Why Must Leveling A K1500 Be Such A Pain To Figure Out?

2006HighSierra · April 28, 2008

I know this has been beat to death and I have read every thread I can find but it still hasn't helped me figure this out. I have a single cab Sierra K1500 and I want to level it out. I take the truck through some pretty rough stuff during hunting seasons alot and also the stance is lacking for curb appeal. I need something tough and reliable. My buddy has a shop and does alot of 4x4 work. He has a set of 285BFGs I am wanting to get from him. He said that the torsion keys are more less a gimick and I should get about 2.5" with my stock keys and bring it up and he'd crank it up to see how it sat. Most things I see say don't go over 1.5" on stock keys and any more and it could snap the bars or something. I have saw some cheaper lifetime warranty keys for under $100 on ebay and such that claim 3". He also said he has a set of Ford keys that we could try. I've heard alot of people say they are great and some say they are bad and stress the bars and wear things out. He has his cranked up all the way with a BDS lift and 38s and has had no problems, and my buddy's 2500HD is raised about 2.5 on stock keys with no problems after 90k. Has anyone heard any dead solid set in stone answers to this problem? It's just a 50/50 toss up it seems.

Z71Adrenaline · April 28, 2008

I have had two 2001 Z71s that I have had cranked at least 2". I sold one at 120k and the other at 96k and neither of them had any alignment issues and I never had to replace a part on either. I know a lot of people change the keys out, but I have never messed with it.