I have 96 ram 2500 i recently had an accident with. the control arms are bent on the front axle so, y not replace with better and LIFT IT!!!

I am looking at getting the dick cepek 6" long arm kit. my only question is, what do i have to worry about with my drive shafts and things like that. and anything else i may run into trouble with.

here is the kit... PerformanceLifts.com -- Dick Cepek Ram 2500 94-02 6" eXtreme Series

if u got a better preference, let me know. i am looking for 5-7 inches of lift....

Help school a newbie on lift kits

Thanks
Cody

 

Nobody?

 

Cody. Long time no see.

I'd be concerned with the increased stress the lift is going to cause on the drivetrain. Additionally, you aren't going to baby it. You are expecting a lot out of the truck power-wise. I think you may need to revisit the lift thing. Just my opinion. See what you think about a body lift. I don't know if they even make one for your 96. But at least that way you're not messing with your drivetrain stability. Good Luck

I seem to remember something having to be modified with any lift over 3 inches in the front. That was one reason I decided to stay with a leveling kit instead of a full lift. Others my be able to jump in and shed more light on it. It's been a while since I researched it. My old brain ain't what it used to be.

 

I've got an 8" lift and if i had the choice i'd have a 6" or under lift on my Duramax... Problems with my truck being the shocks are part of the lift kit, the upper control arm is part of the lift kit, etc... So, working on it is hit-or-miss on parts... What i understand is 6" and under lifts do not have the extra tubing and control arms, etc to replace... 6" lifts on your factory susp. parts... Is this better??? i don't know, but I'd like to think it is... Mine is a head-ake as is... OH, btw... i'm using Fabtech and they seem to be a good solid lift - comes with brackets to space your driveshaft(s) and other suspension parts... Mines as solid as it can be... All my shafts are pretty straight and axles holding up well... Just my 2 cents... Good luck

 

Cody...
Here are three trucks that use the "long Arm" lift kits.

The Silver and Red 94 Standard cab is a Dick Cepek Long Arm kit and its owned by a friend of mine from Western PA Brad Kirkham(B Kirk as he is known on many of the diesel boards).He is riding on a set of Pro-Comp Extreme A/T's that are 38in tall.

The Silver 02 Sport is the lady I am datings truck.Its a BDS 5" over kit(Hoak's 4WD in Wrightsville,PA did the install)with the long arms and it rides on 35" tall rubber.She would like taller tires but she needs to address the gear issues before that as she wants 38's and the truck should have 4.10's instead of the 3.54's.

The Dark Garnet Red/Silver 01.5 was Proram's(Scott Schwanger) old truck.Its the Dick Cepek 6" complete kit with the long arms and had the progressive coils also and it was riding on 14/38.5's.I remember him telling me when he was doing that kit that he would NEVER do another one again.He had 30+ hours of labor doing all the little things it needed to make it fit and ride right.He sold the truck on Ebay to someone up in Muncy,PA and it is not as nice today.

Hope That helps........Andy

P.S.-The last photo was taken by me looking up towards the front of ProRam's truck at the long arm kit.I took ALOT of very detailed photo's of that kit and other suspension work he did as I had thought about doing that to mine also.With my knees so bad I decided against it and just did the small lift to mine,2 over D25 coils up front and reworked the rear springs to raise the back 3".