PIT5403B Bulletin

Dooley05 · December 20, 2016

Has anyone heard of this bulletin? Long story short, we have a fleet of 300+ Chevrolet 1500 pickups in the company I work for and we install the RC 2.5" leveling kit in most of them. In the past two weeks we have had two low mileage 2014 pickups with lower ball joint failures. Our GM rep sent us this bulletin and said they would no longer warranty anything with a leveling kit installed? I have one in my personal pickup and have always leveled my previous trucks in the past with no problems. I did have the steering rack replaced in my current truck because of the clicking noise it was making but got no slack about it at the time.

Silverado Suspension Mod 1116 (003).pdf

Andy Seibel · December 20, 2016

pretty standard procedure for them to not warrant anything that was modified by the owner. If they even think you caused the failure, you are on your own. Any suspension changes are at your won risk.

Can I ask what the purpose is to "level" your work trucks? I thought it was mostly done for cosmetic reasons.

Rolling Thunder · December 20, 2016

Dooley,

Not surprising to me at all although your post is the first I've seen on this officially.

TJay74 · December 21, 2016

I personally think a Rough Country 2.5" "level lift" is extreme, part of the reason GM is not providing warranty coverage on any front end components. If someone is just wanting to level the truck out, pulling the rear leaf spring blocks accomplishes the same effect and leaves the warranty in place as well.

Dooley05 · December 21, 2016

pretty standard procedure for them to not warrant anything that was modified by the owner. If they even think you caused the failure, you are on your own. Any suspension changes are at your won risk.

Can I ask what the purpose is to "level" your work trucks? I thought it was mostly done for cosmetic reasons.

We put a 2.5 RC kit on the front and a add a leaf in the back to get the trucks off the ground a little and to run a 285 tire. We do a lot of land clearing and site work so the added clearance really helps. We had very minimal problems with the 2007 - 2013 trucks but the 2014 and up trucks are a different story. I understand that the leveling kit will cause some premature wear but nothing like we are seeing. It also seems strange that GM has made a lower control arm change now that receives a larger ball joint than what the trucks came from the factory.

emeryz28 · December 21, 2016

I personally think a Rough Country 2.5" "level lift" is extreme, part of the reason GM is not providing warranty coverage on any front end components. If someone is just wanting to level the truck out, pulling the rear leaf spring blocks accomplishes the same effect and leaves the warranty in place as well.

I would love to hear why you think that is extreme?

tnchevy · December 21, 2016

The company I work for is in the process of putting leveling kits on the 5 or 6 silverados in our fleet. The ground clearance is pretty bad, especially after the brush guard and winch are put on there, lowers the truck another 1.5 inches in the front due to the weight. I had the same problem when I got my 2012 F150, it had less ground clearance than the 08 silverado it replaced with the added weight of the winch/brush guard. These newer trucks put much softer suspension in the front I guess for ride comfort. My company talked about leveling out mine and other guys F150's but after putting bigger tires on them it made enough difference that they decided against the leveling kits. My company puts out bids for replacement trucks every year and the lowest bid gets the win but after the problems with ground clearance on the 2014+ GM's they are thinking of either excluding GM's from the bid process or putting all of us back into 3/4 ton trucks. We got out of 3/4 tons in the early 2000's when gas prices started creeping up but I am offroad on a near daily basis and need ground clearance to do our jobs (timber buyer). I am due for a new truck and as much as I like my personal chevy I do not want one for a work truck.

Andy Seibel · December 21, 2016

Those who need the ground clearance for work: are you removing the plastic valence below the front bumper? That would gain you clearance without affecting the warranty or wearing out the suspension.

If my company bought me a truck and I knew the stock version wouldn't get it done, I would tell them they need to buy the 2500. I know the "leveling kit" is popular on here, but I really don't like the idea. it is stressing the front end by making it work at tighter angles than designed.

I know I am wearing out my front end faster with a snow plow, but that only goes with me for a few hundred miles a year. I can remove it when its not needed. Once you jack up the suspension, your front axles are now stressed forever.

Just seems that if you need a higher truck, you should buy a higher truck.

tnchevy · December 21, 2016

Removing the valance only helps a little bit, the problem is that even with it removed the bumper is just too low and the added weight of the winch/brush guard makes it even worse. Two guys I work with have busted the oil pans on their 1500's. Another problem is that GM quit putting real skid plates on their base 4x4 trucks even though our Ford and Dodge half ton base models still have them. It is a shame that half ton trucks are not what they used to be. I knew this when I bought my 2014, it didn't have near the front ground clearance that my 2002 had but I don't do any serious off roading in my personal truck either. Removing the air dam was enough to get me to my hunting spots without scraping too much. I'll drive whatever my company buys me since I take it home everyday and keeps me from having to drive my personal truck every day but it looks like a 3/4 ton will be my next work truck even though I don't really haul or tow anything besides a 4-wheeler for my job.

A.J. Curtis · December 21, 2016

I would love to hear why you think that is extreme?

Any level 2" or greater will of course prematurely wear out your CV joints and ball joints and going over 2" increases the wear exponentially. Most coil over company's like Fox, King, Icon and so on will tell you that if you "level" the k2 truck over 2" that it requires an aftermarket upper control to correct some of those angles and stop premature upper ball joint wear. This of course does not solve the lower ball joint wear and driveline angles from the 2.5 level.

pickmeup · December 21, 2016

Going to be a lot of ''lifted'' unhappy campers with that bulletin.

Garykk · December 21, 2016

Also noted are tires not being OEM.....that sure cuts a lot of owners out of warranty...

SILVER SLED · December 22, 2016

The bulletin is not an absolute. Still up to the dealership discretion. It does give a dealership an easy way out if they don't want to help the customer.

TJay74 · December 22, 2016

Also noted are tires not being OEM.....that sure cuts a lot of owners out of warranty...

That part will be hard for the manufacture to stand on, sure changing driveline angles with suspension mods is an out. They cant specify that you have to run the OEM tires, that part is covered under the M/M warranty act.