Hey:

I just wanted to find out if anyone has tried spacers on top of their OME coils. Would it ruin the ride quality?

I was thinking that next spring I might try 1" spacers just to get a bit more height for slightly larger tires. That would put me close to 2.5"-3" of total lift and I would drop the front diff to straighten out the CV angles. I've never really been a fan of body lifts, but if it's the best way to go for just an inch, I'd consider it.

(See my signature line for current tire size and OME coils.)

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,
~Dave

The nice thing about body lifts is that it also gives you some maintenance wiggle room, esp for stuff like the starter and fuel filter--at least on the older rigs. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

yea id go with a body lift it will allow more room for those tires, and it wont change you suspension geometry even more.

Spacers won't affect ride quality, they're just spacers.
A body lift will give you a little more room for larger tires w/o affecting ride/handling in any way.

You definitely don't need a body lift for only 265/75R16 tires. I've been driving hard on 285/75R16 for 6 years without a body lift, although they rub in some situations. Minor rubbing doesn't hurt anything. Even if you had larger tires, a 1" body lift won't resolve the primary rubbing problems, since the body has to move up a few inches to really get rid of the rubbing problem at the rear of the front wheel wells. Just get a hammer and pound the body seam in a few places, which will avoid rubbing enough to avoid needing to mess with a body lift, even for 285/75R16.

Body lifts can be very good if you are determined to fit huge tires or do a SAS, or other extremes. If you want to do a body lift, you should decide before you add custom bumpers and rock sliders since it will affect how all of those are mounted and whether you need to customize those.

A suspension spacer used in combination with other lift springs in the front will affect the ride quality because it will change the geometry of the IFS. It will seem as though it's stiffer. Exactly how much I don't know, since I haven't tried that. I have a spacer above my rear OME springs, but it doesn't really matter there since it just holds the entire rear axle further from the body/frame.

Also depends on the design of the spacers. Some spacers go in between the spring and the top plate, therefore preloading the spring and stiffening the ride. Some go in between the top plate and the strut mount, but like Jeff said, they still change suspension geometry.

Oh yeah - wheel width and backspacing affects tire rubbing too. Stock wheels are the least likely to cause rubbing. But if you have aftermarket wheels, it may increase chances for tire rubbing.

Thanks guys! 285's would be the largest I would go, so it looks like I'll be ok with the set-up I have. I currently have the stock running boards, but hope to get some "rock rails" and get rid of all of that plastic trim at the front and back of the running boards... that looks like it'll clear out some space at the rear of the front wheel wells, too.

Thanks again!
~Dave

What do you guys think about adding spaces to an otherwise stock suspension.

I would like just a little more hieght but don't know if I'm ready to go the expense of a whole suspension.

Should work for a little while. You'll probably wear out your stock springs after a year or 2. Mine sagged an inch or so.