Hello,
I own a 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Turbo Diesel 4x4 with the Allison transmission in it. The truck has 18,000 miles on it because I have spent the last 6 years either in surgery or in body casts and neck braces.
I am disabled, and walk with a cane from nerve damage in my legs.
This is the result of a car accident that broke my neck requiring a 3 level fusion of my neck.
While I was in Therapy after the neck fusion, I had a piece of equipment break and drop me on the low back resulting in ruptured disks that required surgery on my low back too.
I tell you this because the height of the truck can be a problem for me to get in and out of it, with the leveling kit I can still get in, but much more and it will be hard for me.
I have been doing hand engraving to teach my hands to work again and I plan to engrave many parts of the truck as it is customized.
The wheels that I picked were picked for their features that provide flat surfaces to hand engrave.
I just put Diamo DI 8K, 20 x 9, 8-lug wheels with Nitto Dune Grapplers 305/55 R20 tires on it.
I love the look that these tires and wheels give the truck, wait till I do some engraving on them.
In order to get clearance, the installer told me I needed a 2.5 leveling key system installed, which was done.
After some trimming, and then some more trimming later on, with lots of banging and pounding, he finally got enough clearance to drive the truck without rubbing.
But I noticed that if going over a rise or bump while turning the wheel the shocks allowed the tire to hit the fender as it bounced.
I guess that I need a 4 inch lift kit installed to get the PROPER clearance needed to safely drive the truck.
I thought I would write to ask your help with this because you guys are the experts with trucks like this.
I really need your help to decide the best way to get the clearance that I need for this truck, it is my baby.
I want to put a Banks tow system in the truck for extra power.
It may take a year or 2 to finish all the engraving that I plan to do, but when I am done, it should look real nice.
Can you help me with some advice on equipment and finding local installers that know what they are doing?
I live in Miami, Florida, and all the good people that work on these things seem to be in California.
Here is a list of the things that I want to do to the truck in 2009, I doubt that I will get them all done, but with your help, maybe.
1. Lift truck to get the proper clearance needed to safely drive the truck, perhaps a 4 inch lift kit or air bags? I don’t know what would be best for this.
2. Banks Tow Ottomind? Or Sport? Package with exhaust, intake, and the whole package, and get it installed.
3. Interior seat covers or re-upholster seats and door panels with something real nice.
4. Sound system with video and GPS to go with interior work.
5. Gauge faces in SS, these I plan to engrave with scrolls, Nu Image has some that are nice.
5. Hard tonneau cover.
6. Lighting upgrades to LED where applicable.

7. New grill and maybe a new hood, I’m not sure that I want this?
8. Custom Paint, the truck is black, perhaps some ghost flames.  
I have a good idea what the truck will look like when it is finished, with the hand engraving that I plan to do it might even be a good show truck, but we will see how it turns out.
I am 55, I don’t want to race the truck, just make it nicer then it is.
If you could give me some advice where to go to get these things done and if the things that I have in mind will work well and look good on the truck.
I am mostly concerned with getting parts that fit, after all the problems I am having with the wheels, I don’t want parts sticking out of the hood because there is not room, or more rubbing problems with things that are installed.

Any advice that you can give about these things will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Tim  

you can tighten the torsion bar keys up ALOT more, on my 06 2500 it gave me a total of 4 inches lift .  my 33's clear with no srcubbing  

Really !!!

It shouldn't surprise me that it isn't up all the way. The guy's that installed the keys took all day to do it because they didn't have the right tool to flex the torsion bar. I read an article that said it was an hour job, 2 at the most, they took 7 to just get them in.
You learn as you get these things done that not everyone that says they can do something, really can.
I saw them balancing my truck on a jack stand to flex the torsion bar up and get the key in, I couldn't watch.

Thanks for the info.

Tim