Went to a couple truck shops today. First one I stopped at the guy quoted me a price of $191 to order and $100 to install a 2.5" leveling kit. With tax total would come to $312.43. I told him I could get an Auto Spring kit for about half the cost as his kit. He stated if I bought the kit he would still do the installation for $100. Does that sound like a pretty good price?

I then went to an offroad shop to price a leveling kit and a 6" lift. The guy there quoted me a price of $350 to install a leveling kit and $1500 to $1800. Does that sound about right for a 6" lift? He stated that with a leveling kit I could expect the ball joints life expectancy to decrease to 50% to 75% of normal.

I wish I had the mechanical aptitude to install the leveling kit or the lift myself which would probably save me a ton of money, but I just don't and I want to make sure my ride is safe when it's completed. I was set to go with a leveling kit, but have started to grow a little hesitant after reading some of the posts about guys having problems with their ball joints. Then with what this guy stated to me today kinda got me rethinking my leveling kit idea. Of course he could have just been saying that to get me to purchase the more expensive lift. Just seems unlikely though given the fact that he made the statement without any questioning on my part and also with some of the posts I have been reading on this site.

The leveling kit price of $200 installed (if I order my own kit) is much cheaper than the lift price of up to $1800. This huge difference would allow me to add the kit and upgrade my rims and tires now. If I go with the lift I would only be able to afford that for now and would have to save up some more for the rims and tires. Just wondering if it's worth it to spend the extra money now and save myself some future hassles.

One last thing that makes me hesitant about the lift is he couldn't even get my truck in for at least 3 weeks and would have my truck for up to 4 days depending on when they get it to the alignment shop.

Should mention my truck is a 2006 SCREW 4X2 and it's never taken off pavement.

 

I wouldn't bother with the leveling kit. If you want a lift but can't afford rims and tires now, just wait until you can do the whole thing at the same time. I think you'll be much happier then.

 

Dude you should just save up and wait. I had the leveling kit and I was happy with it for about 5 months. You'll get it and at first it'll seem high up but then you'll be next to 4wd trucks or lifted ones and feel crappy. Save up and lift man.

 

The guy has never taken his truck off road. Why spend all that money if he is concerned mostly about the looks?? How much do new MOOG ball joints cost $30?? Just replace them once or twice a year. Oh, BTW - $200 installed is a great price. It should take him less than 3 hours to install and you can then drive it to get aligned.

If he intends to go off road, then fine.....spend the money for the suspension upgrade.

 

I have to agree. If you just want to be able to put a larger wheel/tire combo in the front fender well, then just get a spacer for the front. I have the 2 inch AS with no problems with the ball joints so far, but 1800-200=1600 dollars worth of ball joint replacements. You would probably never replace 1600 bucks worth of joints in the truck's lifetime even if you paid someone for the labor. That other recent thread about ball joints going bad (eating them) may not be only caused by the spacer. Driving habits, abuse, and installing the largest spacer sold may have more to do with it. I find that for the 2WD trucks, the 2 inch spacer is prabably better, and for what you are going to do, go with a spacer.

 

Trust me, if your torn between lifting or leveling right now than you really would be better off saving your money and doing it right once. I did the 2.5" Daystar spacer, wheels, and 33s. I was happy for a few months but got tired of how small it was. I've had my lift since October and theres times where I want more but for the most part, Im satisfied.

Why? Because it'll be WAY bigger. .

Plus as I've found out recently, to replace the upper ball joints, you have to buy new upper control arms which are $80 a piece.

 

Gotta play Devil's advocate...well, that's 80 X 2 sides = 160. 1600 bucks (price difference) divided by 160 is 10Xs. I don't even think that you would replace them 10 times if you drove the truck into the ground. It's just a preference really.

 

The price of ball joints is not really going to be a factor in this decision, the main thing to think about here is how high you really want to go.

 

Thanks Thump,
That is what I was just going to post.

 

No problem, I figured we were on the same page.

BTW find another shop to do the install. 4 days to install a damn lift? It barely took over 4 HOURS for 4WP to install my lift and align it. .

 

Thanks guys for all the replies so far. I am still really torn because all I really am going for is cosmetics. I'm leaning towards just going with the leveling kit for now despite the fear of it killing the ball joints, but as KS stated I'd probably never eat up enough ball joints to make up the difference in price.

I am probably going to go with a 2.5 kit because I also want to eventually add a bull bar to the front and don't want the extra weight pulling the front too much lower than the back.

So what does the add a leaf do to the back of the truck?

 

The add a leaf will get you extra height in the rear. You could also just go with a simple block.

 

Just leave the back. Why would you want to sit stink-bug?

 

Maybe because the guy is going for a total lift look. If I was on a tight budget that is what I would do.

 

I have 2.5 spacers on my FX4.....You could always do the BILSTEIN 5100 2" lift kit, which would be better than the spacers and would be a major improvment over the OEM shocks..