Leveling Kit for 09

[nsformula]

drop the rear 2" with a shackle
way easier than lifting front and no down side

[rlj676]

Originally Posted by nsformula

drop the rear 2" with a shackle
way easier than lifting front and no down side

Except the looks.......

[tcuda499]

DONT DO IT! DONT DO IT! DONT DO IT! I hope I got your attention.... I used the new torsion keys on my 02 2500HD with shock adapters. Looked good,3" in front and a 1" block in back. I dont care who says what... your ride will be compromised severly! Your suspension(torsion bars) will be so wound up you will loose all your comfort of the suspension. As I found out after only 18 months with the keys, My upper control arms where on such a steep angle to the knuckle, the upper ball joints,lower ball joints,control arm bushings where waisted!!!! Every little bump you hit will be magnafied to the extreme. Even if you use the cognito upper arms to put a better angle for the upper ball joint it will still ride like a wwI tank!!! Also your alignment will be out for lunch and never come back. This is very important for towing and you will loose alot of caster that the truck needs to tow straight. Dont waste your money,you will only have to do more repairs sooner than later. We all know the 2500hd front ends last almost a lifetime if not messed with.

[LW Boater]

I agree with above about keeping it stock, once you mess with cranking the torsion bars it really screws up the ride. If you want a lift, do a full 4" or 6" lift that will keep a good ride and alignment specs., plus it looks awesome!!!

[tcuda499]

I ended up with a 4" tough Country lift kit. It actually came out to 5" total and rides and handles like a new truck!!! My suspension feels like its stock again. We'll see how it tows in 2 weeks....Va. to Ct. about 400 miles pulling a 38 scarab.

[rlj676]

Originally Posted by tcuda499

I ended up with a 4" tough Country lift kit. It actually came out to 5" total and rides and handles like a new truck!!! My suspension feels like its stock again. We'll see how it tows in 2 weeks....Va. to Ct. about 400 miles pulling a 38 scarab.

Pics? It's amazing and most people won't believe that a lift improves the ride.

[tcuda499]

Originally Posted by rlj676

Pics? It's amazing and most people won't believe that a lift improves the ride.

None yet... just finished it two weeks ago. Took me about 11 hours but every minute was worth it I'll get some up this weekend.

[KN]

Not to hijack this thread but you guys have me worried now. I just ordered some 285-75-16's to put on my 06 GMC 2500 HD I was going to put a leveling kit on it, What should I do put the Cognito system with the other parts. just put the keys and the leveling kit. Send the tires back? I do not want to mess up the front suspention on my truck and I also don't want it to ride terrible.

Thanks

[tcuda499]

KN, the 285's should fit on a stock truck. you can tweek the stock torsion bars a bit to rise the front about 1to2 inchs. ride quality will suffer a little but not to much. the align will go out some though.The cognito upper arms will help with the upper ball joint angle to help it wear better(last longer) but it wont be better than a stock truck. the upper cognito arms are like $450 right? thats almost half the price of a lift and a lift (in my opinion)is a way better way to lift your truck and have reliability to.If your gonna tow you kinda want the rear to be higher anyways ....... your call?

[KN]

Doesn't a lift on a Chevy/GMC cost a couple grand? just for the lift not including any labor. Who makes the best lift kits? I remember seeing an offroad magazine doing a test on a 2500 HD and they picked a 6" lift that was three letter RCR? It was some company with three letters. Who makes a good 4" lift kit? Thanks for the help guys.

Kirk