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How-to install a Leveling Kit

13K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Shots 
#1 ·
So this is a very popular mod, and there are a ton of threads asking questions about it, yet there doesn't seem to be any how-to thread. We've got how-to's for everything, but this somehow slipped through the cracks.

So since I was at it I took some pictures. I'll attach them, add tips and some basic instructions.


Safety first. Park it somewhere secure, set the e-brake and chock the rear tires. Next, loosen the lug nuts on the front tires. Then jack it up, put some jack stands under it, and remove the tires. Now you can get to work.

I'm going of memory here, so please don't hate me if I get a wrench size wrong. I know the sizes are accurate, but the size may be for a different nut than I though.

1. Unbolt the sway bar using 16mm wrench/socket. Take the nut, bushing and washer off. I've found that taking both sides off the truck makes things easier. Everything else will be done one side at a time, though I guess a buddy could work on the other side simultaneously if they really wanted to.



2. Free up some slack in the ABS cable. It's clipped to the suspension in 2 places, and once to the brake line. Loosening these gives you A LOT more room to work with for the reinstall of the strut assembly.





3. Take the caliper off, and set it aside. I think this is a 21mm wrench/socket, but it may be the 24. Once you take the 2 bolts out that hold the caliper on set it somewhere safe. I hung it from the frame with a bungee cord, and let it rest on an overturned bucket, so I didn't damage the brake line. You don't have a lot of room here, which is why I take it off. Between this and the ABS line, you gain enough room to install the extended strut assembly without the need to use a pry bar.




4. Unbolt the tie rod with 21mm wrench/socket. I had to use a deep well to initially start it, because the stud is too long for a standard socket. As it loosens you may need a wrench to hold the nut, and a smaller wrench to hold the stud, because the ball joint will likely spin once it's loose.



5. Remove the lower strut mount. The nut takes a 24mm and the head takes 21 mm. The nut will require a deep well to start for the same reason you needed one for the tie rod. I then used a rubber mallet to gently tap the bolt out the other side.



6. Unbolt the 3 upper strut mount nuts, with a 15mm wrench/socket.



7. Remove the upper ball joint nut with a 24mm wrench/socket. Just like the other 2 I started with a deep well. And just like the tie rod, you may need to use two wrenches because it will probably spin too.



8. To easily release the upper ball joint, put a jack under the knuckle (I used the factory one from under the seat). Raise it up just a little to take some of the pressure off and give the ball joint a tap with a mallet. By taking pressure off I don't mean you need to do so much that you raise the truck off your jack stands. I mean the suspension is hanging at this point, and the ball joint will be held with friction from all that weight pulling down on it. By supporting it, you allow it to easily pop out.



9. Now you remove the jack and let the suspension sag again. Push down a little on the lower control arm, grab the bottom of the strut assembly and pull it out.
Sorry no pictures from here on, since I didn't really think anyone needs visual aid to pull the assembly off the truck, or to put the spacers on top of it.

10. Install your spacer. It only goes on 1 way so put it on the way it fits.

11. Turn the strut assembly 180° (unless you bought a Daystar kit that has stud extensions instead of new studs), and put it back in. This is the part where taking the caliper off, and loosening the ABS line helps you out. You'll need to push down pretty hard on the suspension to get the strut assembly back in, because its longer since it has a plate bolted to the top of it now. If you did steps 2 & 3 it will move down enough that it only takes a push or two. No need for a pry bar or anything like that. This is one of those things you learn after doing a few kits (we're up to 6 or 7 by now).

Now you just need to bolt everything back together.

12. Loosely secure the top strut bolts (the 3 from step 6).

13. Wiggle the lower control arm up/down as you push the lower strut bolt back into place. Once it's in run the nut onto it (not that it's going to fall out, but it needs done at some point and it might was well be now).

14. Put the jack back under the knuckle to raise it up, so you don't have to try to lift it up, and tighten bolts.

15. Reconnect the upper ball joint, and tie rod.

16. Tighten everything down. No I haven't forgotten the sway bar, it's still loose so we can do the other side easier.

17. With everything back back on, you can re-install your calipers, and ABS line.

Repeat everything for the other side. Once that side is done, reconnect the sway bar. This is kind of a bear. I found it easiest put the wheels on, lower the truck to the ground enough to get them started. If your torque wrench fits with the wheels on just tighten it this way. If it doesn't (like mine) raise the truck back up once you have the nuts started, take the wheels back off, and then tighten the sway bar nuts back down. Or you could simply tighten them down to what feels good and say to bad for the specs, but that's not the right way to do it.

Ta-da, you're done. Go get an alignment. It will probably track straight, but the camber is way out, so you'll eat your tires up if you don't.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
For those who are wondering I installed a 2" kit.
Before the alignment, it's sitting at 39.5" in the rear, and 39" in the front. Before the install it was sitting 39.5 in the rear (duh, of course that's the same), and 36.5" in the front. So as it is, I"m currently at 2.5" but it should end up at 2" if I did it right.
I've used the same company many times, but having done this many times, on many different trucks (mine, my brother's, my friend's) I went a different route. I had one on order, but canceled it. Instead of spending $80 on something I know I can make for less, I made my own. Mine didn't look as fancy, since they're just a round aluminum plates with some holes/studs, rather than a triangular welded piece of steel. Once it's in you don't see it anyway, so I decided to say the heck with how it looks on the shelf, and broke out my old skills (I was a Journeyman Tool and Die Maker long before I was a cop, so making a leveling kit is a breeze).

Anyway. I leveled 2". After the install it sits about 2.5", but that usually comes down once you take your initial drive, and get an alignment. My CV angles look the same as they did on my '07, and '12, so I don't suspect I'll have any issues with vibrations in 4wd. Just because I know it's a concern, I also took before and after shots of the axle.



And of course I took a shot of the truck. Once I get that alignment, I'm going to wash it up, and go get some proper pictures. If you look at the clock in the background you'll see it took about 4.5 hours. That's including shooting the breeze before getting started, a coffee/donut break about half way through, about 20 minutes online trying to find the proper specs for all the nuts, and cleaning up all my tools. Realistically the first side took about an hour, and the other side took about 15 minutes. The second side is much faster, because you have all the tools out already. Anyway, here's the before and after.
 

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#4 ·
Nice write up. Just put Bilsteins and new UCAs on my truck Friday. Why did you get rid of your outdoorsman? I loved how that truck looked.
 
#5 ·
My wife apparently didn't like it too much. She had often said she liked my '07 better, but I always just assumed that was because it had a little more lift, and it was a different body style. As it turns out, I don't think she liked the way it rode, or the color. She never really said anything about it, since I primarily drive it so she figured if I was happy it was good enough.
A few weeks ago she mentioned that it rode rougher than my '07. I guess the Outdoorsman suspension is a little firmer in addition to the 3/4" taller. I didn't feel the difference, but I expect my trucks to ride like trucks. Then more recently she mentioned selling it, to take advantage of the extra from the sale. I began to think, "hmmm she's mentioned not liking it as much as the '07 multiple times". So I asked her what it was she liked better about the last truck. That's when she said that she didn't like that it rode rougher. She also said she thought the two tone was "old manish". Interesting. Every time we saw a Sport she'd mention that it was a good looking truck. Hmmm, Also interesting.
So I told her, I'll go buy another truck, but I had to have the Enter 'n Go key. She said, fine, but she had to have 4 doors (didn't matter if it was QC, or CC), and she wanted color matched again.
Okay, easy enough since the Sport has available Enter 'n Go, and it's color matched. Well obviously we found one. Like I said, I've got a few plans for this one, but I'm trying to leave it somewhat alone. Ha ha... yeah sure I say that now. Anyway, I do plan to put another 1.5" BL on, along with some fender flares. I'm not sure if I'm going to color match those, or leave them black. I figure they make white PD, so I can spray one side white, and leave the other side black. Tape them up to get an idea which side looks best, then paint them that color and put them on for real. And of course I'll probably swap the tires for something a bit more aggressive (assuming I can find something I like to fit the Sport rims).
 
#6 ·
So to update. After the alignment it did come down another 1/2". I've now got a 1" rake as expected. ← (38.5" front 39.5" rear) Total amount of level is 2" after alignment.
They gave me the spec sheet for the alignment, and it wasn't as far out as I had expected, though you'll still want to get an alignment to save your tires. You just don't have to get to it as quickly as I had expected.

Still haven't taken better pictures. Soon I hope (not the best weather forecast ahead of us).
 
#10 ·
Nope, but I haven't had it on this truck very long yet. I suspect the problem people are having, is occurring from them over tightening the nut. When I was torquing everything down I used a torque wrench, but snugged them down with a standard ratchet first. The 1st ball joint had to be loosened and popped back out because it immediately ratcheted when I put the torque wrench on it. When I tightened it back down with the torque wrench it was VERY minimal torque. Enough so that my brother and I were laughing that they seemed so loose. IIRC spec was something like 40 ft/lbs or something like that, whereas the bolt on the strut was something like 155 ft/lbs. I'm talking HUGE difference. I can see people cranking them way to tight if they don't use a torque wrench, because I had it too tight when I was just "snugging it down".



And kinda unrelated, but I was thinking about making a few more kits and selling them for about $40 if I could get a few people interested. Just wanted to make few at once to make it worth my time. I made them out of aluminum, so I considered having them anodized and selling them for $50 because they'd look a little cooler (even though you don't see them once they're installed).
 
#14 · (Edited)
No the torque on the lower strut bolt (post post 1, picture 4 of dis-assembly) was 155. The upper ball joint (post 1, picture 2 of dis-assembly) is 40-45. I can't find the spec sheet now, so I tried to find the specs online again and I came up with 45. I posted the how-to from memory a few days after install so it was probably 45 not 40.

And no, I've had no issues with the ball joint popping up. I've been keeping an eye on it, but may some day install the Mevotech UCA just so I don't have to.

Dumb question, could you cheat a little by using a spring compressor to shorten the strut assembly rather than unbolt all that stuff?
I doubt it because you'd have to not only compress it enough to clear the original assembly but an additional 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" depending on how tall of a kit you're installing.

Here's a picture of a the spacer mounted on top of the strut (1-1/8" actual size to achieve 1.5" on my '12).
 
#12 ·
Dumb question, could you cheat a little by using a spring compressor to shorten the strut assembly rather than unbolt all that stuff?
 
#13 ·
Keep in mind, there is always a "work around" for things when it comes to mechanics, but just because it makes it easier to take apart, doesn't mean it will go back together just as easy.

Great write up...manufacturers detail out replacements like this to ensure there isn't any residual damage done by improper disassembly/reassembly.
 
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