It's important to consider the tradeoffs of any modification. Once you deviate from stock you are going to give something up in one area for an advantage gained elsewhere. Spacers, for example, will raise your truck and allow you to fit larger tires, thereby raising your truck even further. The drawback that comes with this is a higher center of gravity for which the stock suspension is not designed. By fitting taller (and usually stiffer) springs, you mitigate - to some extent - the drawback of raising the center of gravity on the softer stock springs.
Ultimately people are going to do what they want with their trucks for whatever reasons. One guy's good idea is another's head-shaker.
It does get pretty interesting at the semi-production level, though.
Check out the AEV Prospector and Prospector XL, and how they've managed the clearance. Obviously there's fender trimming on the XL, but they made a few custom parts to realign things under both units, and
supposedly replicate a factory ride as closely as possible.
I kind of want one of those. Shame you have to have one of these new-fangled engines, but we're lucky they're happening at all, I suppose. I'd be pinching pennies right now if I could get away with dropping a 12 valve in the thing.
What the XL is showing us is the magic of trimming. There's the ideal solution for fitting larger tires. Always has been, and always will be. Trim, and try not to fuck with anything else too much. The problem is, it's hard to style, and it looks good on some vehicles, and like ten kinds of ass on others.
I think they pulled it off. That flatbed model ought to be the official Power Wagon.
Cheers,
Kennith