Okay, I have a new (3,000 miles) 2013 F150 FX4, and I had my friend, an ASE certified mechanic put in a rough country level kit for me. Little did I know, I believe he messed up somewhere along the way. I'm not sure why, but he ended up messing with the hub bolts during the installation, and long story short, I had to go to the dealer and get new bearings.

NOW, the dealer charged me (I obviously accepted the full cost, as it was my fault) and said that the reason that the hubs (bearings) broke was due solely to the leveling kit, and the added stress it caused to the hub, and insisted that I take the level kit off, or it would just break another hub.

I am now back to stock suspension, but I REALLY want my level back, because the 2 miles and a day that I had my level kit on the truck, I loved it.

My question: Is it safe to have a dealer or garage (not my stupid friend) put on the level kit correctly? Or was it really the actual level kit that would cause all of that damage?

**I am not very mechanically inclined, I know the generals, but not the details.

The level kit was a 2'' rough country strut spacer, went above the spring, didn't compress the spring or anything. I'm also open to other ideas for lift kits such as a rancho quick lift, any ideas such as that. Please let me know what you think!

 

Yes it is. I haven't seen a leveling kit cause hub or bearing damage. I don't understand why the installer was messing with them in the first place.
Make sure whoever installs it disconnects the battery first or the EPAs may get damaged.

 

Ya, the closest to the hubs you need to get, is unbolting the tire/wheel from it. No need to have anything to do with the hubs. Whoa a minute there, by hub bolts, do you mean lug nuts? If so, your "friend", needs to learn how to install a wheel properly, torquing and sequence.

 

Well I've had a 3" level on my current 2010 for almost 3 years now and I had a 2" on my 2005 for 4 years with no issues at all.

 

When we started and I handed him the directions that came with the kit, he didn't wana find the EPAS cuz it was probably under the skid plate, and he said that he didn't think we would need to disconnect the battery... I disconnected it right after to reset the computer anyways.


No, I mean the bolt on the end of the middle of the hub that is covered by that little silver cap, he took it off, and undid that 1 little bolt, then he retightened it (didn't torque it) and THAT is where i started to realize it might have gone wrong.

 

[quote=FX4Brad;12760706
No, I mean the bolt on the end of the middle of the hub that is covered by that little silver cap, he took it off, and undid that 1 little bolt, then he retightened it (didn't torque it) and THAT is where i started to realize it might have gone wrong.[/quote]

Wow, I wonder what would possess him to fool with that? Installing a spacer, as far as I know, on mine at least, has nothing to do with your spindle nut. I think that's what it is still called.

 

The battery should be disconnected during the whole process until everything is reassembled so the EPAs don't get damaged.