Leveling Kit Gone Bad?

MotionMan · June 12, 2019

Im glad yiu figured it out, it shoukd be like this and the look is so much better. I would like to get new UCAs myself, that and the diffy spacers, they are about 1" spacers that drop the front differecial and along with the UCAs really bring the front to its level position. With this you can get about 3"s up front and add a 1" block to the rear, this is about the max before you get into a 4 to 5 inch which requires much more work. Some day but mine fits in the garage with a Yakima rack on the cap leaving about 2"s to spare, the garage is more important than another inch and a half.

Riggin’ · June 14, 2019

OK, probably my final "update" post to this thread. In all, I ended up with the following:

3" level using new keys
New upper control arms w/ limit straps
Front shock spacers
New tires (bigger)
New wheels (required to clear new upper control arms)

I certainly wasn't going to do all of this, it just kind of snowballed. But all in all I'm really happy with the look AND more importantly, the ride. Speedometer is off about 2-3 MPH, but I'm told not much can be done about that.

Got her all washed up tonight (just covered in bug guts from freeway driving!) and she's lookin' good if I do say so myself.

gearheadesw · June 14, 2019

Looks good @Riggin', glad you like how it turned out, good job.

Riggin’ · June 15, 2019

On 6/14/2019 at 6:19 AM, gearheadesw said:

Looks good @Riggin', glad you like how it turned out, good job.

Thanks man. At some point (2-3 years if I keep it that long) maybe I will swap out for a full Zone kit, or something like that. For now I'm pretty happy but in hindsight, I should have just done something similar to the Zone or Tuff Country 3" kit from the get go. Oh well, live and learn.

Woz · December 4, 2019

Hi, I’m new to the forum, I just got into a new to me 17 Denali 2500hd, looks very similar to yours Riggin’. They could be sisters. I love the look with those wheels. It would appear that they leveled my truck by just cranking the keys up. The front suspension look very similar to the original pics you posted Riggin’. I should have read up a lot more about these trucks and their mods first.

Did you by a complete Kit? If so what is it?
Or just piece at a time?

I have been looking at 3 different kits for leveling

https://kryptoniteproducts.com/products/kryptonite-stage-3-leveling-kit-with-bilstein-shocks-2011-2017

The above comes with everything except diff spacers. Which I have found for as a separate kit from a few places.

https://cognitomotorsports.com/i-30498951-cognito-standard-leveling-package-for-2011-2019-gm-2500hd-3500hd-2wd-4wd-trucks.html#!make%3DGM||year%3D2017||model%3D2500||submodel%3DTRUCK

This one starts to get pretty costly with all the add ons.

https://suspensionmaxx.com/product/SMX-GM-HD-STAGE2F

This one seems to have everything complete. I don’t know if I really need the shocks or not. They add quite a bit of cost to the whole thing.

Bhurt · December 4, 2019

I've got a 2017 2500hd with the ready lift keys up front and the dealership cranked the crap out of them... The truck rode like a bag of ...... well you know... I ended up turning down the keys, about 4 turns on each side. Still left me sitting close to level and the ride was 100% better. That being said when I went to crank it down I found what appears to be bent pins and adjuster plates for the UCAs. Probably messing up my alignment. Dealership is going to replace them under warranty but its still an inconvenience. Only thing I can think happened is when the dealership had the keys cranked right up, like I mean UCA solid against the stop the consistent banging of the suspension pulled the UCA out of alignment. This is the worst one, the others aren't much better.

Woz · December 4, 2019

Bhurt, That's what i am afraid of happening on mine. At any rate the ride is terrible and needs to be corrected. I like her being leveled and will likely get some 33" tires, but I first need to address the control arm issue. Will your dealer install after market UCA or just put the same stock ones back? I noticed that the ball joint on mine is at a very steep angle and with the after market UCA they have changed the geometry of the Ball joint so it rides straight up and down when the front is lifted.

My problem is trying to decide weather to go with a full lift or one of those leveling kits. For the price of one of those leveling kits you can get a full lift. I noticed that some of the leveling kits sell them with shocks but the you still need to use shock extensions. If you are lifting the truck 2"-3" why are the shock extensions only 1". shouldn't they be 2"-3" or just sell longer shocks.

Bhurt · December 5, 2019

13 hours ago, Woz said:

Bhurt, That's what i am afraid of happening on mine. At any rate the ride is terrible and needs to be corrected. I like her being leveled and will likely get some 33" tires, but I first need to address the control arm issue. Will your dealer install after market UCA or just put the same stock ones back? I noticed that the ball joint on mine is at a very steep angle and with the after market UCA they have changed the geometry of the Ball joint so it rides straight up and down when the front is lifted.

My problem is trying to decide weather to go with a full lift or one of those leveling kits. For the price of one of those leveling kits you can get a full lift. I noticed that some of the leveling kits sell them with shocks but the you still need to use shock extensions. If you are lifting the truck 2"-3" why are the shock extensions only 1". shouldn't they be 2"-3" or just sell longer shocks.

Ya if I was doing it over I would have just put a small lift kit in and been done. Even with the shock spacers I agree these shocks must be at the limit or close. That will be another thing I plan to add when its time for some upgrades. diff spacers, longer shocks and UCA's So basically just taking out this level and putting in a lift lol.

Woz · December 6, 2019

On 12/5/2019 at 4:49 AM, Bhurt said:

Ya if I was doing it over I would have just put a small lift kit in and been done. Even with the shock spacers I agree these shocks must be at the limit or close. That will be another thing I plan to add when its time for some upgrades. diff spacers, longer shocks and UCA's So basically just taking out this level and putting in a lift lol.

Maybe lift is the way to go. I will have a lot at what there is out there. I don’t think I want to go 6” maybe if there is a decent 3”-4” lift.