My Rough Country Leveling Kit Install Review

Rymanh24 · April 19, 2011

After much reading and youtube videos of how to install the RC 2" LK I decided to pull the trigger and do it myself.

Disassembling the suspension on my brand new Silverado was not fun at all only because well, ITS A NEW SILVERADO lol. However it was very easy to disassemble everything.

Sliding in the spacer was easy however lining up the bolts and nuts is not all that easy due to the fact you have to put the jack under the lower control arm and slowly raise the entire assembly up to the strut and align the bolts and holes just right. You definately need 2 people to do this part!

Once that part is done its a matter of just putting everything back together. Which is easy and labor intensive however it is a scary feeling knowing whether or everything is going to go back the way it was and nothing is going to strip or be damaged due to your work.

Driving to work today was nerve wracking as I still have yet to get an alignment done at the Chevrolet dealership and the fact I don't want my upper control arm to just fail and come out and next thing you know im into a pole or something.

My 2 cents, this requires 2 people, torque wrench, a floor jack and stands or some type of support. I would also suggest you take your time, do not be tempted by shortcuts like I was, and give yourself about 3 - 5 of hours of comfortable time to do it. Also call your local GM dealership or favorite auto repair place ahead of time and make sure they can fit you into an alignment asap, not 500 miles later.

uh6tdrvr · April 19, 2011

I have to disagree, I did it with the scissor jack in the truck and one jack stand and in an hour in my driveway. No reason to make it sound labor intensive at all. If you can change a tire, you can do this mod.

Zak_LScrew · April 19, 2011

Was that 1 hour per side with an impact wrench? If you have done this before I could maybe see an hour, but without an impact wrench it took me about 2 hours per side. I found a coupon for Precision tune $59.60 for an alignment and then I called Tires plus 6 blocks from my work and they accepted the coupon.

Rymanh24 · April 19, 2011

Was that 1 hour per side with an impact wrench? If you have done this before I could maybe see an hour, but without an impact wrench it took me about 2 hours per side. I found a coupon for Precision tune $59.60 for an alignment and then I called Tires plus 6 blocks from my work and they accepted the coupon.

I should have noted that all of my work was done with hand tools, no power tools what so ever. The first side took a good 3 hours, the second side took maybe an hour.

reidrhollander · April 20, 2011

I also did this install in about an hour. No power tools and I didn't completely disassemble the suspension like you seem to indicate you did. I just used a scissor jack, some sockets and wrench, a breaker bar and a cheater bar. Went in pretty easily.

ruggedlife · April 20, 2011

less than ten minutes a side with air tools

stlavsa · April 20, 2011

less than ten minutes a side with air tools

Did it myself with just one person,... first side took maybe 30-40 minutes, the next side took ten...

TDImark · April 20, 2011

I also did this install in about an hour. No power tools and I didn't completely disassemble the suspension like you seem to indicate you did. I just used a scissor jack, some sockets and wrench, a breaker bar and a cheater bar. Went in pretty easily.

Your install mirrors mine that I did last weekend. However, even with the pry bar, I did have trouble opening up the space between the strut and the lower control arm. With the help of a friend, I got the leverage I needed! Looks great now!

plumber802 · April 20, 2011

I drank a sixpack of Red Bulls just before starting and did it in just under 8 minutes including a piss break.

chev1guy · April 20, 2011

I did the bilstein shocks myself with no power tools and it was fairly easy. I did have to take the strut assembly to a shop to replace the shocks. I get what you are saying about taking apart a new truck though.

danielpierce711 · April 20, 2011

i was looking to get a 2inch leveling kit, and was wondering how the ride was after you did the install. did you upgrade the shocks, and how much would this cost to have it done by the professionals.

Stevens03 · April 20, 2011

i was looking to get a 2inch leveling kit, and was wondering how the ride was after you did the install. did you upgrade the shocks, and how much would this cost to have it done by the professionals.

The ride doesn't change. All your doing is putting your front strut on a spacer effectively raising the front end. And as mentioned above, if you can change a tire, you can do this mod. I did mine in less than 30 minutes. Very easy mod to do.