[dug224]

Kim..thanks. Made some more progress.

I had a single 245-45-18 and a single 245-40-18 laying around so I tried them. May have it. Now that the 255-55-18 is in back, it is pretty clear the 245-45-18 was way too small for the rear. I appreciate the input on the earlier thread. The 245-40 was too small (not shown) on the front but the 245-45 looks just about right. Will look for a 245-50 to try on the front before the final decision. For the wheels in this study, I used the center cutout from the fake wheels I made earlier. It helps give to see the wall height better. The front tire is sitting on 1.5" of wood spacers to get the tire up into the wheel well. The back is sitting on 0.75" spacers. Once on flat ground, it will have slightly less rake.

Located some already bagged free sand from a friend I can use to load the suspension. I will be able see how much bed depth I end up with. You may remember, the rear suspension upper spring supports are pretty high and won't be coming down since they are an integral part of the setup. The underside of the bed will only be able to go down only so far until it hits it. To make it worse, the factory kicked it up in one spot to clear the exhaust pipe which makes it a even that much more challenging. Since I intend us the existing exhaust, the kick up stays.....for now....

By the way, the thing sitting below the cab is a lift my Dad made 30 years ago using a trash compactor. I used it to drop the transfer case out from under the truck and to level of the cab. Pretty handy even after all these years. He put a frame with casters around the bottom and welded a 1/2" socket drive to the threaded shaft. You can easlily run it up and down using a pneumatic wrench. Wish I had one more.