Leveling kit vs bilstein's

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mike905

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Ram Year
2016 Ram Sport
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5.7L
I purchased my 13 sport 1500 used, the previous owner had the dealership install a 2" mopar leveling kit. He traded it in for a CTD at the same dealership 35k miles later and the factory struts were weeping when I took it for a test drive so they replaced them before i picked it up.

I've read the threads about leveling kits wearing down components of the front end quicker. So considering they just put in new struts I'm thinking of keeping the leveling kit on and switch to bilsteins when I need to replace them.

So my question is what harm would this do? what would I need to replace down the road? I plan on keeping this truck for a long time.
 

Hemiluv

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2018
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Cummons 6.7 Turbo Charged
The only thing I can think of that would wear out faster is the upper control arm Ball Joint when you level your lifting that up and putting more pressure on the ball joint in the Upper Control arm. If Im missing anything Im sure others will chime in and help me out. I combatted this by also upgrading my upper control arms with the Zones Zone Offroad Heavy Duty Upper Control Arm (UCA) Kit D2301 These help because as it says on the site Ball joint positioning adjusted compared to stock arms to keep it in a neutral position with 2-3" of lift. Yep they are spendy but for me worth it as I don't have to worry about an unnecessary wear and tear from leveling with Blistens up front. My 2 cents.

Explanation:

The issue with most level kits for the newer Rams results from the stock upper ball joints being maxed out prior to the suspension fully drooping out when lifted more than 1" above stock. The ball joints are not designed for the extra strain when the suspension is bound up leading to premature ball joint failure.

These new heavy duty UCAs are engineered to correct this issue by repositioning the ball joint to allow a full range of motion when used with most leveling kit and suspension lifts.These arms dwarf the factory units and are built from 1/8" steel, boxed and fully welded with CNC-machined bushing and ball joint cups. The arms feature a durable textured black finish and come fully assembled right out of the box with OE durometer rubber bushings for quiet, reliable function. OE-style heavy duty greasable ball joints are utilized for a long service free operation and superior corrosion resistance to uniball style control arms.
 
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mike905

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2016 Ram Sport
Engine
5.7L
The only thing I can think of that would wear out faster is the upper control arm Ball Joint when you level your lifting that up and putting more pressure on the ball joint in the Upper Control arm. If Im missing anything Im sure others will chime in and help me out. I combatted this by also upgrading my upper control arms with the Zones Zone Offroad Heavy Duty Upper Control Arm (UCA) Kit D2301 These help because as it says on the site Ball joint positioning adjusted compared to stock arms to keep it in a neutral position with 2-3" of lift. Yep they are spendy but for me worth it as I don't have to worry about an unnecessary wear and tear from leveling with Blistens up front. My 2 cents.

Explanation:

The issue with most level kits for the newer Rams results from the stock upper ball joints being maxed out prior to the suspension fully drooping out when lifted more than 1" above stock. The ball joints are not designed for the extra strain when the suspension is bound up leading to premature ball joint failure.

These new heavy duty UCAs are engineered to correct this issue by repositioning the ball joint to allow a full range of motion when used with most leveling kit and suspension lifts.These arms dwarf the factory units and are built from 1/8" steel, boxed and fully welded with CNC-machined bushing and ball joint cups. The arms feature a durable textured black finish and come fully assembled right out of the box with OE durometer rubber bushings for quiet, reliable function. OE-style heavy duty greasable ball joints are utilized for a long service free operation and superior corrosion resistance to uniball style control arms.



The thing is the level was installed when the truck was at 4k miles and I got the truck at 27k miles. So my question is if there was an issue wouldnt it have happened already? and if it has can you tell if he already replaced the UCA or if this is the stock ones?

Is this really an issue for 2013 or is it 2014 and up?

20170120_145840.jpg
 

Scgirardi

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A 2" spacer won't do much harm if any at all.
 
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