Ready Lift - 2" leveling kit with Ready Lift control arms

[Icecold77]

I only ended up having the Ready Lift UCAs out of their 3.5in SST Kit installed. I have the entire kit minus the UCAs if anyone is interested PM me. Before I feed it to the wolf's on EBAY. It's all new in box.

 

[JBeckman]

I think everyone here has a valid point. I just completed my RC 2" level. The spacer itself was 1 7/16". Did the whole job myself. So I can attest to the plastic inlay on the UCA. However the engineers make way more than me so it must make sense?
Anywho I took it in for the alignment. Pic below. So by looking at the printout, how much stress can be put on the UCA - BJ with the lift? I can see if they had to adj the camber. So my question is it its virtually the same, wouldn't the factory angle be the same?

Me personally, I am going to upgrade the UCA. Just for piece of mind of a solid arm vs a metal/plastic inlay. And they can be had for $100 for the pair, if you can find in stock.

 

[Icecold77]

The height of the spacer and the amount of lift/level have nothing to do with eachother. I've leveled many trucks and did the same thing the 1st time. To the guy that said the engineers have this figured out he is CORRECT. There is much more than the height of the spacer that drives your actual height increase.

 

[Icecold77]

When I went for an alignment it was so slightly out of spec I could've left it. I think the new UCA's helped keep everything within factory angles, considering they are rated up to a 6" lift, 3.5" was peanuts.

And when I had a close look at the factory UCA's, I was glad I swapped them out... just not very confidence inspiring to say the least.

My guy who installed my RL UCAs said the OEM UCA are not the way to go if you plan to lift or level your truck. Stock guys I'm sure it's fine. You spend 50k-70k on your truck. Aftermarket parts is the last place to look for the cheapest way out. It will bite you later..

 

[MopaRAMan]

Hey guys, the ball joint angle that everyone should be concerned about is not at ride height. The issue with the ball joint angle is only at full droop. At full droop the angle is much more pronounced. There are two basic methods to achieve lift on the front. Adding a spacer above the strut increases the down travel of the UCAs when at full droop. Effectively the same as adding a longer stut minus increased up travel. Adding a preload spacer within the strut itself does not increase down travel of the UCA since the strut’s max extended length stays the exact same. The up travel is reduced due to the spacer.

If you add a spacer on the top of the strut, do yourself a favor and add UCAs that correct the ball joint angle at full droop. However, if you don’t mind a bit stiffer ride, go with the preload spacer and save some money. A strut compressor will be required if you go this route. Take pictures and compare the ballpoint at full droop. The reason to add UCAs will become clear.

 

[JBeckman]

Hey guys, the ball joint angle that everyone should be concerned about is not at ride height. The issue with the ball joint angle is only at full droop. At full droop the angle is much more pronounced. There are two basic methods to achieve lift on the front. Adding a spacer above the strut increases the down travel of the UCAs when at full droop. Effectively the same as adding a longer stut minus increased up travel. Adding a preload spacer within the strut itself does not increase down travel of the UCA since the strut’s max extended length stays the exact same. The up travel is reduced due to the spacer.

If you add a spacer on the top of the strut, do yourself a favor and add UCAs that correct the ball joint angle at full droop. However, if you don’t mind a bit stiffer ride, go with the preload spacer and save some money. A strut compressor will be required if you go this route. Take pictures and compare the ballpoint at full droop. The reason to add UCAs will become clear.

Ahhh wasnt even thinking abt that. Thanks!

 

[VaderRebel]

Great explanation... had I taken pictures during installation (difficult when alone) I could have verified that for you. So glad I changed out the uppers, real piece of mind.

 

[XDBrad]

Installed my Readylift leveling kit with UCAs today. I took a couple pictures at full articulation along the way.

My truck has the ORP so I’m aleady at what I believe is pretty close to maximum angle for the ball joint. This is stock at maximum articulation.



This picture is with the strut spacer installed and new UCA at maximum articulation. The ball joint is not at maximum deflection.



This picture is where I installed the strut spacer and reassembled with the stock UCA (took the extra time just to see...). At this angle, the ball was binding (maximum deflection) and made it impossible to turn the spindle left and right by hand. By taking the time to do this reassured me that the UCAs were a must.

 

[Laramie_2019]

Has anyone tried the procomp UCA for 139.00 for the pair? I bought the motofab 2" alum strut spacer, just need UCA before i continue.

Summit racing link: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...T11NrbKRfWEXyxBGrrNd63C0Ditaa6LwaAmukEALw_wcB

PN: 61181

 

[TA5thGen]

Hey guys, the ball joint angle that everyone should be concerned about is not at ride height. The issue with the ball joint angle is only at full droop. At full droop the angle is much more pronounced. There are two basic methods to achieve lift on the front. Adding a spacer above the strut increases the down travel of the UCAs when at full droop. Effectively the same as adding a longer stut minus increased up travel. Adding a preload spacer within the strut itself does not increase down travel of the UCA since the strut’s max extended length stays the exact same. The up travel is reduced due to the spacer.

If you add a spacer on the top of the strut, do yourself a favor and add UCAs that correct the ball joint angle at full droop. However, if you don’t mind a bit stiffer ride, go with the preload spacer and save some money. A strut compressor will be required if you go this route. Take pictures and compare the ballpoint at full droop. The reason to add UCAs will become clear.

I have the ready lift 2inch preload spacer billet aluminum and I’m having some issues with clunking sounds seems to be more on the passenger side and more noticeable at slower speeds on slightly bumpy pavement. I’m having issues getting it fixed by installer. I posted more info on a thread I posted

 

[Laramie_2019]

Has anyone tried the procomp UCA for 139.00 for the pair? I bought the motofab 2" alum strut spacer, just need UCA before i continue.

Summit racing link: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...T11NrbKRfWEXyxBGrrNd63C0Ditaa6LwaAmukEALw_wcB

PN: 61181

So i ended up buying the readylift kit for 429.00 on ebay. Comes with the strut mount aluminum spacer and UCAs. Will do the install later and report back any findings or issues. If you dont hear from me it means all is good. So i now have a set of 2" motofab spacer that im willing to sell for $40.00 shipped. Msg me if interested.

 

[kmck94]

Installed my Readylift leveling kit with UCAs today. I took a couple pictures at full articulation along the way.

My truck has the ORP so I’m aleady at what I believe is pretty close to maximum angle for the ball joint. This is stock at maximum articulation.

View attachment 6706

This picture is with the strut spacer installed and new UCA at maximum articulation. The ball joint is not at maximum deflection.

View attachment 6707

This picture is where I installed the strut spacer and reassembled with the stock UCA (took the extra time just to see...). At this angle, the ball was binding (maximum deflection) and made it impossible to turn the spindle left and right by hand. By taking the time to do this reassured me that the UCAs were a must.

View attachment 6708

How much height does the off road package give you up front? I have top mount spacers and my full droop is no where near that bad. My ball joint still had much more movement past full droop. I do not have the ORP and when I installed my 2 inch level it almost stayed stock.

 

[knightro84]

How much height does the off road package give you up front? I have top mount spacers and my full droop is no where near that bad. My ball joint still had much more movement past full droop. I do not have the ORP and when I installed my 2 inch level it almost stayed stock.

Off-road group is supposed to be 1" taller than a stock 4x4 truck.

 

[troutspinner]

Anyone having any bushing / suspension squeaks? I have an inconsistent chirp I keep hearing from the passenger side when the windows are down. Can’t seem to pinpoint it....yet.

 

[TA5thGen]

I had clunking noise that I thought was an install issue. They were supposed to take apart the coil over and inspect the parts and reinstall the 2 inch billet aluminum spacer from ready lift to see if the noise was still present instead they removed the spacer returned it to stock which wasn’t part of the agreement so there was no proof of installation error or defective part and still charged me contacted the owner know awaiting partial refund. I have a set of 2 inch billet aluminum spacers in my garage hopefully I can get a refund from we’re I purchased them. I get of bought a Mopar lift from the money I spent on wheels alignments installs deinstalling level kit having another shop inspect the kit.

 

[XDBrad]

The ORP is a full 1” factory lift and I would think a non ORP truck with 2” spacers would have enough travel to be safe in the ball joint.

However, anyone else who has an ORP and has installed the Readylift 2” Leveling kit and UCAs, please check your yoke clearance at full droop. Mine will actually hit the spring when turning the tires left or right . Right side hits when turning left and vise versa on the left. It clears fine under a load but something isn’t right and I need to know is it just mine or is this a design problem with the UCA not extending far enough outwards to clear.

 

[Icecold77]

Anyone having any bushing / suspension squeaks? I have an inconsistent chirp I keep hearing from the passenger side when the windows are down. Can’t seem to pinpoint it....yet.

Try some wd40 around the tophat spacer and truck.. I've had some sqeaking in the past with metal tophats..

 

[mikemcfarland]

Anyone having any bushing / suspension squeaks? I have an inconsistent chirp I keep hearing from the passenger side when the windows are down. Can’t seem to pinpoint it....yet.

any update @troutspinner ? just had the ready lift 2" level with uca"s done to my truck. driving 3 hours on monday to pick it up.

 

[troutspinner]

any update @troutspinner ? just had the ready lift 2" level with uca"s done to my truck. driving 3 hours on monday to pick it up.

Not yet. I did put some grease on the UCA bushings. I took a long ride yesterday to do some fishing so the grease may have worked itself in a bit. After this storm in the NE disappears today I’ll give it a listen tomorrow.

 

[troutspinner]

any update @troutspinner ? just had the ready lift 2" level with uca"s done to my truck. driving 3 hours on monday to pick it up.

Just an update. My buddy and I were able to tear into this tonight and see if we could figure out what is causing the "chirp" sounds I keep hearing. For starters, I was 100% convinced that the chirps were coming from the bushings in the upper control arms. The reason I was convinced was because I improperly greased them when we did the install. Call it a rookie mistake. Not to mention, I've been packing the bushings with grease to see if it would solve the chirps. I've since learned, grease is not a friend to bushings, there is a proper way to grease a bushing sleeve and then there was the way I did it, grease all over everything. Wrong!

We took out the upper controls and bushings, degreased everything including the mounts, applied grease correctly to the bushing sleeve and put it all back together. I even remembered to bring the castle nut spacers ReadyLift forgot to include in my original kit. Went for a test ride, same result. As disappointed as I was, we eliminated a possible source.

With my buddy hanging his head out the window, he notice that the chirps weren't coming from just the front, they were coming from the rear as well. We did not do any work on the rear. My buddy thought it could be the wheel caps so we went back to his place and removed them and went for another ride but had the same result. If I hit a good bump, we would hear a chirp. We then picked up on a pattern. After I hit a bump, the next time I applied the brakes, it would chirp again. We did this over and over and it was consistent and we both thought it could be the brakes. To test our theory, we went over the same bumps but with the brakes lightly applied and it was silent. We did this several times and it continued to be silent. Take the foot off the brake and hit a bump, the chirp is back.

In conclusion, it is the brakes. I believe the pads have some wobble to them or possibly the calipers or pistons??? Are my new heavier rims and tires a contributing factor? Hard to say and the only way to prove it would to be to put the old ones on to which I already sold the tires. I'll have to see what my dealer has to say when I take it in for it's first service. I can however say with 100% confidence, it is not the level.