ive heard the arguement that this leveling kit is dangerous to the balljoint, but im only looking to lift the truck a few inches for a slightly more aggressive look. I'm a unioned electrician in orange county (Local 441) and i need access to my bed. Ive been researching this for the past month or so and i found a really nice Superlift 4.5" kit but even that is overkill for the slight ride height change im looking for. What do those knowledgeable enough to help suggest about what to do, wait it out and get the 4.5" lift or are the 2" leveling kits safe to use on a daily driver/work truck. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

for 100 bucks you can get a nice level look or wait and waste a nice 1500$ for a 2 more inchs.. just my .02 if you work with your truck id only level it..

 

i understand this, however; ive heard that the balljoint is thrown out of wack and causes premature failure, is this a legitimate concern i should be having? or am i being a sissy girl and worrying over nothing?

 

There are guys who have no problems after 40,000 miles on a spacer, and there are guys who have premature balljoint failure with a spacer. I have a 2" AS and have had it on for about 10,000 miles with no issues, none, zilch, nada, doo daa. I guess it all depends on how the truck is driven, ie ragged on, off roaded, whatnot. I did it for cosmetic values and I drive 99.9% highway miles.

I am however going to take it off because I am going to put on lowering shackles in the rear instead. My wife has a hard time getting in the truck, she's 5 foot nothing and has nerve damage in her back, hard for her to climb in. It's also difficult in parking garages, pretty close to scraping the roof.

 

I did an 2.5 autospring and 1.5 add a leaf to my truck lifted the front exactly 2.5 inches and the add a leaf added just about 2.0 inches in the rear I love the look of my truck and I will be putting on 285/70r17 bfg at's in the spring to complete the look. over all after I add my tires my truck will be lifted 4 inches in the front and 3.5 in the rear, a slight lift, My truck is strickly driven on the road. but I love the look of a slightly lifted truck.

 

I've had my 2.5" AS leveling kit on for about 8,000 miles now and haven't had a single problem yet. Maybe that's too soon for premature ball joint probelms, but along the same lines as Stealth, I don't think you're going to get a concensus opinion on this topic. I installed my leveling kit for appearance sakes only as my truck is 100% road driven. At this point though it's very easy for me to say that I would add it again, but check back with me in about 10,000 miles.

 

I have about 22K on the 2 inch AS without any problems so far, but that could always change. I took the plunge knowing full well that it may cause ball joint problems, but I don't really care. They are a few people here that seem to worry themselves to death about this "angle" or "ball joint" issue, but the result was worth it for me. I guess that you will just have to ask yourself "Can I afford to replace my ball joints in about 40-50K if needed?" If the answer is yes, then go play. If the answer is no, then...well you know. There is more than enough information on this forum about the spacers to answer every question you may have. The downside is that you could read for several days on "spacer" threads following a search and still not find your particular answer. Can be frustrating. I am sure you will be happy with whatever you decide to do. Good Luck.

 

I've been reading this forum on and off for about a year now and only remember one guy who had the ball joint fail and he was running the truck off-road pretty hard I think. I put my 2" on right after I bought the truck, 9K so far. Worst case is they wear out early and you replace them and decide then if you let the spacer in or take it out.

 

thanks for all your replys guys, i decided to do the AS lift, i just need to shop for some wheels and tires that i like, any suggestions on tires? im picky on my wheels...but how big can i go with tires with a fairly aggressive tread pattern without rubbing issues? will i be able to stuff 35"s in there or will it look to forced? again thanks for the replys, you guys really helped me out!

 

I was wondering the same thing. Do you lift the front end or lower the rear? I assume if you lower the rear that you will have to use shims for the pinion angle.

Also, IBEW Local 300 here.

 

You wont have to mess witht he pinion angle if you take out the rear 2" block, and get 2wd u-bolts. Thats what I done and its dead level with the front. I originally had the 2.5" autospring on it and took it off due to odd tire wear on the outside. I will admit that the truck looked better witht he 2.5" autospring, unless I get some new wheels to get rid of all that tire. Hopefully I will get some pics up tomorrow of the new look. I will have a side by side comparison.

 

Here is a pic with my truck leveled with the Autospring 2.5".


And here is a pic of the truck with the rear block removed and no Autospring.

 

20K miles on AS 2" and no issues. No rubbing, and no balljoint problems.

 

Another item to consider is an Add-A-Leaf in the rear. If you use your truck for work and load down the bed or ever tow w/ it, you'll notice the back-end drooping a bit (while loaded). I couldn't stand that, so I went for the add-a-leaf.

Plus it'll get the truck looking alot more agressive when you add the new wheels/tires.

 

It's the official poor man's lift. I did it that way too.