my tires to wear out so I can put some bigger guys on.