Lift / Levelling Kit

[kingnothing395]

I've got a 2.5-inch front/2-inch rear levelling kit for my 2019 RAM 1500 Longhorn 4WD. The front spacers mount on top of the strut, effectively making it 2.5 inches longer. The rear 2-inch spacers go under the coil. My tires are BF Goodrich TA KO2, 34.6". Anything I need to be aware of before I install? Any clearance issues or parts that need to be replaced to accommodate the small lift?

 

[clobato]

I just installed a 2.5” front and 2” rear spacer kit today. Aside from the kit, nothing else had to be replaced and no clearance issues with the kit itself.

When I did the install, I installed the driver front spacer as described by any of the videos on YouTube where you separate the upper ball joint from the knuckle. It was a huge pain in the butt! I was pounding on the knuckle with a BFH and a pickle fork for about an hour before it finally popped. On the passenger side I decided that I’d try removing the upper control arm instead of messing with the ball joint. That was by FAR the best choice and was way easier than fighting the ball joint. I’d recommend giving that a shot.

I ran 295/60r20 (~33.9”) tires on 20x10 wheels with a -18mm offset on my last Ram with the same lift/level set up. I had to slightly “massage” the little OE mud flap on the back of the front wheel wells to get the tires to clear without rubbing. I just heated the flaps with an heat gun until they were soft and then bent them rearward out of the way. After that, I had no issues. I think my biggest issue was the offset of the wheels pushing the tires outward at full lock. My buddy had the same lift/level with 295/65r20 on stock wheels with no issues.

 

[Slutzk]

Anything I need to be aware of before I install?

Yeah, dont install that garbage at all. Dont use micky mouse cheap *** spacers/pucks, save your money and do it right. Go with suspension level/lifts.

 

[H2OMAN]

Yeah dont install that garbage at all. Dont use micky mouse cheap *** spacers/pucks, save your money and do it right. Go with suspension level/lifts.

Think of me seconding this in a slightly nicer way. But, yeah. This^^^

 

[Slutzk]

Think of me seconding this in a slightly nicer way. But, yeah. This^^^

ah sorry. i forget we have sensitive people in this the forum and people hate the truth.

 

[clobato]

To each their own I guess. I’ve run cheap spacers on multiple trucks and Jeeps without any issues. I’ve also replaced the cheap spacers with top-dollar-right-way full lift kits on my Jeeps to get better rock crawling capabilities but that was accompanied with constantly fighting steering problems. Just depends on what you’re looking to do.

 

[PurpleRT]

Yeah, dont install that garbage at all. Dont use micky mouse cheap *** spacers/pucks, save your money and do it right. Go with suspension level/lifts.

This! For the price for a pair of Bilstein 5100 or Eibachs equivalent throw the spacers away. Your driving a rather expensive truck, you don't have to spend a fortune leveling it the better way.

 

[Slutzk]

This! For the price for a pair of Bilstein 5100 or Eibachs equivalent throw the spacers away. Your driving a rather expensive truck, you don't have to spend a fortune leveling it the better way.

bingo. Say it a little louder for the idiots that still dont understand this.

 

[kingnothing395]

Thank you all for the feedback.

I went with the spacers because I had them on my 2014 Tundra, drove it 55K miles, and never had a problem.

The overwhelming majority of my driving is city streets. Since I work from home, I am not driving much. Occasionally, if I happen to get very lucky, I might draw a public hunting tag and that might involve some off-road driving.

 

[theblet]

Nothing wrong with spacer for someone who doesn’t off road much some UCAs would be a good idea tho

 

[boogielander]

This is like eating junk food daily. Sure you did it for the past 10 years and nothing happened. Doesn't mean you can keep doing it and nothing will happen to you.

as someone who deals with this professionally I absolutely hate it when people say "spacers are fine" on IFS. That just shows me how little they know about suspension and not willing to learn. A few months back I just had a customer who bought his brand new rig from the dealer with dealer installed 2" spacer lift. WIth only 3k miles on odo the Upper ball joint was done already and suspension making all kinds of noise. Not to mention it rides like sh*t. Told the guy and showed him how a properly done lift should look and drive like, he made appointment to have it done correctly after the lap around the block.

Read here for why spacers are terrible ideas with animations:

Spacer Lift vs Preload Spacer vs Coilover Preload – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

sure. you may not have problem with the tundra but all it takes is ONE single instance to destroy your truck and cause problems for you and other people around you. You drive an expensive truck, your truck deserves something better than that. Your own safety deserves something better than that. I can never understand why someone would cheap out on a vital component and get the mickey mouse option to risk a big tow and repair bill and time taken to deal with the repair which is going to be a lot more expensive than just getting the proper suspension setup.

 

[H2OMAN]

This is like eating junk food daily. Sure you did it for the past 10 years and nothing happened. Doesn't mean you can keep doing it and nothing will happen to you.

as someone who deals with this professionally I absolutely hate it when people say "spacers are fine" on IFS. That just shows me how little they know about suspension and not willing to learn. A few months back I just had a customer who bought his brand new rig from the dealer with dealer installed 2" spacer lift. WIth only 3k miles on odo the Upper ball joint was done already and suspension making all kinds of noise. Not to mention it rides like sh*t. Told the guy and showed him how a properly done lift should look and drive like, he made appointment to have it done correctly after the lap around the block.

Read here for why spacers are terrible ideas with animations:

Spacer Lift vs Preload Spacer vs Coilover Preload – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

sure. you may not have problem with the tundra but all it takes is ONE single instance to destroy your truck and cause problems for you and other people around you. You drive an expensive truck, your truck deserves something better than that. Your own safety deserves something better than that. I can never understand why someone would cheap out on a vital component and get the mickey mouse option to risk a big tow and repair bill and time taken to deal with the repair which is going to be a lot more expensive than just getting the proper suspension setup.

Indeed.

 

[theblet]

This is like eating junk food daily. Sure you did it for the past 10 years and nothing happened. Doesn't mean you can keep doing it and nothing will happen to you.

as someone who deals with this professionally I absolutely hate it when people say "spacers are fine" on IFS. That just shows me how little they know about suspension and not willing to learn. A few months back I just had a customer who bought his brand new rig from the dealer with dealer installed 2" spacer lift. WIth only 3k miles on odo the Upper ball joint was done already and suspension making all kinds of noise. Not to mention it rides like sh*t. Told the guy and showed him how a properly done lift should look and drive like, he made appointment to have it done correctly after the lap around the block.

Read here for why spacers are terrible ideas with animations:

Spacer Lift vs Preload Spacer vs Coilover Preload – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

sure. you may not have problem with the tundra but all it takes is ONE single instance to destroy your truck and cause problems for you and other people around you. You drive an expensive truck, your truck deserves something better than that. Your own safety deserves something better than that. I can never understand why someone would cheap out on a vital component and get the mickey mouse option to risk a big tow and repair bill and time taken to deal with the repair which is going to be a lot more expensive than just getting the proper suspension setup.

My truck's ride didnt change. I can see that happening with preload spacers tho

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

This is like eating junk food daily. Sure you did it for the past 10 years and nothing happened. Doesn't mean you can keep doing it and nothing will happen to you.

as someone who deals with this professionally I absolutely hate it when people say "spacers are fine" on IFS. That just shows me how little they know about suspension and not willing to learn. A few months back I just had a customer who bought his brand new rig from the dealer with dealer installed 2" spacer lift. WIth only 3k miles on odo the Upper ball joint was done already and suspension making all kinds of noise. Not to mention it rides like sh*t. Told the guy and showed him how a properly done lift should look and drive like, he made appointment to have it done correctly after the lap around the block.

Read here for why spacers are terrible ideas with animations:

Spacer Lift vs Preload Spacer vs Coilover Preload – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

sure. you may not have problem with the tundra but all it takes is ONE single instance to destroy your truck and cause problems for you and other people around you. You drive an expensive truck, your truck deserves something better than that. Your own safety deserves something better than that. I can never understand why someone would cheap out on a vital component and get the mickey mouse option to risk a big tow and repair bill and time taken to deal with the repair which is going to be a lot more expensive than just getting the proper suspension setup.

People never learn or don't want to. How do you spend $30K plus and go cheap on suspension I'll never understand

 

[boogielander]

My truck's ride didnt change. I can see that happening with preload spacers tho

well, spacers changed your suspension geometry in a bad way. it still leaves it somewhat of a factory ride with factory shocks. but what is incorrect is always incorrect, regardless of how people spin it. it won't suddenly become correct because a truck stays on pavement all its life or because the owner has no prior problem with it.

see the link i provided, the first item.

I believe we had this discussion elsewhere before, so i'm just gonna leave it at "what's incorrect is incorrect and your truck deserves better than incorrect"

 

[boogielander]

People never learn or don't want to. How do you spend $30K plus and go cheap on suspension I'll never understand

i don't understand either. i'm just glad we have the shop policy to not install spacer lifts.
i mean, there are pictures and examples of how incorrect spacer lifts are and people still think it's fine or they can get away with it or it'll never happen to them. and people think they're lucky enough for it to not happen to them.

like jeez these are free information online and free information that I get paid to give, but people still don't listen. well i'm gonna say the same thing when my friend didn't listen to me and f*cked around not once, not twice, but 3 times before he found out "ha! i told you so but you didn't listen"

 

[theblet]

Thanks for the advice

 

[boogielander]

my goal is not to bash spacer lifts or people who run spacer lifts for no reason, and definitely not because I put over $5k in my suspension setup.
my goal is to help the community get better stuff and make good decisions, and I do so by telling the community what is the correct way of doing things. When it's something people pay lots of their hard earned money for and when it's also a safety and driveability concern, I don't hold back. I say these stuff because I know a thing or two and I've seen how bad it can be.

that's all.

 

[theblet]

my goal is not to bash spacer lifts or people who run spacer lifts for no reason, and definitely not because I put over $5k in my suspension setup.
my goal is to help the community get better stuff and make good decisions, and I do so by telling the community what is the correct way of doing things. When it's something people pay lots of their hard earned money for and when it's also a safety and driveability concern, I don't hold back. I say these stuff because I know a thing or two and I've seen how bad it can be.

that's all.

All good brother

 

[Redz72]

Just playing devils advocate here, but if spacers weren’t safe (on road use only), why would Mopar sell and even warranty a spacer lift? The 2” Mopar lift uses spacers. I don’t use spacers because they don’t work well with how I use my truck. But for someone that never goes off road or puts any real stress on their truck, maybe the spacer application is correct for their use? I do agree that spacers should not be used for off road applications, etc.