Leveling Kit Alignment

ndhonor · December 7, 2007

I will be putting a Rough Country 2" leveling kit on my truck within 2 weeks. I know you are supposed to have your wheels realigned since it will kick out the tires and cause uneven wear. How dangerous would it be to leave them unaligned. I want to put 285/70/17 BFG A/T KOs on it. So, is it dangerous not to align them? How fast would it cause the tires to wear down? Thanks.

ballon78 · December 7, 2007

Installed my kit wed. and had it aligned last night, all that was off was the toe but it was off alot. My truck only was 500 miles on it so i wanted to make the tires last!!! you will notice that the outside of the tires will start to get very choppy and if you hit any ice it may wander a bit, but you shouldn't worry aout ice i quess!!!

Zembonez · December 7, 2007

I will be putting a Rough Country 2" leveling kit on my truck within 2 weeks. I know you are supposed to have your wheels realigned since it will kick out the tires and cause uneven wear. How dangerous would it be to leave them unaligned. I want to put 285/70/17 BFG A/T KOs on it. So, is it dangerous not to align them? How fast would it cause the tires to wear down? Thanks.

No offense but you would be nuts not to align it.

Your tires will wear big time and the stress put on the rest of the steering components and wheel bearings will accelerate wear. If the toe is way off, the tires will likely "hunt" their way down the road finding grooves to ride up on. An alignment is cheap insurance and the truck will drive like it should. It's too nice of a new truck to not align it!

Just my opinion.

Silverado4x4 · December 7, 2007

Dont be cheap on this get an alignment, once your truck is lifted you will be able to see just by looking at the truck that the front wheels will be towed in. I drove mine from about 3 days till I could get it aligned and when making shape turns at full lock on the steering wheel the front tires would squeel and yes the front will wander down the road. Cheap insurance for what will happen down the road.

NathanL · December 7, 2007

Honestly I would do it. Personally I would have it checked even if you didn't get a lift.

When I put mine in it was WAY off, more than the lift should have made it - my camber was way out of spec and that really shouldn't have been affected that much. Most people have said it was their toe in that was off after the lift. When I was at the shop there was a guy who had like 500 miles on a NNBS truck and his tires were all messed up. The dealership sent him over to get new tires and an alignment and it was out of whack. Guy doing the alignments said he had done several that had tire wear issues on new trucks with low mileage.

It was $49 here and that's cheap to make sure you have it all right and not messing up a set of tires. Especially if you go with 285/70/17 BFG's, by the time you have them mounted and balanced your over $1,000 right there.

08 Sierra Z71 · December 7, 2007

I will be putting a Rough Country 2" leveling kit on my truck within 2 weeks. I know you are supposed to have your wheels realigned since it will kick out the tires and cause uneven wear. How dangerous would it be to leave them unaligned. I want to put 285/70/17 BFG A/T KOs on it. So, is it dangerous not to align them? How fast would it cause the tires to wear down? Thanks.

Matthew,

If you think about it and you find the time, could you post some before and after pics of your truck? I am interested in a lift too & would like to see what kind a difference a two inch lift makes.

topdj · December 7, 2007

I went directly to the dealer 49.00 I know they have the correct specs for the truck

I have a friend get his done at a tire shop and they used the 2007 OLD body style opps

his tires started doing something funny

Silverado4x4 · December 7, 2007

That dont make sence cause they use your vin to get the specs.

shedberg · December 7, 2007

I will be putting a Rough Country 2" leveling kit on my truck within 2 weeks. I know you are supposed to have your wheels realigned since it will kick out the tires and cause uneven wear. How dangerous would it be to leave them unaligned. I want to put 285/70/17 BFG A/T KOs on it. So, is it dangerous not to align them? How fast would it cause the tires to wear down? Thanks.

Matthew,

If you think about it and you find the time, could you post some before and after pics of your truck? I am interested in a lift too & would like to see what kind a difference a two inch lift makes.

You can definitely tell a difference. I have 2" Daystar coil spacers in the front of my truck, and it gives it a more aggressive look. You notice it the most when you climb into your truck, and when you look out over your hood from the driver's seat for the first time. Braking feels different, though.

hubbycap · December 7, 2007

All this talk about leveling, got me to thinking that I just installed 2" lowering shackles on my GMT900. It made enough of a difference that I had to adjust the headlights down. I made no change to the front height otherwise. The current rake is like having about 500lbs in the bed. Would lowering of only the rear make enough difference in the front end to warrant getting the alignment checked?

03blackz71 · December 7, 2007

I would get an alignment!!! I put about 1000 miles on my truck before I got an alignment and I noticed the tire wear already. Also the truck will drive better after the alignment. It will steer better and the truck won't wander when it finds grooves in the road like said on a post above. I took mine to an alignment shop that does all the alignments for the local 4X4 shop so I know they know what they are doing!! I paid more but they go the extra mile to make it drive right the first time!!

Also if you are getting new tires why would you want to ruin them just by saving 50-100 bucks?

07-Z71 · December 7, 2007

I got the 1.5 inch a month ago. The company that installed it ( that also does all the lifts for my local Chevy Dealer's trucks) said it won't need alignment..... so i haven't done it. The alignment is perfect, just the way it stock.

Not sure what lift I got... they did it for $300 installed

satisfied1999 · November 21, 2008

I got the 1.5 inch a month ago. The company that installed it ( that also does all the lifts for my local Chevy Dealer's trucks) said it won't need alignment..... so i haven't done it. The alignment is perfect, just the way it stock.

Not sure what lift I got... they did it for $300 installed

satisfied1999 · November 21, 2008

I got the 1.5 inch a month ago. The company that installed it ( that also does all the lifts for my local Chevy Dealer's trucks) said it won't need alignment..... so i haven't done it. The alignment is perfect, just the way it stock.

Not sure what lift I got... they did it for $300 installed

Not sure why but my last post didn't save.

I just got the Pro Comp leveling kit installed at the dealer where I bought the truck (1.5 hours away). They and the 4x4 shop that installed the kit stated I wouldn't need an alignment. Anyone else here running this kit? Did you align?

I think I know what the consensus here will be but wanted to ask anyway....would you guys go ahead and align? The local tire shop wants $90 and I wanted to poll the group before I pulled the trigger. I know it is worth it if it saves my tires....

Thanks in advance.