I found a Skyjacker 3" leveling kit for a good price, struts for the front, AAL for the back, with new shocks for the rear, would there be any major drawbacks to this kit ? Quicker front end wear or anything ? Anyone here have the same kit ?

 

i say dont even waste your money on it. Get either a leveling kit Autospring for $90 shipped and get no more than 2.5 up front. Either that or get a 3" body lift and install yourself if possible. Bad thing about body lifts is guys around here getting charge 800 about avg to get them installed so diy like i did. So either of these would be better imo and later on if you wanna go bigger you can always get a 6inch lift and keep the spacer up front and have a total of 8inch all around

 

At 52000 miles I'm pretty sure I need new struts and shocks anyway, and from what the instructions say, you can set the struts to lift either 3" or 2", so what would the problem be ?

 

The problem is that 3 inches of lift is too much without dropdown brackets to correct the steering and suspension angles. 3 inches of lift leaves the CV and ball joint angles at too severe of an angle to last. If you think you need new shocks, I'd recommend the Bilstiens which are adjustable for 2 inches of lift.

 

Agreed ^^

 

Correct, with the three inch you would definitely shorten the life of your suspension. Not worth it.

 

But you didn't read what I posted, they can be set for 2" as well, so would there still be a problem ?

 

You would not happen to have a link to this kit would you?

You would have to have something that would bring the suspension down some, otherwise you would be cramming cv's and ball joints into angles they cant handle. You may be fine with just 2 inches, but like it was said before why pay all the money for a "lift kit" when you could buy AAL's and a leveling kit.. spend half the money and no one would know the difference other than yourself.

But then again im not sure of the cost of the kit you are asking about. I couldnt see you paying more then $115.00 for AAL's and can be installed easily by you. And depending on the brand you can get a 2 inch leveling kit anywhere from $65-250. Other than getting the leveling kit on, and getting an alignment(paying top dollar for everything) you would have the same lift for less the $400.

 

I don't, sorry, but it comes across to me that it is simliar to the Bilstein 5100 in that you either add or remove a little ring bracket to increase or decrease lift, so if I kept it at 2" would it work without wearing out my front end quicker ?

 

I think you would be okay for a while. You just want to make sure that your ball joints arent
okay. As I understand it, you want your ball joints to be as close to a 90 degree angle as possible.

 

Why would it be any different then throwing in a 2.5 inch spacer ?

 

Ok well not trying to be rude but i dont know how much this kit is and dont even want to look at it. IMO and most of the guys here think that its a waste of time to install or have someone else install when you can go with a Leveling kit from Auto spring for $90 shipped and also a powdercoat option. Gives you 2 inches up front for the same thing your wanting and a lot cheaper. Now if you need new shocks go buy some rancho's or some replacement shocks that are new to replace while installing the leveling kit. Other option is go with bilsteins which will be more money out the pocket but gives you up too 2inches just like a leveling kit , brand new shocks that have high reviews on them and also a smoother ride as ppl say

 

Between this 3inch skyjacker lift and leveling kit? Prob not a difference but no matter what by throwing a levelingkit in there your going to wear out those balljoints quicker than normal. Most people around here have realized that you dont want to go any higher than 2.5 " in leveling kits bc the fact that how much faster your parts wear. I have had my 2" Autospring kit on my 05 for over 2 years now and no problems what so ever. Ive been mudding ive hit curbs and all that good stuff.

 

If you set the 3 inch Skyjacker coilover shocks for 2 inches of lift, that will be fine. I'm just saying that the Bilstien is a better shock. Just compare the cost of each. Also, most members just lift the front of the truck, which is why the term "leveling kit" is used. If you can buy the 3 inch Skyjacker kit for less money than a set of Bilstien shocks, go for it. I just remember the Skyjacker kit being expensive for what it is.

 

I wish I could afford a full lift kit for it, but I have a mortgage and wife and kids to support, so I was just looking for an inexpensive way to get the front end up where it belongs, and maybe be able to fit a set of 33's on it to gain a little ground clearance. Sounds like in the long run, either way, struts or spacers will wear out the front end quicker than normal. Maybe I better just leave it alone ?