I've been contemplating a leveling kit for some time now, and am very close to pulling the trigger (like, within the next several days). As I have continued looking into this, I have several questions.

MY TRUCK:
Read my signature
Stock wheels
Tires are LT 285x75x16, Bridgestone Revos
Recent maintenance:
new Moog ball joints on passenger side (2 weeks ago)
new brake pads and turned rotors on both front wheels (2 weeks ago)

PLAN:
- No intentions of ever running huge tires, perhaps may consider 295's at some point, but probably not
- No intention of replacing the current stock wheels
- No intention of ever doing more lift than this (or some other) leveling kit
- Will later install an airlift assist in the rear (very long term, not this year)
- Install a 2.5" UHMW coil spring spacer kit from Fat Bob's Garage (best price I can find).
- Possibly include a new front set of Bilstein shocks, if necessary
- Make no changes to rear suspension at this time, but if I isntall new front shocks now, will replace rear shocks later this summer
- all work to be done while I am also changing the driver side ball joints
- include an adjustable camber kit with the BJ's, which was also done on the passenger side two weeks ago
- make sure that the slide pins are well-greased with the best synthetic brake grease I can find

QUESTIONS:
1. I know that a 2.5" spacer kit will give me more than 2.5 inches due to the angles involved in the front end suspension. That's OK, because it will actually take a little over 4-inches to make the truck sit perfectly level, and I expect to get about 3-inches from the leveling kit. Do I NEED to replace the front shocks with longer ones? or is it just "a better way to go about the job"?

2. I am reading disclaimers about "no guarantee that I can get teh front end aligned" following the install. Two questions here.
a- Have any of you experienced, known for a fact, or read about soemone else's experience being that they could not get their 2WD PSD front end aligned after installing a 2.5" leveling kit?
b- If this is a real possibility, will the adjustable camber kit either minimize or prevent it from being a real problem?

3. I have typically seen the coil spring spacers advertised as being polyurethane or some other softer synthetic material. The ones I am looking at are advertised as being firmer and less "crushable" than the softer spacers on the market. Have any of you heard of any problems with using UHMW spacers for the coil springs on these trucks?

4. Do I need to include any additional suspension part changes with just the leveling kit?

5. I have the option of using a Friday afternoon and all day the following day. Is all this too much work for a Saturday, or do I need to plan for the "Friday afternoon through Saturday evening" route?

6. What other work would you recommend doing while I am in there?


Thanks ahead of time for your replies.

 

bumpity bump

 

Pete - I cant help you there as I did the 2" coil spring spacers in front & wound up actually about 2-1/2" higher in the front after alignment. I like it a lot as it sits much prouder now -Like a 4x4

 

Bill, you might be able to help.

Did the folks who did the alignment have any trouble getting it all striaght?
Did you replace your shocks, too?
How long did it take you?

 

Pete- Shocks were ok.Didnt have to change them - Alignment was IIRC $155.00 with the new fittings. He even gave me a b4 and after report on the caster and camber #s and they were well within specs on completion. Camber was out a lot b4. You can actually stand back and see them toed in. Hope that helps.

 

Which leveling kit did you get?

 

My buddy and I installed coil spring spacers on his 00 F-250 2wd and When he got new tires they WERE able to align it. The only prob was that the spacers were the "softer" type and they crushed to about 1 1/4" so it still changed the look of his truck but not like it should have.

 

I've really been thinking about this too, Pete. If you do it, I have to because our trucks won't look alike...

My concern about that is with it lifted in the front will it cause more drag hitting the mileage? As much as I hate the squatty look, I really don't want to do a mod that will hurt my MPGs when fuel is $4/gal...

 

I have the Daystar 2" leveling kit that I bought off of ebay a couple of years ago. I have still yet to install it. I've heard more bad things about this than good. I heard also heard something about using the coil springs off of superduty ambulance packages for more lift in the front. I'm still researching this idea. My brother-in-law has either a 4" or 6" Fabtech lift on his '01 F250 2wd. I looks real good and level, but definitely not too high. I'd say it sits about the same height as a 4wd, maybe a slight bit taller.

Chris

 

I'm not interested in the leveling kit, and don't know enough to answer your questions. (Sorry Pete), but Joe beat me to my question. I know you keep mileage records. I'd be interested to see the effects on MPG from lifting the front end.

The only leveling I've done was to wear out my rear springs so the back end sagged down to level. This got old with hauling a load or pulling a trailer so I installed an un-leveling kit (air bags) to make it work like it used to.

FYI. The lowered or raised back up rear had no effect on mileage.

 

Excellent question about the mileage issue, and it is one that I have thought about before, but it had honestly slipped my mind this go around. Hmmm.... Like you, Joe, as much as I hate the squatty look, I don't want to hurt mileage either. At teh same time, I'm still running stock exhaust and no DP tuner yet, so I meight be able to see an equal tradeoff at worst, and perhaps a slight gain in mileage once I have those three things in place together.

In talking with the 4WD folks, my mileage is not that much different from them, so I'm not really sure if I will see much of a drop by simply raising the front a couple inches. I'm inclined to go ahead and do it anyway, and I'll certainly find out about the mileage issue and report my findings gladly.

 

I got mine @ performancesalesonline.com -(803)600-2149 -They were right at $90.00 to my door. I also added air ride air shocks to the rear,so I still have a little nose down in the front but its pretty close to level.

 

Never mind... Re-read the post above...

 

Pete. If you've got a few minutes you might read through the 2008 6.4 section and read what effects the front air dam added after the job 1 trucks made to MPG's. I know it's not apples to apples, but it might help you along the thought process.

 

Thanks, Chris.