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ReadyLIFT Leveling 101
What is a leveling kit? The simple answer is a leveling kit is designed to level out the front of your truck, SUV, or Jeep to match the height of the rear of the vehicle, giving you the leveling look. Most trucks, SUVs, and Jeeps come from the manufacture with a slight rake. Rake is when the front end of the vehicle is lower to the rear. Manufacturers release their vehicle with a rake to level out once weight is added to the rear of the truck or for improving fuel economy with airflow. When adding weight, the rear suspension will compress and level out with the front or slightly lower to optimize towing.
Benefits of a leveling kit
Leveling Kits are an easy starting point to lift your truck for a great leveled stance. Most ReadyLIFT leveling kits are a 1.5” to a 3” to allow for slightly larger than stock wheel and tire combinations. Our leveling kits give you that look and tire upgrade while maintaining factory ride quality.
- Level out your truck’s stance
- Fit larger tires and wheels
- Increase ground clearance
- Allows better operation of front-end equipment like plows
What type of leveling kits are there?
Strut Extension
Strut extension or spacers leveling kits are intended for trucks or SUV’s that use a coilover style spring for the front suspension. The strut extension will be installed on top of the coilover strut, raising the vehicle’s ride height to the desired level. The strut extension can also be removed fairly easily. Struct extensions are generally a quick and inexpensive way of leveling your vehicle.
Coil Spring Spacers
Coil spacers are another type of leveling kit that works similarly to strut extensions. The main difference is the location of the product. Strut spacers will attach to the top of the strut mount where coil spacer leveling kits will be placed directly on top of the coil spring buckets. Some vehicles have the option of both types, but coil spacers tend to be slightly more popular. The big draw to these kits is that they are extremely low cost compared to doing a full lift suspension kit. Coil springs spacers are know for maintaining the factory ride.
Forged Torsion Keys
How does your torsion bar suspension work? Torsion bars work just like the name implies. Its function is to use torsion (twisting resistance) force in the same way a coil spring works. Using the GM truck application as an example, one end of the torsion bar remains stationary mounted to the frame cross member. The opposite end inserts into the lower control arm. In between is a location for the lever – the torsion key – which basically holds the torsion bar at the preferred height required for how the vehicle is supposed to sit. As the wheel cycles up or down, the torsion bar twists around its axis. As it does so, the resistance increases as the bar wants to return its axis of zero resistance. Read more on ReadyLIFT’s torsion key lifts here.
Installing a leveling kit?
Leveling kits are more of the DIY style lift kits in the market. With that said if you aren’t fully aware or have mechanical experience we would recommend finding a ReadyLIFT dealer in your area to install your kit. You can search authorized ReadyLIFT dealers here. Leveling kits can seem simple to install but some kits require specialized tools for the installation. You can read our full instructions for the leveling kit install by searching the part number of the product or putting in your vehicle make, model, and year information and finding the leveling kit page for your vehicle. Once on that page you can hit the installation tab and download the instructions specific to that tap. Make and follow the instruction fully for proper installation. Minor errors in an installation can cause damage to the vehicle that can end up in more cost fixing parts down the road. To watch a ReadyLIFT leveling kit installation on a GM 1500 check out our YouTube video here.
Now that you have learned about different types of leveling kits you can check out all ReadyLIFT’s options today, view all leveling kits. If you have more questions reach out to our fully staffed and train customer service team at 1-800-549-4620 open M-F from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MTN time.
