# Leveling kit pros and cons



## PlowMan03 (Dec 31, 2003)

I'm looking to put a leveling kit in my 16 GMC 2500HD, don't like the front end rake. Thought about just cranking the torsion bars but don't want to, I've heard about front end parts wearing out faster with the leveling kit. I want to hear from you guys that have a leveling kit and how you like it. Tried to do a search but nothing turned up.


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## FredG (Oct 15, 2012)

I heard of plenty cranking the torsion bars, Never heard of wearing out the front end parts, This don't mean it's not possible but everybody does it and not heard of this.


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

Wait. You heard that the leveling kit will wear out front end parts more quickly, but don't want to crank up your T-bars? Why is that?


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

I've never heard it either. Comes down to, you get the truck to work it, get it how you need to.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

im thinking of rough country kit 2 inch my bars are cranked up a little for plow but in still hits the ground in vee mode


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

The geometry of the plow has to be correct. How bad does it dive when you lift the plow?


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

look i know i have to add counter weight in the back but for 200.00 and front end alignment its no a bad investment


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## Nick B (Dec 26, 2014)

I put leveling kits on all my plow trucks never had an issue with things wearing out faster. It makes the truck ride a little rough, but it handles the plow alot better.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

what brands are you using ?


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## PlowMan03 (Dec 31, 2003)

I ended up having a 1.5-2" Rough Country leveling kit put in last week. Happy with the way it turned out, ended up paying $260 for everything including an alignment. Ride didn't change much at all which I was surprised with.


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## FredG (Oct 15, 2012)

Nice rig, Standing tall.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

FredG said:


> Nice rig, Standing tall.


Sits like a Ford. Nice looking truck tho


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

is you plow sitting a little higher then before cause my v plow bottoms out in the vee mode


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Nice truck!


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

Ok... first off, you bought a GM with IFS... your front end parts are going to wear out... 

that is a long and short fact of driving something that does not ride like a total pile of dog pile every day of the week.

You are going to have to replace front end parts if you use the truck. Parts wear out.

The reason that they wear faster with a half as$ leveling kit is due to geometry angles. You need to keep everything as "level" as possible in terms of your CV's and what not.

The reason that they ride like **** is due to the fact that when people crank the t bars, they don't pay mind to the fact that the upper a arms are resting on the frame. When the uppers touch the frame, every time you hit a bump, and the suspension unloads, it will smack the frame and give you a ride like a Dodge or a Ford rides...


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

im not doing a half *** leveling kit


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

PLOWMAN45 said:


> im thinking of rough country kit 2 inch my bars are cranked up a little for plow but in still hits the ground in vee mode





PLOWMAN45 said:


> im not doing a half *** leveling kit


I personally never said your were going use a half *** kit... you did...


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

Best leveling kit is a 2 yard salter...


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

Philbilly2 said:


> Ok... first off, you bought a GM with IFS... your front end parts are going to wear out...
> 
> that is a long and short fact of driving something that does not ride like a total pile of dog pile every day of the week.
> 
> ...


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

I got my chevy leveling kit in 1.5 inches the only con was getting the plow back on i had to jack it up while my friend help me then i reset the feet and chains looks good i will get pictures up soon


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## PlowMan03 (Dec 31, 2003)

This is my truck with the leveling kit and plow on, I too had problems getting my plow on afterwards but was still able to do it alone.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

yeah i ccan make the plow go higher now


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## JD GroundWorx (Oct 3, 2017)

The reason leveling kits make parts wear out quicker has to do with the angles it puts the control arms at. Basically what the leveling kits on these chevys do is bring the whole strut down whatever the kit you bought is (1"-3"). So now your truck sits taller because your control arms are angled down (1"-3") more. That angle just makes it a little harder on the ball joints. From my understanding and past experience, its only harder on the ball joints because of the harder angle. They go bad with or without. So you might as well make the truck look and function how you want. I'm a diehard Chevy guy. Hoping to replace my 04 2500 dodge with another Silverado soon. Putting a tranny in this week... gotta love dodge


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

they had it aligned its a 1.5 lift


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

JD GroundWorx said:


> The reason leveling kits make parts wear out quicker has to do with the angles it puts the control arms at. Basically what the leveling kits on these chevys do is bring the whole strut down whatever the kit you bought is (1"-3"). So now your truck sits taller because your control arms are angled down (1"-3") more. That angle just makes it a little harder on the ball joints. From my understanding and past experience, its only harder on the ball joints because of the harder angle. They go bad with or without. So you might as well make the truck look and function how you want. I'm a diehard Chevy guy. Hoping to replace my 04 2500 dodge with another Silverado soon. Putting a tranny in this week... gotta love dodge


Again...as I stated earlier in this thread... it is all about geometry angles.

If you buy a half a$$ kit, you will have a terrible ride and your front end parts will were fast.

Spend the money on a real kit and you will not have these issues...


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

PLOWMAN45 said:


> I got my chevy leveling kit in 1.5 inches the only con was getting the plow back on i had to jack it up while my friend help me then i reset the feet and chains looks good i will get pictures up soon


What type of kit did you install?


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## JD GroundWorx (Oct 3, 2017)

Philbilly2 said:


> Again...as I stated earlier in this thread... it is all about geometry angles.
> 
> If you buy a half a$$ kit, you will have a terrible ride and your front end parts will were fast.
> 
> Spend the money on a real kit and you will not have these issues...


You're exactly right I wasn't disagreeing. Just explaining what the cheap leveling lift does to lift it. Rough country 3 inch is even worse


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

its rough country


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## 97S104x4 (Dec 31, 2009)

So would most of you recommend just cranking the t Bars a bit, say to add an 1" to 1.5" instead of buying an actual kit? Do most 2500hds have plenty of room that 1" won't really affect much as far as wear? of course still getting it aligned.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

id get the rough country leveling kit then get it aligned


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

97S104x4 said:


> So would most of you recommend just cranking the t Bars a bit, say to add an 1" to 1.5" instead of buying an actual kit? Do most 2500hds have plenty of room that 1" won't really affect much as far as wear? of course still getting it aligned.


You have to look at how much room you have before your control arms hit the frame and how much travel you have in your shocks.

If your control arms hit the frame or your shocks bottom out, you will have a terrible ride.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

PLOWMAN45 said:


> its rough country


Which kit did you go with?


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## Showmestaterida (Dec 28, 2006)

Philbilly2, what brand kit would u recommend ?


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## tooch420 (Dec 17, 2011)

Check out ready lift on Amazon.com. I got good 3" amd then some plus the rear blocks (I like the rake look) with the added fox 2.0 shocks the ride is similar to stick. I would comment that in all my years of owning a truck (which is long time) I always had leveling KIT and this one is best. The geometry is corrected with the neq UCA and new the rods which are twice as thick as stick for strength. But the one thing I feel is what makes ride rougher is the larger tires with the thicker sidewalls.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

Showmestaterida said:


> Philbilly2, what brand kit would u recommend ?


Any kit that uses different upper a arms is a good kit in my opinion.

If you just jam keys in these trucks, they ride terrible as every time that your suspension unloads, it will hit your frame causing a "thud" feel of sorts.

As just posted above, an IFS truck comes down to geometery. If you don't have the geometry, parts wear faster, tires wear faster, it rides terrible, and you will overall be dissatisfied.


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

I ran a fabtech 2.5" levelling kit in my 07.5 duramax. Ok so to be clear someone above mentioned buying a "good kit". What he is referring to is a lift kit. There's your levelling kit which usually includes your new keys for t bars and then your strut mounts (strut to a arms/control arms)
And he's correct a lift is the way to go. The levelling kits people bash on them but if you don't put it in and crank them all the way they're ok I guess. Just be conservative with it. Like many mentioned, the proven fact is that they're hard on the ball joints but that's regular maintenance and they throw the cv shafts way out and does cause more wear. But, our trucks make us money so who's to complain. If it were summer and not hard pressed to have it installed quickly and have the financials, I'd go with a conservative 4" lift and drop it a bit, and please, don't buy a rough country. The name says it all. 

So, like I said I ran a 2.5" fabtech levelling kit and it was great...for me. I was conservative with it and ran it for 3 years. It rode a tiny tiny bit rougher in the front, just don't crank them all the way! It gave me the lift I needed to be more comfortable and the truck performed much much better hands Down. 

Bottom line, levelling kit will do what you need and if you don't crank the **** out of those keys it'll be alright. You can't say it's hard.on ball joints or CVS because all trucks are when you plow with them. I bought a new truck and Santa's bringing me another 2.5" fabtech kit so take it as you will.


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

White duramax had the fabtech kit and that's the day I pulled the plow out in the fall. I had 33s on and still just barely cleared . Bottom gm is my new truck and the poor girl needs some help


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## tooch420 (Dec 17, 2011)

97S104x4 said:


> So would most of you recommend just cranking the t Bars a bit, say to add an 1" to 1.5" instead of buying an actual kit? Do most 2500hds have plenty of room that 1" won't really affect much as far as wear? of course still getting it aligned.


If you do this the angle of the ball joins and tie rods will be off and have more stress on the system than usual. The kits that come with new UCA (some with new tie rods like mine) correct the angles to give you more life on the parts and function better together. Just remember you need to get an alignment every time you crank it up and the ride will get more rough as you bring the bump stops closer to the arms.

I got 3" with my kit and the keeper & bolt all went back exactly where it was with the stock keys. So technically i can crank it up further as there is room if i wanted but the ride would be worse. Right now it feels same as it did from the factory if not better,.


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

tooch420 said:


> If you do this the angle of the ball joins and tie rods will be off and have more stress on the system than usual. The kits that come with new UCA (some with new tie rods like mine) correct the angles to give you more life on the parts and function better together. Just remember you need to get an alignment every time you crank it up and the ride will get more rough as you bring the bump stops closer to the arms.
> 
> I got 3" with my kit and the keeper & bolt all went back exactly where it was with the stock keys. So technically i can crank it up further as there is room if i wanted but the ride would be worse. Right now it feels same as it did from the factory if not better,.


What kit are you running?


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## tooch420 (Dec 17, 2011)

08chevy2500duramax said:


> What kit are you running?


*ReadyLift 69-3512*


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## Ssoto1192 (Dec 5, 2017)

PLOWMAN45 said:


> im thinking of rough country kit 2 inch my bars are cranked up a little for plow but in still hits the ground in vee mode


Rough country is super cheap but if your gonna have a plow on it I say you go with motofab 2 inch leveling kit


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

tooch420 said:


> *ReadyLift 69-3512*


So it's a lift


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

tooch420 said:


> *ReadyLift 69-3512*


3200 for a ready lift is a lot you can buy a cognito or a kryptonite lift for less, much stronger built and lifetime warranty.


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## MXZ1983 (Mar 8, 2015)

I hope you guys re level the a and t frames after installing those leveling kits. When you say you had to lift the plow and lower the chains I feel like you have a not level frame now.


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## tooch420 (Dec 17, 2011)

08chevy2500duramax said:


> 3200 for a ready lift is a lot you can buy a cognito or a kryptonite lift for less, much stronger built and lifetime warranty.


I disagree, you get more. This kit also comes with new beefier tie rods with corrected angles as well as 2" blocks which i wanted to keep rake which i like(either of those do not). This is all bolt on which i wanted, I think i made right choice. And its mainly for road, so strength of this kit has not let me down.


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

MXZ1983 said:


> I hope you guys re level the a and t frames after installing those leveling kits. When you say you had to lift the plow and lower the chains I feel like you have a not level frame now.


Do you mean a level frame on the plow? I don't get what your saying? He's simply stating tha5 when dropping his plow he had to lift it to get the feet back in the mounts on the truck for the first time since it's however many inches taller. Once it's on the first time the feet are fully adjustable on western and would be like having on any other truck. I think you misread what he said


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## MXZ1983 (Mar 8, 2015)

08chevy2500duramax said:


> Do you mean a level frame on the plow? I don't get what your saying? He's simply stating tha5 when dropping his plow he had to lift it to get the feet back in the mounts on the truck for the first time since it's however many inches taller. Once it's on the first time the feet are fully adjustable on western and would be like having on any other truck. I think you misread what he said


No, you're misreading what I'm saying. 
There are multiple settings for leveling the a and t frames on the plows. The a frame needs to be level for the cutting edge to wear and work correctly. If you change the height of the front of the truck chances are you need to change the settings.


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## MXZ1983 (Mar 8, 2015)

Here are a couple of western pages. Like I said. Height of the front of the truck matters.


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## 08chevy2500duramax (Oct 6, 2016)

MXZ1983 said:


> Here are a couple of western pages. Like I said. Height of the front of the truck matters.
> 
> View attachment 175635
> 
> ...


Yeah I understand. I get exactly what your saying. Mine has 3 bolt height adjustments. However, I think what he said is he had a he'll of a time getting it on in the first place because the headlight frame tilts forward and backward and he said he was alone. But, as you said ,maybe he doesn't know he can do that and loosen the large nut to adjust the side to side leveling as well.


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## MXZ1983 (Mar 8, 2015)

Yes. What needs to be done is the frames need to be measured and re leveled to the updated height of his truck.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

08chevy2500duramax said:


> White duramax had the fabtech kit and that's the day I pulled the plow out in the fall. I had 33s on and still just barely cleared . Bottom gm is my new truck and the poor girl needs some help
> 
> View attachment 175461
> 
> ...


I have plowed with 305s for years. Even on gms with just blocks and keys back in the day. No need for tiny tires... Thumbs Up


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## Pope of Plowing (Dec 20, 2017)

I’ve had a 2” ready lift leveling kit and 4” rear block on the old 06’ f350 for 3 Year’s now with no issues. Sits really nice with the 2 yard sander in the back. Running a vx2 on that one.


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## j.p.landscaping (Nov 11, 2018)

Went with the Bilestin 5100 leveling shocks on my 2014 Silverado 1500 and love them. Also put a set of Timbrens in the front with them. Truck barely moves when blade is lifted. Not bad for a 1500. Just thought it was worth mentioning.


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