Another leveling kit/35" tire install thread
 

Threw a Readylift Stage 2 2.5" leveling kit on yesterday and 285/75-18 Toyo M/T's installed today. Tires are equivalent to a 35x11.50. Alignment was still spot on (had to adjust the toe to get the wheel centered again). I almost opted for weights on the inside of the wheel only, but they were pretty far off and I'd rather have them balanced correctly than "this was as close as we could get". Pics below...

Stock:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...430_072302.jpg

Leveling kit installed:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...t/DSC_0976.jpg

Not much to the kit, some spacers, shock extenders, new bracket for the brake line, a track bar bracket, and bump stop spacers (not everything pictured):
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...t/DSC_0978.jpg

With the tires:

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k.../DSC_09762.jpg

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k.../DSC_09782.jpg

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k.../DSC_09772.jpg

Looks awesome Matt! :-X22

Very nice Matt. Your truck looked sweet before, even better now.:-X22 I been kicking around a front level kit and F350 spacers to raise mine up slightly.

looks mean. need to trim/lose that valence though

Thanks guys.

The 2wd valance (which is shorter) is on the to-do list, pretty inexpensive ($65) and should make a pretty big difference. 2wd is 4 3/8", 4wd is 7 1/2", pretty significant.

looks great Matt!

Looking pretty good. The 35" tires look better with your 2.5" lift than my 3.5" lift. I might have to go up to 36" or 37" for my next set of tires to get the look I want.

Looks great ! Makes me think twice about just using the stock rims instead of getting some after market types. I have 17's which I think would still look good with the toyo MT's in 285/75r17.

Do you happen to know how much your pkg raised the overall height of your truck? I am looking at doing the same thing but I'm limited by a low parking garage at my work....

very cool man.
them tires look tough too.

wow very nice, looks much better :-X22 I love that long bed..... I want one

Nice combo setup! Really sets off your SD...:-X22

So...do you have any driving expressions yet? How does it handle / ride? MPG's?


biz
:)

looks awesome, after seeing pics of your last truck, i knew mods on this one werent far away :)

nice looking rig, that color on the 2011 SD just looks right! :-X22

love those tires man, could easily fit 37s on that beast . shes a beaut!!

Thanks everyone!

The front came up about 3" total. I didn't measure the overall height, but once the sun comes out, I'll measure it so at least you'll have a starting point. FWIW - guys are fittin' 35's with no leveling kit. I chose to do it because I like the look better. I'm not concerned about the rear sagging when I tow. I still have air bags in my garage I'll put on at some point.

Thanks Biz! So far so good. I need to get it back in for some more caster adjustment, it's kinda of floppy on the parkway/freeway at higher speeds. The alignment was within spec, but it needs some more caster. My speedo was fast before and with these tires, it's exactly spot on. I was out of town all week so I didn't get to drive it much to verify mpg's. I don't worry too much about the mileage anymore. It's sucked from day 1, avg'ing 10.2 since I drove it off the lot so I'm sure I'll take a little hit from the weight of the tires.

Yeah, the wife isn't pleased, I told her I'd leave this truck alone. I'm failing miserably at that. }>

Matt,
The truck looks great.
And remember, it's always easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission!
:-drink

Thanks!

That saying holds true, my truck would be bone stock if I asked for permission for anything. :-X04

Very nice!

Forgot to follow up. Without getting a level on it for an absolutely accurate measurement, I'm at 82" at the top of the cab....

Thanks for that! And your truck looks sweet!

Thanks!

Quick update to the thread. So, I went to order the 2wd valance, it's $65. I got a call from where I ordered it from (non-local dealer I've bought from in the past), $100 in shipping, ouch. Apparently the length of the box killed the costs. Oh well, I was happy they called to confirm whether or not I still wanted it, gotta give them props for that. Going to hit up some local dealers and see what they can do for me...

Taking possession of a newly built 350 tomorrow. Have it going straight to the shop for 35 Toyo M/T and 2.5 leveling kit with stabilizers and Bilstein 5100 shocks (4). Keeping stock 20 rims.

Shop quoted me $3392 total. They are reputable but that seems really high to me. Thoughts or advice?

Sounds high to me, but I installed everything myself (with exception to the mount/balance/alignment) so labor was free (the best kind!).

You could easily get it done in a few hours yourself, then drop it off at the tire shop for the last part of it.

Congrats on the truck and welcome to FTE!

Thanks so much for the info and the welcome.

A little nervous to do any work to a brand new truck myself. I definitely know just enough to be dangerous.

My major concern is preserving as close to the OEM ride as possible. Because of that, and this shops reputation (several family members have had work done there), I'm ok with it. Just seemed a little steep to me at $3400.

Thanks again!

With it being brand new, the best part is that the bolts come off easier. Not sure what leveling kit you went with but the readylift came with step by step instructions w/ pictures. For me, pictures are good. The shocks and stabilizer are the very easy to install, don't even need to remove the tires or jack the truck up.

My truck rides nice, but know that the Toyo's are harder than your stock tires so you will feel a difference. I'm going to mess around with my 9000's and adjust them to soften the ride back up some. I also need to get it back on the alignment rack for some more caster, sways a bit at higher speeds.

Shop is pushing for RCD leveling kit. Said with the Bilsteins it is their reccomendation. I dont have enough knowledge to have an informed opinion. The truck in your signature is exactly the look i want to achieve.

Honestly, if you're unsure, why not hold off on getting the work done and do some research? There's an infinite number of threads here on shocks, leveling kits, etc. The Bilstein 5100 and Rancho 9000's seem to be the favorites in the SuperDuty community (at least here on FTE), so you can't go wrong there. I had 5100's on the 2000 in my signature, I just wanted some flexibility and something different this time around so I went with the 9000's. The leveling kit I went with got good reviews, and came with everything I wanted, and I knew I was goin' with the Toyo's again. I don't know much about RCD but I'm sure others here have experience with them, probably do a search and you can find some feedback there. The stabilizer I went with was based on feedback from others experiences.

The 5100's and Toyo's for me are definites. Not sure the kit makes all that much difference to me. Just trying to do my part to stimulate the economy and spend as much money in a week as possible!:)

thanks again! I'll let ya know how it turns out.

Sounds good. Post pics when done.

Marlin thats great advice Matt gave ya there. And I can help you spend some of that $ if need be. hahaha.:-drink

Took a look at the RCD website...and they don't even list a 2011-2012 SuperDuty. So...maybe they just need to update the site.

The 2.0-2.5" level kit offered by RCD...uses front springs rather than spacers. So...IMHO...it will make the SD a little more stiff. Which isn't always a bad thing...especially if the 5100 shocks are tuned proper for the springs.


RCD Suspension 2-2.5 Leveling/Lift Kit [RCD 10-42205] - $674.95 : West Coast Off Road - RCD Suspension Lift Kits, Revtek Suspension Lift Kits, and BullDog Winches at WCOR, Where The Rubber Meets The Dirt!


IMHO...with that brand lift...and other items...price seems about right.


biz
;)

Bought a front valance for a 2wd and slapped it on there. Not sure it was worth the money but that'll motivate me to go back to work on Monday..

4wd (stock) valance:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...914_171309.jpg

2wd valance:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...914_182632.jpg

No valance (no bueno):
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...914_173857.jpg

much better with that 2wd one

can't believe the bumper has all that ugly crap on the bottom side