so im mainly looking to do some exterior work, such as a tire rack, suspension lift, and bigger tires. so with that will a new/improved exhaust help performance or make my truck better for a reasonable <200 dollar price, same with a cold air intake? any use getting a better one, thanks in advance.

 

Neither one will do anything noticeable except drain your wallet. CAI is a total waste of money when it comes to performance. It will change the sound, that's it.

 

great thank you, would you approve of the rought county 2.5 lift with shocks and some 31 inch tires, cause ive been really looking forward to doing that build over the summer hopefully

 

It's your truck and you are the one that ultimately decides what you want to do. I can offer a couple words of advice though. If you're going to lift it, do a body lift, not a suspension lift. Leave the torsion bars alone, you're asking for trouble if you mess with them, and you'll get it... guaranteed.

 

well the rough county comes with brackets to keep the correct angles on the Diff and new control arms with ball joints so hopefully avoid busting them out if they are designed for it

 

That's a suspension lift, see what you can find for a body lift. If front chassis ride height is not within specs, you can expect premature failure of steering and suspension components. A body lift does not affect chassis ride height.

 

many people put the 2.5 RC lift on theres with no regrets. IMO body lifts are pointless, but like Capt said, It's your truck and you are the one that ultimately decides what you want to do.

 

A body lift won't give you any more ground clearance. But it will give you more room to run larger tires. Although a 31" is only 2" taller than a 235/75/15. So that will only get you 1" more height. If you just want the "look" a body lift is fine. But if you plan to actually 'wheel the truck, it won't do anything.

As far as intake/exhaust, don't expect much. As the captain said, CAI is junk. You already have a "cold air intake" from the factory. Look at where the air box draws from. Most of the CAI's I see just replace the factory air box (that draws in air from behind the grill) with one of those cone air filters. And since it's in the engine bay, it's sucking in nice hot air. And the exhaust won't change the performance of a stock engine enough to notice without a dyno. If you just want it to sound better, that's fine. Just don't expect 50 more hp and 10 more mpg!

 

great thanks for the advice and help, besides the RC 2.5 lift any reasonably priced, aka <500 dollar lifts for a few inchs, nothing major just maybe 2-4

 

Not really. You could always get some 2" lift shackles ($50-$75, less if you can make them) and crank the snot out of your t-bars for an extra 1.5", but you would be running through CV joints like crazy.