Rear height off by an inch - left to right

Homer1959 · January 5

On 1/1/2026 at 9:12 AM, AbzDad said:

Has anyone measured their rear fender height and found it was off by a full inch left to right? I measured from the floor, directly through the center of the wheel to the lip of the fender. It was lower by a full inch on the passenger's side. Driver's side is 43 7/8" to the lip and passenger's side is 42 7/8" to the same lip. This is with a full tank of diesel and 1/2 full tank of DEF. Parked on a level garage floor.

Fronts are level from side to side, but the back is off.

Any way to get this leveled off?

I had the same ...problem.... with my 2025 2500HD—about 1 1/2 inches difference between sides, as shown in the pictures—back in May 2025. I measured the height in multiple spots wheel well, frame, bumpers name it and at different locations, driveway, street garage fuel station etc to make sure it was consistent, and it was. Now it’s January 26, and 6,000 miles later, everything is fine. I’m pretty sure my last trip from Montreal ( fifty first State ) to McAllen Texas, fully loaded with my 8,000 lb travel trailer and 1,150 lbs on the tongue, played a big role. Maybe the truck just needs to be loaded to get everything back in place? Now I just need to address the rear suspension noise—it’s creaking a lot even when just climbing into the cab

Edited January 5 by Homer1959

Chuck FB · January 5

10 minutes ago, Homer1959 said:

I had the same ...problem.... with my 2025 2500HD—about 1 1/2 inches difference between sides, as shown in the pictures—back in May 2025. I measured the height in multiple spots wheel well, frame, bumpers name it and at different locations, driveway, street garage fuel station etc to make sure it was consistent, and it was. Now it’s January 26, and 6,000 miles later, everything is fine. I’m pretty sure my last trip from Montreal ( fifty first State ) to McAllen Texas, fully loaded with my 8,000 lb travel trailer and 1,150 lbs on the tongue, played a big role. Maybe the truck just needs to be loaded to get everything back in place? Now I just need to address the rear suspension noise—it’s creaking a lot even when just climbing into the cab

Very interesting that the truck sits differently now than what it did when new or near new. When you measured now what if anything did you have for weight in or on the truck compared to when you measured the first time as per the photos you posted ?.

As to the creaking going on, your certainly not the first person that has experienced that and I've seen some blame it on having had their truck sprayed with a corrosion inhibitor and that they felt it did something to the spring bushings, yet had work done on their truck after that with adding leaf springs for example and then realized hmm, the squeaking is no longer there. I don't have the answer either, what all or maybe various reasons that can cause this and from what I gather some have had and that may be more of a half ton thing as per some tech bulletin, the springs replaced.

However I really have to wonder how tight or loose is more like it, that your leaf spring ubolts are. Not to claim tightening them up will solve the issue but it would not surprise me that the torque value had dropped a lot from when it was new. It might be interesting to look closely at your leaf packs to see if you can see anything that looks out of place a bit, like a leaf spring not contained with the steel holder band that has turned cockeyed compared to the rest of the pack ( like the bottom tapered overload ). I still haven't had any sizeable amount of weight in my box or on the hitch for any length of time to help "work" the suspension aggressively but yet was surprised when I did check the ubolt hardware that it was not torqued at all to what I figured it should have been. The goofy part is that its not straight forward as per GM's method of torqueing the ubolts as its a certain torque applied to all four nuts equally, then an additional 180 degree turn. That "seems" to bring it up to that 180 to 200 pound feet mark on a quite new non rusty factory ubolt and makes sense with the size of the hardware.

However since its making these noises etc, I would not touch the hardware but bring it to the dealer and let them hear the creaking and see what if anything they will do first before doing any home remedy if the dealer sluffs it off.

Pryme · January 5

I just realized I haven’t measured this since I had my leaf springs replaced so I went out and did this all critical extremely important measurment again and it’s the exact same from left to right. 41 1/4”

when you check the box for the poverty edition it includes a perfectly level, square and plumb suspension.

Edited January 5 by Pryme

Pryme · January 5

3 hours ago, Homer1959 said:

I had the same ...problem.... with my 2025 2500HD—about 1 1/2 inches difference between sides, as shown in the pictures—back in May 2025. I measured the height in multiple spots wheel well, frame, bumpers name it and at different locations, driveway, street garage fuel station etc to make sure it was consistent, and it was. Now it’s January 26, and 6,000 miles later, everything is fine. I’m pretty sure my last trip from Montreal ( fifty first State ) to McAllen Texas, fully loaded with my 8,000 lb travel trailer and 1,150 lbs on the tongue, played a big role. Maybe the truck just needs to be loaded to get everything back in place? Now I just need to address the rear suspension noise—it’s creaking a lot even when just climbing into the cab

If it’s creaking a lot you need new leaf springs. Mine were creaking when getting in and out of the cab as well not to mention rolling slowly over uneven surfaces like reversing into my driveway at an angle. They tried the cheap shim repair but that’s a bandaid and worked for about a month. Once they replaced the rear leaf springs it’s completely quiet now.

Edited January 5 by Pryme

Chuck FB · January 5

7 minutes ago, Pryme said:

If it’s creaking a lot you need new leaf springs. Mine was creaking when getting in and out of the cab as well not to mention rolling slowly over uneven surfaces like reversing into my driveway at an angle. They tried the cheap shim repair but that’s a bandaid and worked for about a month. Once they replaced the rear leaf springs it’s completely quiet now.

I had forgotten you had gone through that process. Since their first course of action was replacing the plastic shims I assume in some cases that must have repaired the issue. Did you ever get any proper feedback from the shop as to what they felt is the actual cause for the creaking issue. Leaf sprints have been around for a very long time and I don't recall a lot being said in the past about issues like this, I haven't personally been around a vehicle that did have creaking springs but never say never I guess, but did see a video with a GM dually with a slide in camper and he was running his video camera as he was going through a very uneven area of a trail/road into a camping area and it sounded awful as the camper swayed from side to side, it was him who had a couple of extra leaves added to the factory packs on both sides and that noise issue stopped.

I suppose they not only got your truck level from the factory but they had your steering wheel straight when driving as well ?.

Pryme · January 5

1 minute ago, Chuck FB said:

I had forgotten you had gone through that process. Since their first course of action was replacing the plastic shims I assume in some cases that must have repaired the issue. Did you ever get any proper feedback from the shop as to what they felt is the actual cause for the creaking issue. Leaf sprints have been around for a very long time and I don't recall a lot being said in the past about issues like this, I haven't personally been around a vehicle that did have creaking springs but never say never I guess, but did see a video with a GM dually with a slide in camper and he was running his video camera as he was going through a very uneven area of a trail/road into a camping area and it sounded awful as the camper swayed from side to side, it was him who had a couple of extra leaves added to the factory packs on both sides and that noise issue stopped.

I suppose they not only got your truck level from the factory but they had your steering wheel straight when driving as well ?.

I doubt the shims will be a permanent fix for anyone. They never actually gave me any real reason for the creaking only that they tested them and both sides were making noise with the right side being worse. At first they wanted to redo the shim thing again and I was getting close to the end of my three year 36,000 mile warranty and I said no way I want the springs replaced so they ended up doing the springs and they certainly are new springs because I can tell the difference they even left the little plastic packaging sticker on the springs.

yeah my truck goes down the road straight. It can be a tad off center sometimes but that’s normal based on wind and/or road crowning.

Chuck FB · January 5

6 minutes ago, Pryme said:

I doubt the shims will be a permanent fix for anyone. They never actually gave me any real reason for the creaking only that they tested them and both sides were making noise with the right side being worse. At first they wanted to redo the shim thing again and I was getting close to the end of my three year 36,000 mile warranty and I said no way I want the springs replaced so they ended up doing the springs and they certainly are new springs because I can tell the difference they even left the little plastic packaging sticker on the springs.

yeah my truck goes down the road straight. It can be a tad off center sometimes but that’s normal based on wind and/or road crowning.

I'm sure you saw where that was headed, GM trying to get out from having to replace the springs if they could but caved when you were not a willing participant in screwing yourself over something that is a GM problem.

As to the steering wheel being straight or not, for sure one has to give it a chance on various roads and weather conditions to come to a final conclusion and the reason I brought that up is some others also making the comment about the steering wheel being off from new. When I test drove my truck I noticed right away it was off a bit and coming back the other direction it was the same way, I never said a word to the salesman as the truck was not pulling as it tracked nicely and knew I would have that sorted out after. So when I did my adjustments to level the truck ( from side to side ) as I realized this after I owned it and had it home, I did that and allowed for some driving miles after that and then called them up to book it in for a warranty alignment. The lady who signed my truck in, I could tell she thought I was making something up but I never said anything, a tech did the alignment to whatever spec they do and looked like the only thing he touched based on the before/after readings was the front wheels to steering wheel orientation and made a note that yes the steering wheel orientation was off as per the customer complaint. She looks at that as I signed out with my truck and she said oh ... it was off.

Speaking of the dealer, did you ever have them calling you to book in an oil change and check over of the vehicle at a lovely price ( drumming up business ) or perhaps you had taken them up on their two free complementary oil changes and kept their inner office vultures at bay LOL.

Pryme · January 5

7 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

I'm sure you saw where that was headed, GM trying to get out from having to replace the springs if they could but caved when you were not a willing participant in screwing yourself over something that is a GM problem.

As to the steering wheel being straight or not, for sure one has to give it a chance on various roads and weather conditions to come to a final conclusion and the reason I brought that up is some others also making the comment about the steering wheel being off from new. When I test drove my truck I noticed right away it was off a bit and coming back the other direction it was the same way, I never said a word to the salesman as the truck was not pulling as it tracked nicely and knew I would have that sorted out after. So when I did my adjustments to level the truck ( from side to side ) as I realized this after I owned it and had it home, I did that and allowed for some driving miles after that and then called them up to book it in for a warranty alignment. The lady who signed my truck in, I could tell she thought I was making something up but I never said anything, a tech did the alignment to whatever spec they do and looked like the only thing he touched based on the before/after readings was the front wheels to steering wheel orientation and made a note that yes the steering wheel orientation was off as per the customer complaint. She looks at that as I signed out with my truck and she said oh ... it was off.

Speaking of the dealer, did you ever have them calling you to book in an oil change and check over of the vehicle at a lovely price ( drumming up business ) or perhaps you had taken them up on their two free complementary oil changes and kept their inner office vultures at bay LOL.

Yeah I knew they were hoping to just do the cheap shim fix to get me out of warranty. I’m glad I already had the Shim thing done because if I hadn’t, they probably would’ve demanded I do the shim thing which would’ve pushed me outside warranty, but since I had already done that, I said we’re not doing the same thing twice.

I get coupons regularly for basic maintenance but don’t use them. I’ll continue to do oil changes and filter replacements.

Edited January 5 by Pryme

Chuck FB · January 5

9 minutes ago, Pryme said:

Yeah I knew they were hoping to just do the cheap shim fix to get me out of warranty. I’m glad I already had the Shim thing done because if I hadn’t, they probably would’ve demanded I do the shim thing which would’ve pushed me outside warranty, but since I had already done that, I said we’re not doing the same thing twice.

I get coupons regularly for basic maintenance but don’t use them. I’ll continue to do oil changes and filter replacements.

These coupons, who is supplying them and is that for a reduced price on an engine oil change or does that also extent into more the full checkup theme. I've never had anyone say a thing about coupons, then again it may be because I am not in the GM system with an email address etc. Then again it could be a dealership thing and not all dealerships doing the same thing, I do not know.

Pryme · January 5

15 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

These coupons, who is supplying them and is that for a reduced price on an engine oil change or does that also extent into more the full checkup theme. I've never had anyone say a thing about coupons, then again it may be because I am not in the GM system with an email address etc. Then again it could be a dealership thing and not all dealerships doing the same thing, I do not know.

They come from the dealerships. Both the one I purchased from and the one I live close to and get the warranty work done.

Chuck FB · January 5

26 minutes ago, Pryme said:

They come from the dealerships. Both the one I purchased from and the one I live close to and get the warranty work done.

Interesting, I don't believe I have ever received one thing in the mail ( snail mail that is ) from this dealership including a survey that they said would come my way. I have a suspicion that anything which would be sent by them to an email address would go into a junk email address my salesman has set up to avoid some of his customers from being hassled by big brother ( corporate GM hounding them ) but I am just speculating on that.

Not that this has anything to do with that theme but for some years I used to pick up some calendars the GM dealer would be handing out at year end as I did go in there for various parts every so often. The Chev dealer I bought my truck from has no such give away as I found out a year ago. Back in Dec I went into that GM dealer and asked if they had callendars and she said they were not doing that anymore, I was surprised at that but have to wonder if they are pulling in their horns and trying to cut costs and if it has any connection to the stunt they pulled a year ago with market adjustment markups when no one else was pulling that crap. Was just curious if your local dealers do have yearly wall calendars made up.

bruceb58 · January 5

8 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

You might not get how I mean

I understand what you are trying to say yet you are still wrong. I doubt the floor is twisted anyway and it just has a slope.

Take it to multiple spots in a flat parking lot(which will still have a miner slope) and check it in two directions.

Z45 · January 5

2 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

These coupons, who is supplying them and is that for a reduced price on an engine oil change or does that also extent into more the full checkup theme. I've never had anyone say a thing about coupons, then again it may be because I am not in the GM system with an email address etc. Then again it could be a dealership thing and not all dealerships doing the same thing, I do not know.

The dealers can (optional) subscribe to this (fee) service and GM sends it out periodically. Its akin to "click bait" to lure you into the dealer service dept to spend money. I get them from my GMC dealer. It will show up on dealers invoice as "rpo R6J Customer Dialog Network".

Edited January 5 by Z45

AbzDad · January 5

On 1/2/2026 at 9:55 PM, Chuck FB said:

I would even say to measure all four tires for diameter, you could go across the side of the tire from the top of a tread knob to the other side, just in case for some dumb reason one of the tires came from some other processing plant and there was some stupid goof up with the sizing of the tire, just to rule that out as even measuring from the center of the hub would not completely eliminate a cockeyed axle from an off diameter tire. Odds are slim that you have a tire issue but no harm in measuring and also making sure you have the same pressures in both tires per axle when you do any of these fender to hub center measurements. And like Mike mentioned, try other flat spaces, like a flat parking lot etc and recheck the measurements.

I've gone through this twice now, years ago with a half ton Chev and now this 2025 HD Chev with a lean and both times it ended up being the front end just not leveled and to this day it still defies logic with the half ton as the front end was only off about 3/8 of an inch but that caused the rear end to be off far more and standing back one could just see the lean that truck had to the drivers side in its case. Once I readjusted the front end torsion bars it brought that rear end around to near perfect and I still can't explain how it was possible that it did that.

My 2025, it was leaning to the passenger side by a 1/2" on the front but somewhat less on the rear and I had no offsetting weight in the box, only the even weight side to side of mud flaps, a bak flip cover and a rubber box mat laid in place and yes I had my fuel tank full. I did the adjusting ( I lifted the front wheels off the ground to make sure I was not stressing the key bolts ) and adjusted some and then each time backed the truck out of the shop and back in to resettle the front suspension and measure and took maybe three tries to get exactly what I was after and then drove it for a bit since it was a brand new truck at that point and then remeasured on the shop floor as well as on a cement floor in one of our sheds and it was spot on pretty much, I mean within probably about 1/16th between sides on either axle and I was very happy with how that turned out. Not that it means everything but my initially low side on the front also had its key adjuster bolt sticking out much further and gave an indication that someone was in too much of a hurry at the factory and just didn't get it as close as it should have been.

Has this truck ever had a lot of weight in the box, lets say a weight that was biased to one side for example and that could even include a slide in camper that was heavier on one side causing a lean and stressing the springs more on one side. Also as was mentioned, check to make sure nothing seems out of place on either spring pack and how its sitting on the spring pad of the axle and that you don't happen to have a broken leaf spring in one of the packs.

I measured all four tires and even rotated them. They are new, less then 50 miles on them. All within +/- 1/2" in circumference.

I have tried three different spots to measure; one of the other garage bays, outside and turned around 180. Measurements are still within 1/8" of the original measurements. Passenger side is off by ~1".

AbzDad · January 5

On 1/4/2026 at 3:37 PM, PBNB said:

Best way is to confirm the concrete has the same slope where each set of tires rests. I think OP has done that with the 4' and 8' levels.

Another way to check the dimensions is to pick a spot on the frame and measure to that. If the fender is off or the plastic trim is off, it can give false measurements of the actual situation.

Make sure tire tread depth and pressure are the same on each axle. ie: fronts 65 psi, rears 80 psi or the pressure you normally run. Check with a standard pressure gauge and compare to the trucks TPMS readings.

Measure from the top of the axle to the underside of the frame.

Start by confirming the fronts are equal and go from there. If you are adjusting the front keys to balance the front height, just take the load off the side you are adjusting by lifting the truck up with a jack and then turning the adjuster bolt. It will turn much easier if you take the load off the torsion bar setup even just lifting the truck a few inches with the jack. If you have adjusted the keys, you will need to lower the truck and roll it back and forth before rechecking as it could settle with the new setting .

Note that is not too much you can adjust in the rear suspension to even it out. You might not be able to get it exact but it should be close.

I checked level with the two difference levels and a self-leveling laser on a tripod. The floor left-to-right is off by 1/8" and back-to-front is off by 1". The water drains out the front, by the garage door.