Ram 1500 lowering a 4X4

I just picked up a 15 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman Crew cab shortbed 4X4. I like the truck and the ride is incredible with decent handling for a high Cg 4WD truck. My only issue and it is much more an issue for SWMBO is the high ride height. It makes getting in and out more of an effort and I am sure doesn't help it in the corners. It also makes reaching into the bed for us vertically challenged types almost impossible.

From what I can find online the Outdoorsman has a higher ride height,skidplates,LSD rear and this one at least has 20" wheels. I would like to lower it without ruining the great ride, it's towing/hauling capability and do so without too much expense or hassle.

My thought is to go 17 or 18" wheels with tires that have a decent sidewall height but are shorter in overall diameter. This will obviously affect the speedometer so I would need to see about getting that recalibrated. I'm not talking big change here just closer to other factory Rams. I also would consider swapping to regular Ram 4WD springs to get the ride height down.

Any suggestions on which route or both to go or other ideas to lower it without messing with it's goodness?

Add side step rails/running boards?

It might worth taking a dig through the parts listing to see how much beyond springs and maybe shocks is different on a 2wd vs 4wd truck. If the answer is "not much", dropping it to 2wd ride height would probably be pretty easy with stock parts, so it should still ride well. And it probably won't require smaller tires to get it down enough.

Stock 4wd springs would definitely be an option. Not sure how big the height difference is though.

Even if it is that new, and bought from a dealer, there is nothing that says somebody didn't put a body lift kit on it. That would be the first thing I'd look for and remove.

If it doesn't have them, step rails and stock 4WD springs.

I have to commend you for wanting to lower a 4wd pickup.

Rented a '16 Ram 1500 Big Horn 4x4 last year, the only thing my wife didn't like about the thing was climbing in and out of it. It had the 20" wheel package on it too. Stock springs may not be much help with lowering, maybe an inch at most. I fell in love with the thing but it is just too tall for my tastes.

There are some 2/3 lowering kits available commercially. They're just springs and shocks. Should be a cheap and easy thing to do.

I know this sounds a little rude but you do know that a ton of Rams have a stock airbag system that lowers for entry/exit? If you weren't already committed i'd have recommended seeing if that system addressed the issue.

If i had to pick between shorter tires and lowered suspension on a new vehicle, i'd lower the suspension. Especially since you're not looking for anything drastic. However, you USED to be able to adjust something called pinion factor in older chryslers where you could use a scantool to tell the vehicle which of the factory wheel/tire packages was on it and it would calibrate everything based on that. So if there's a shorter wheel/tire package on some other ram, there's a good chance you could install something close to that diameter and adjust the pinion factor through the scan tool and have everything still operating correctly. I would just verify with a chrysler dealer tech before committing money to possibly obsolete info like this..