Leveling kit needed? - 2018 2500HD Midnight Edition

Anomaly · March 10, 2019

Apologies for what is a very novice question, and perhaps in the wrong forum, but I was thinking of looking for bigger tires or even a bigger wheel/tire combo to help fill the wheel wells on my 2018 2500HD. Over in the tire board, I saw a lot of discussion about this topic and people always seem to ask what ‘leveling kit’ do they have. I’m assuming that this lifts the front of the truck to ‘level’ it with the rear, eliminating the muscle car rake of the truck. Am I correct about this, and do I need this kit if I want bigger tires (or should I do this anyway regardless of the tires)

Thanks

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Big Whiskey · March 21, 2019

There are many, many threads and comments about this in the 2500HD forum, but I'll try to give you a quick summary. Yes, you're correct about leveling kits raising the front of the truck, so that it sits level with the rear. Stock HD trucks sit 2-3" lower in the front than the rear (referred to as "rake"), so that they aren't squatting too much when towing/hauling heavy loads. But, if you aren't towing/hauling heavy, then you may not need that much rake. It takes quite a bit of weight on the back to squat these trucks more than 2 inches.

There are a few options for leveling. Our trucks have torsion bars, which can be easily adjusted to raise the ride height without any special tools. Most guys start there. You can crank your factory torsion bars to raise the front a bit, get the front end aligned, and call it good. Adding shock extensions or longer shocks will help improve the ride after leveling. That's what I did.

Some companies make "leveling kits" that are re-indexed torsion bar keys. These are a waste of money, unless you can't get enough lift out of the stock keys. Twisting the torsion bars is twisting the torsion bars, no matter how you do it. The general consensus is that you can go up to 2.5" or so in the front, (and add shock extensions or longer shocks) before too much is too much. Anything past that, and you'll need to start looking into aftermarket UCA's that are made for leveled trucks, because the stock ones will be sitting too close to the bump stops. And, going past 2.5" will also create the need for differential spacers to correct your CV angles.

If you don't want your truck to be any taller, but want it to sit level, you can also look into dropping the rear. They make different rear shackles for this exact purpose, but I'm much less knowledgeable about that method.

For tires, you can just up one size (maybe two) on the stock suspension and stock wheels. Lifting/leveling the front will give you many more options. Let me know what size rims you have (and if you're planning on changing to aftermarket rims), and I'll give you some tire size options.

Anomaly · August 28, 2019

I don’t mean to hijack this thread but I had the exact same question as the OP. I like the muscle car rake on my 2018 2500HD ME but was curious about putting a bigger tire on the 18” wheel. Maybe the next size up? 275/65/18 is what’s on there now.

My truck has about 34,000 miles in it and I am seeing threads in one of my tires (maybe tread block got torn). These are the stock Duratracs.

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