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Understanding Leveling Kits
Understanding the Pro's, Con's, and function of leveling your Duramax.
The Duramax Diesel truck has IFS (Independent front suspension) The suspension is engineered to travel around 4 inches up and 4 inches down giving the truck roughly 8 inches of total suspension travel. Leveling the truck by adjusting torsion bolts or installing torsion keys reduces the engineered suspension travel. Ride height increased by any leveling puts your trucks suspension and steering components in a down travel position all the time. These adjustments will reduce the life expectancy of the following (CV Axles, Tie Rods, Ball Joints, Idler and Pitman arms) It is not a good idea to adjust your ride height more than 2" with any form of leveling!
The use of a quality aftermarket UCA (Upper Control Arm) will correct upper ball joint travel restrictions created by a leveled suspension. UCA's will compliment and improve the ride of a leveled truck and allow for greater caster / camber adjustments. A bolt in serviceable ball joint is another benefit of a quality aftermarket UCA kit.
2001-2007 Classic body style 3/4 ton trucks have stock suspension that sits approximately 2" taller in the rear than the front. Getting these trucks to sit level is fairly easy and safe using a leveling kit.
The 2007.5 - Current New Body style 3/4 trucks suspension sits 3" to 4" taller in the rear than the front. You should not attempt to make the front fenders the same height as the rear by using only torsion adjustments or torsion keys! Over adjusting stock suspension limits will be detrimental to your steering, suspension, and safety!
If you want the front and rear fenders to be at the same height using a safe 2" leveling system ad a rear drop shackle to bring the rear of the truck down. Another option is adding a quality spindle style lift kit to accommodate your larger wheel and tire choice.
3500 Dual rear wheel - The rear fender of any year Dually is substantially taller than the front. If you have a Dually and want the front fender to match the ride height of the rear you will need a front suspension lift kit.
Here are some examples of the axle angles and what they look like after leveling your truck using T-Bars adjustments to achieve additional ride height and clearance. As you can see there will be a significant change in angles that will cause premature wear of the axles, tie rod ends, upper and lower ball joints and shocks. In addition to all the aforementioned your ride quality will suffer substantially the higher you go on the front end ride height utilizing T-Bar adjusting and or leveling kits over the OEM ride quality. The absolute best way to achieve a factory style ride quality and acceptable front end geometry on all front end components is to utilize a lift kit.
Here are some examples of the axle angles and what they look like after leveling your truck using T-Bars adjustments to achieve additional ride height and clearance. As you can see there will be a significant change in angles that will cause premature wear of the axles, tie rod ends, upper and lower ball joints and shocks. In addition to all the aforementioned your ride quality will suffer substantially the higher you go on the front end ride height utilizing T-Bar adjusting and or leveling kits over the OEM ride quality. The absolute best way to achieve a factory style ride quality and acceptable front end geometry on all front end components is to utilize a lift kit.
Here is a 2015 that was leveled with 2" keys and 1" T-Bar adjustment. As you can see, to achieve a complete leveled look on the LML's you need to either adjust the T-Bars 3" to maximum cranking position (not advised at all as premature shock failure may occur as well as other front end components) or add a leveling kit, 2" keys, shock extensions and adjust the T-Bars 1" (Not advised to adjust the T-Bars 1" in conjunction with a 2" leveling kit, as premature wear and shock failure may occur). This is very common on the LML's by owners as there is a natural 3" rake, or difference in height from the factory between the front and rear. We recommend a leveling kit, 2" keys, UCA's and not adjusting the T-Bars, as this will give you a safe 2" increase in height, leaving a better ride quality and not wear out front end components prematurely (Tire size, offset of wheels and wheel width can cause premature front end component wear and failure).
Here is the angle of the axle with the 2" leveling keys and 1" adjustment to the T-Bars. As you can see, to achieve the complete leveled look, the angles are getting close to being in the red zone.
After installing a 4" Lift kit, here is the look of the truck. As you can see, the truck is completely level, will accommodate larger wheels and tires, maintain a quality ride and maintain acceptable angles for the axles and tie rods.
And the axle angles with great tie rod angles as well.
The DMAXSTORE highly recommends a lift kit over a leveling kit. As you can see the lift kit, properly set up can maintain a factory ride and factory front end geometry that will not have a negative effect on front end components.