I installed a 2" AS leveling kit around November 2007. Its the regular painted version, not the powder coated one. It has now been through two winters in New England and it looks horrible.

I replaced the front struts a few weeks back and the AS kit looks like it is 10 times older than the rest of the truck. Every surface of the spacer was rusted. Anybody else have this issue? I understand that surface rust is not an immediate structural issue, but from the looks of the kit after only two winters I am not sure if it'll survive many more.

I am now officially kicking myself for not ditching the spacer and going with the 5100's when I did the strut swap I would strongly recommend paying the extra few bucks to get the powder coated version to anybody considering the AS kit in New England.

 

Mines only been on since about Christmas and is already showing rust. Its not the powder coated one either.

 

Yup mine was completely rusted after 2 years. Thats why after I installed the 5100s I just chucked the spacers in the garbage. I was also getting uneven tire wear from the spacers even after 2 wheel alignments. Now that I got rid of the spacers the tire wear is perfect.

 

Welcome to the world of unprotected metals and corrosion. Best to get yourself some rust convertor spray and coat them down good.

 

The problem with that is that I would need to tear apart the front end for the 3rd time to repaint them. If I do end up tearing it down, I would find it very hard to re-install these parts knowing what I know now.

The sad part is that I am an engineer who deals with paint and corrosion issues at work all the time. You'd think I would've been a little smarter and got the powder coated one in the beginning. Live and learn I guess.

 

Mines the same way, aint gunna hurt anything

 

X2. Now it matches all the other rusted suspension components.

 

The rest of the front suspension has very list rust, so on my truck this piece really stands out.

And I agree that it won't hurt anything right now, but if the corrosion gets severe enough it could cause problems.

 

Well thats one positive way to see it..

 

just spray that area down with black rustoleum...ain't gonna hurt anything, and the rustoleum should helpfully stop the rusting a bit

 

o come on its not that tough to take the spacer out, not counting taking your tie off its literally 6 bolts to get the coil/strut set up out of the truck and 3 more to take the spacer off, the longest thing would be waiting for the paint to dry.

if you care anything about how your suspenion looks dont just spray the whole area with it on the truck, sure it wont hurt anyhting but it will look like ***. but thats just my .02 cents. do it right the first time and you shouldnt have issues.

 

take them out and get them powdercoated or swap it out for a different spacer, aluminum or poly one

 

Steel rusts. Aluminum corrodes. Poly sags. They all have their quirks. Just live with it.

 

I'm glad I spent the extra $10 for the powder coat

and this stupid state dont help any!

 

X2 I looked at mine just a couple weeks ago when I gave the truck a good spring cleaning, and mine was just fine. I have had mine for over 3 yrs now.