Question - I am putting my AS 2.5" on tonight and have run into a problem with the swat bar bolt spinning while I try to put the nut back on. Any clue how to get teh nut tight id the bolt is spinning? Please help!

 

Put some vise grips on the shaft and tighten it with an 18mm deep socket. Not ideal, but that's how I did it.

 

I used vise grips to hold the shaft when my ball-joint did this to me and then had to use a wrench to tighten the bolt the rest of the way. However, on the sway bar bolt, there is not as much room to get a wrench around the nut, while using vise grips to hold the shaft. Any other ideas?

 

i haven't been on here since i posted the last pics. i do want to come back on for updates, so here is one...

the truck still rides as good as factory. the ride quality has not changed since the spacers were installed over a year ago. still LOVE the BFG MT KM2s. they ride and wear exceptionally well, and talk about a bada$$ looking tire. there are NO rubbing issues with the 35s.

it holds its alignment and there has been no breakdown of the balljoints or any other parts.

as far as bolts during install, spray everything with PB Blaster before you start. i love that stuff.

 

Write up helped alot, Thanks!

Here are some things that I encountered during install. First and foremost, the kit made the truck look awesome, leveled it right out like it should be. I also noticed that the 2.5" kit didn't measure that, but it did lift the front 2.5". I had a problem right off the bat. I started on the passenger side. After removing the tire, I went for the sway bay nut. What a pain in the rear! It took me every bit of 45 minutes to finally get it off with much frustration, vise grips, and a wrench! After I got the nut off, the rest went very smoothly...until I had to put the nut back on. More of the same....much frustration, vise grips, and a wrench! I did figure out that if I had just put a small socket on the bottom of the bolt the nut is on, I could have had it off in no time! I was concerned that I had damaged the boot, but the dealership said it should be ok (took it there for the front end alignment). With the lessons learned on the passenger side, the driver side only took about 20 minutes! I highly recommend the use of a small socket (either 7mm or 8mm) on the sway bar bolt to keep it from spinning while you turn the nut. All in all, I couldn't be happier and the kit is great as you aren't changing the factory ride like you would with torquing the torsion bars.

 

I know that some alignment shops use a book of specs to do alignments, and some do it the proper way truck-by-truck. Will the leveling kit require one of these 'custom' alignments or will the to-factory-spec alignment work?

 

Ok it looks like the bottom of the strut can stay connected. Am I wrong in thinking this? I am thinking one less thing to take apart.

 

Finished putting mine on about an hour ago. followed the directions here and everything went smooth. I don't know about leaving the lower strut bolt in as it came out so easily I didn't see much point in it. A couple things I wished I would have had are wrenches for the sway bar nut and ball joint nut instead of just sockets. That way when I had to hold the bolts with a small socket I could have turned the nuts with a wrench instead of a cresent wrench. Also my 30mm socket was way too shallow (couldn't find a deep well) so I loosened it from the bolt side with the 1 1/16 socket on a breaker bar far enough out until I could get the 30 mm on the nut. Luckily the 30 mm held the nut just far enough to where I could get it snug from the bolt side putting it back on then torqued from the bolt side. I guess I'll tourque the nut when I get back to work and find a deep 30mm. That bolt came out pretty easily though with just a breaker bar. I used the hammer method on the ball joint and it worked just fine with about 3 or 4 whacks on the ball joint. I left the bolt on a little on the first side but got confident on the second side and took it all the way off and just put the jack under the control arm and no problem whatsoever. It was much faster taking the nut all the way off as the tension on the joint was still there so it didn't spin at all. I guess I'm off to get an alignment first thing tomorrow. I swear it looks so much higher now that I won't be able to get it out of the garage though. Pics soon I hope. Thanks to all who posted here. I would have never tackled this job myself without this write up. 2 1/2 " made it look perfect.

 

did you get an allignment?

 

not today being a holiday. Guess I'll head out tomorrow am and get it done.

 

lol yeah i feel ya. does it seem to be necesarry?

i want to put my AS kit on, but dont have money for an alligment right now. lol

 

Just got back from getting the alignment done. It drove fine going over, but for $59.00 it was worth it to me to get the alignment. I asked the tech how "out of whack" it was and he said it wasn't bad at all but did need the alignement pretty much just like it is stated in the AS instructions that come with the kit. Mission accomplished. I'm going to run my 275-65-18 bf's that came with it since their still in like new condition and look fine on there for me. Definetely going with bigger though when its time for new tires. Thanks again for all the tips in this post.

 

Do you know specifically what alignment changes had to be made? Was it toe in/out only or were caster & camber adjustments required as well?

 

Great write up!

 

As far as the alignment goes, all mine needed was a toe adjustment. Everything else was fine.