Best Leveling Kit
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Best Leveling Kit
I have been doing a bit of reading and have concluded that I will need a leveling kit on my 2013 Ford F-350 4x4 SRW in order to have 35x12.5 tires with no rubbing. What is the best kit or parts options available? I still want my truck to have all of the stock capabilities or better in terms of Max Load and Max Tow weight. Additionally, I do not want to cause any premature wear and tear on my truck. Any informative advice would be much appreciated, thank you.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2013
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From: Eunice, La
I have been doing a bit of reading and have concluded that I will need a leveling kit on my 2013 Ford F-350 4x4 SRW in order to have 35x12.5 tires with no rubbing. What is the best kit or parts options available? I still want my truck to have all of the stock capabilities or better in terms of Max Load and Max Tow weight. Additionally, I do not want to cause any premature wear and tear on my truck. Any informative advice would be much appreciated, thank you.
I am very satisfied with my Ready Lift 2.5in leveling kit. I have ran this same setup on my past 4 trucks. I run 35x12.5 without any trouble. Most of these kits send you shock extenders or say you can run factory shocks. I have always change out the shocks with better after market ones. This time I went with Bilstein. It made a very noticeable difference.
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Joined: Mar 2014
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Bilstein has shocks made for leveling kits they were for 2.0 to 4.0 leveling kits. Had to use bushings on the old front shocks but they make a huge difference in how the truck rides my ranchoes were less than a year old and shot
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then I would go with bills teens for stock suspension just a lot better shock 5100 series
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Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,470
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From: Chandler, AZ
To get your truck level you need about 2 to 2.5" lift in the front only. Unfortunately, to correct the caster (~4 degrees) you will need aftermarket/modified radius arms or a 4 link. This can be expensive.
It would be cheaper to get a 3.5" kit, they come with drop brackets to correct caster, and 1" taller block in the rear.
Many have just installed 2.5" front spring spacers and live with the results of poor caster. It's your choice.
2 other options for a 2" lift caster correction are PMF's 2" drop bracket (not easy install) or offset ball joint bushings. The offset ball joint bushing cannot correct caster enough (only 2.5 degrees out of the 4 you need) and prevent the truck from being aligned again in the future. (your already at max available bushing offset)
2005-13 Ford F-250/350 2.5" Replacement Drop Radius Arm Mounts
I guess a 3rd option is to run 3.5 drop brackets with 2" spacers. Looks terrible unless you have steps to hide them somewhat but will drive nice.
It would be cheaper to get a 3.5" kit, they come with drop brackets to correct caster, and 1" taller block in the rear.
Many have just installed 2.5" front spring spacers and live with the results of poor caster. It's your choice.
2 other options for a 2" lift caster correction are PMF's 2" drop bracket (not easy install) or offset ball joint bushings. The offset ball joint bushing cannot correct caster enough (only 2.5 degrees out of the 4 you need) and prevent the truck from being aligned again in the future. (your already at max available bushing offset)
2005-13 Ford F-250/350 2.5" Replacement Drop Radius Arm Mounts
I guess a 3rd option is to run 3.5 drop brackets with 2" spacers. Looks terrible unless you have steps to hide them somewhat but will drive nice.
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With the 2.5 spacers in the front I could not get my caster into specs but the truck drives and handles very nice. Does caster effect tire wear not sure if it does? Alignment guy said if it drives good not to worry to much about it. Said he's been doing alignment for 30 years seems to me he is right cause it sure does drive nice.
Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,470
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From: Chandler, AZ
No not really. Incorrect camber and/or toe can, but not really caster.
If your happy with the way it drives then there isn't a reason to change anything.
However, everyone's idea if 'good' can be different. My dad has a 6.0l with only 40k miles and the steering box and drag link were shot. He claimed it drove fine. It drove like crap and had to have constant steering corrections to keep it on the road. I showed him the slop, he had it fixed and couldn't believe the difference/improvement.
If your happy with the way it drives then there isn't a reason to change anything.
However, everyone's idea if 'good' can be different. My dad has a 6.0l with only 40k miles and the steering box and drag link were shot. He claimed it drove fine. It drove like crap and had to have constant steering corrections to keep it on the road. I showed him the slop, he had it fixed and couldn't believe the difference/improvement.
Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,598
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From: Maryland
Caster effects how "live" the steering feels. The more positive, the more feeling you get in the wheel. I'm running a 2" spacer right now without any caster adjustment and can barely tell the difference. Every truck responds a little bit differently. My 2006 with a 2.5" spacer had very noticeable bump steer prior to alignment.
Every person also seems to have different tolerances/preferences in their steering feel. What feels awful dead to me may feel like too twitchy to you.
Every person also seems to have different tolerances/preferences in their steering feel. What feels awful dead to me may feel like too twitchy to you.
Tuned
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 460
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I have an F350 with snowplow prep package, I did the ready lift 2.5" front and 1" taller rear block. Front sat way too high, caster was way off even with caster adjustments made. I removed it after 40 miles and went with stock rear blocks and a 1.5" spacer under the coil spring up front with caster adjustment and I couldn't be happier!