Within the past few weeks I have been asking questions about the best lifts, body, suspension, and level kits.... and aal's... I just bought my truck this summer and installed a 3" level kit on it from Fat Bob's Garage. I had the installation done professionally by We Do Trucks in Raleigh, NC. I love the look and performance I get from it right now, but I noticed that a bunch of people on here say don't go over a 2.5" level kit. I have experienced sometimes metal crunching noises when in 4x4 sometimes.... mostly right after I put it into 4x4... I noticed the CV angles are not that different between the 3" and even 2" level kit. I need some input guys and gals... Does anyone out there with the 3" ever experience problems? Anyone with any level kit experience problems? Here's 2 photos... one is my truck with the 3" and one is a photo I got off of AKFX42004's (I hope you don't mind me borrowing your photo) album of his 2".


My 3":



AKFX42004's 2":

 

i have a 3" kit also. i have had it on for over a year now and no problems at all.

 

You will notice the effects of a 3" level kit more when you engage into 4WD. When in 2WD mode, it does not cause as much of an issue. General rule of thum is no more than 2.5". Just keep an eye on your ball joints from time to time.

 

I have the ready lift 3" for about 30K miles and no problems here..

 

I put mine on last week. I didn't think the angles where bad. I took it in to get aligned and the mecanics said the angles looked good. The place I bought it from said theyve never had any issues with them and he didn't say it to make the sale because I was ready to drop over 2 grand on a 4" rancho setup. For the height I wanted and what I want to do later on this was a much better alternative for m.

 

Thanks for the replies guys... I'm about to slap some 33x12.50's on there next spring for some better offroading, but I really don't feel comfortable using the 4x4 w/ my 3" level kit installed... Most of my driving is on road, but I really love to go off-road.... and most of the time wind up using the 4x4 at least a couple of times to get me out of mud or up an incline (I'll post a photo of my truck stuck down in Wilmington on a hill near the Green Swamp - my front suspension was as far out as it could go, w/ the a-arm resting on the coil springs and my truck hung up by the running board :P).... ANYWAYS... Does anyone put their truck in 4x4 a lot w/ a level kit? Does it perform well? What size is it? And correct me if I'm wrong, but IMHO the 3" doesnt look that much differnt from the 2"... as far at the CV axel is concerned.

 

ok, let me clear up this mess. power to the CV shafts is not applied unless you are in 4WD, hence the reason you should NOT use a 3'' kit if you offroad in 4x4 mode. you are going to put the cv angles at way severe angles, and don't be crying down the road when your cv boots tear, and ball joints pop too fast.

personally, i feel that a truck should not be leveled more than 1.5''-2'', and i like to offroad. if you're a pavement pounder, you might be ok with a 3'', but don't be bitching when the cv boots tear and sling grease all over your suspension.

 

Well, what I was looking for was other people's experience offroading w/ their 3" level kit and using 4WD... I don't want to screw up my truck, which is why I was asking about it. But thanks for your opinion, that's pretty much what I was thinking - the truck should'nt be leveled more than 2" really.

 

Sure the angles look okay with weight on the suspension. But with the suspension at full droop, it is 3" lower than designed for. Turning the CV joints while at full droop +3" may be (probably is) bending those CV joints more than design, and they will bind at some point.
Any leveling kit will start to push this, but the less, the better. Having never put my hands on them I can't say at what point they bind. But I bet if you lifted the weight off of the front of your truck with a 3" leveling kit, and starting turning the CV joints by hand you'll start to feel some binding. Might want to give it a try. If so, you could either get a smaller leveling kit or install some limit straps to keep from over-extending things.

 

It looks crazy with the weight off

 

I have a 3" and have taken my truck in some pretty snazzy spots and no issues. I am not out rock crawling, but 4L was seriously in use.

Mine was installed by Ford by the way.

 

Cool deal... Im gonna ask about it tomorrow when I take my truck over to the dearship for warranty work. The AC is messed up... the heat is either on or off... like turned 1/4 inch up from the bottom of the coldest setting the AC is blazing hot!

 

*UPDATE* I talked to the guy in the maintenance dept. at the Ford Dealership this morning when I took my truck over. He said my truck should be fine w/ the 3" level kit, especially since I got installed professionally by We Do Trucks (which is well known throughout Raleigh). I even asked about CV axle angles, he said it should be perfectly fine... When I told him about the a-arm resting on the coil spring, I asked if a limiting strap would fix that, he said it probably would, but that I should talk to We Do Trucks, and get them to do it. I'll keep ya'll updated on this thread as to how and what goes down over the next little bit here, while im figuring this out w/ them.

 

so, since i have 2wd i could easily do a 3 inch kit, right? since i dont have the cv axkes and all...

i know the ball joints may wear, but, i want the 3.

sorry to jack your post.

 

Yep, you should be perfectly fine w/ the 3". Now as for jacking my post.... no prob. I do it too lol