Finally blew the dust off my 2" level kit and decided to install it today. Nice, sunny, warm, October day in Canada ... what could go wrong?
I was enjoying the project and things were going well until I got to the bottom strut bolt. I knew it would be tight and I didn't have a 33mm socket but they said you could use a 1 1/16". Not the same size. They need to work on the metric conversion at auto spring. Anyway, got it off with a 1 1/4" after turning the bolt end with a wrench extended with another boxend wrench. The next few steps went smooth until it came time to put the bottom of the strut back in. With the spacer on top, the strut was now too long. They say to put a small bottle jack in and spread the lower control arm away from the strut tower. I can't really see how this would work or where to fit the small? bottle jack in. My bottle jack is 12 ton...not small enough. Well I tried pry bars and 2x4's etc but could not get that sucker in. I started to wonder how I would ever get it out if it did go in.
Finally raised the white flag, took off the spacer, and put it all back together stock.
Did some reading here and found that other guys have had a fight getting past this step too.
Went to the parts store later today, and tomorrow morning I'm going to attack again, armed with a new 30mm DEEP impact socket and a spring compressor. Maybe I'll be sipping a victory beer by noon tomorrow!
Was thinking that the Rancho quick lift struts are probably longer than the stocks, and therefore, would be just as tough to deal with too. This would cause the same trouble as I am having with the Autospring spacer on a stock strut. Anybody care to comment?

 

are you running rancho's quick lifts and trying to get a 2" level on top? if so that's not going to work.

 

No Ranchos, just the Autospring.
Today I went back at it with renewed hope. In the end ,I had to grind out a bit of the lower strut opening in the control arm so the strut could swing in straight. Finally got it in then switched over to the passenger side. Took everything apart, did a little grinding on the opening, and the strut popped right in first try. The passenger side took abot 45 minutes. (the driver side took about 6 hours). Anybody else have to fight the lower strut back in?

 

what "quick lifts" are you referring to then?

 

I was having trouble getting the strut back in because it was longer with the spacer attached. I was thinking that anyone with Rancho Quick Lift struts should have the same problem, as I was assuming that they must be longer than the stockers too.

 

I had a hard time re-installing the strut with spacer, I had my wife sit on the end of a 2x4 while I fought it in. But I guess grinding out some steel works as well.

 

I guess it depends on the wife too ... size and mood etc. lol
Mine wasn't heavy enough to push the handle down on the floor jack!

 

Mine is a feather weight 115, but with a 8' board leverage helped

 

I have seen instructions from other kits.
One says to remove the CV shaft retaining nut (under the dust cap) this disconnects the axle from the steering knuckle allowing more movement.
The other says to remove the lower control arm bolts, this allows the entire lower control arm to drop down so the strut can be installed...then use a floor jack to lift the control arm back into place and re-attach the bolts.

Either way if you have a EPAS (2011) disconnect the battery and unplug the EPAS to protect dammage to the unit.

Hope these tips help... I will be doing one (or both) of these when I do my level kit.

But with everthing I have read and seen I am going with the Auto Spring kit.

 

I had the same problem
the guys at autospring said to remove the forward lower control arm frame bolt as instructed in the instructions. This allows the lower control arm to drop enough to slip the bottom of the strut into the lower control arm pocket and hook up the lower strut bolt. Be sure and mark the position of the forward lower control arm frame bolt before pulling it. That way you can put it back in the exact same position. It is eccentric and adjusts the alignment.
that part of the instruction confused to me, the way they wrote it, got it now
I hope the weather holds out, so I can try again on sunday.

 

I had the same issue with my 2009 and a never was able to get the strut back in. I couldn't even get a spring compressor to help enough. Tried the bottle jack, spring compressor, everything. I just gave up.

 

I have done several installs of levelling kits and never had this problem. You did disconnect the upper BJ and unbolt the swaybar end links, right? I recently removed my 2.5 AS and replaced it with the Rancho QL and no problems there either? On a side note, I HIGHLY recommend the Rancho QL's, truck rides like a dream.

 

did you disconnect your steering tie rod. i know the Autospring kit doesnt tell you to do it but if you do that it slides right in. i had the same issues you are talking about but with the steering tierod in. i unbolted everything except the lower spindle bolt and it worked out great for me. i used the bottle jack to jack up the lower A arm and then i pryed down on the upper A arm and got the spindle bolted back together with no issues after that. it took me about 2.5 hours for the drivers side and about 30-40 minutes for the passenger side.

 

This is the kind of news I like to stumble across! I'll be removing my 2 inch AS level in favor of the Rancho Quicklift in about a week. Just waiting for the kit to get shipped here.

 

On the 2009-Present models there is a "pocket" that the strut sits in. It is near about impossible to get the bottom part of the strut back in with a leveling kit on top. It is MUCH easier to get it back in if you just remove the dust cap in the middle of the hub and pull the cv axle out. This allows the lower control arm to drop way down. Put the top of the strut in the 3 holes on the upper strut mount and hand tighten the nuts to hold it in place then slide the lower end in the pocket on the lower control arm. Next use a jack and jack the lower control arm back up and connect the upper control arm back on to the knuckle. Why in the hell would you grind off parts of your truck dude? Lol its a few years old and your already cutting it up when just a bit of brain power and common sense could have netted you a much cleaner and easier install...