ZackMac26
Junior Member
Hey all, first time poster, long time lurker.
I wanted to share my experience with leveling strut spacers on the 1500 series trucks.
Before installing my leveling spacers, I knew that the ride would not be as good as a full leveling strut, but I never saw anybody talking about the long term wear effects of of the altered suspension geometry, aside from ball joint wear.
For the past 60k miles on my 2015 EcoDiesel, I had been running a spacer kit, with readylift upper control arms to address ball joint wear. Really had no complaints with this setup, aside from the noticeably stiffer ride.
I did start to develop a front end vibration/shimmy in the last 10,000 miles or so, but chocked it up to cupped tires due to needing an alignment. But on a 5,000 mile road trip, it became very apparent that something was wrong. Took it to the dealership while 1,800 miles away from home and they said the alignment was out, but everything else appeared to be in good order. The alignment seemed to fix the issue for about 800 miles and then the vibration got worse and worse.
As soon as I was home, I went ahead and pulled the whole front suspension apart to inspect all the components and I found the top strut mount bushing to be in really bad shape from the modified suspension geometry putting stress on the strut mounts (see images).
Got everything replaced with a Bilstein 5100 leveling strut system, tires replaced and aligned. Rides better than it ever has!
Long story short; I am sure spring spacers are fine for the live axles trucks, and for other applications, but the strut geometry is pushed well beyond its design with the longer strut that occurs with a strut spacer on these 1500 trucks. I do not recommend anybody use strut spacers to level/lift these trucks as the spacers will cause damage to your suspension, that if left unchecked can cause a tragic accident!
Hope this info helps!
I wanted to share my experience with leveling strut spacers on the 1500 series trucks.
Before installing my leveling spacers, I knew that the ride would not be as good as a full leveling strut, but I never saw anybody talking about the long term wear effects of of the altered suspension geometry, aside from ball joint wear.
For the past 60k miles on my 2015 EcoDiesel, I had been running a spacer kit, with readylift upper control arms to address ball joint wear. Really had no complaints with this setup, aside from the noticeably stiffer ride.
I did start to develop a front end vibration/shimmy in the last 10,000 miles or so, but chocked it up to cupped tires due to needing an alignment. But on a 5,000 mile road trip, it became very apparent that something was wrong. Took it to the dealership while 1,800 miles away from home and they said the alignment was out, but everything else appeared to be in good order. The alignment seemed to fix the issue for about 800 miles and then the vibration got worse and worse.
As soon as I was home, I went ahead and pulled the whole front suspension apart to inspect all the components and I found the top strut mount bushing to be in really bad shape from the modified suspension geometry putting stress on the strut mounts (see images).
Got everything replaced with a Bilstein 5100 leveling strut system, tires replaced and aligned. Rides better than it ever has!
Long story short; I am sure spring spacers are fine for the live axles trucks, and for other applications, but the strut geometry is pushed well beyond its design with the longer strut that occurs with a strut spacer on these 1500 trucks. I do not recommend anybody use strut spacers to level/lift these trucks as the spacers will cause damage to your suspension, that if left unchecked can cause a tragic accident!
Hope this info helps!
