Today I installed the HBS 2.5" leveling kit and 2.5" anti-sway bar drop brackets. I had a little help from my neighbor and my dad who is visiting for the the weekend. Total time for the install was right at two hours. The passenger side took us about an hour and a half. The driver side, which we did second, took about 30 minutes.

The install wasn't that difficult but I rented a spring compressor from Auto Zone prior to starting. We had to have it for the passenger side. For the driver side we didn't.

I'm very pleased with the results. The rear is 3/8" higher than the front and the truck looks great. I'm also very pleased with the quality of the HBS components. And, yes, a front end alignment was required. No death wobble or any change to the ride or handling...except that it's more awesome now. And the tire rubbing on sharp turns is gone now. Truck will turn full lock in both directions with no rubbing.

Here's a before and after pic as well as a pic of the kit prior to installation:

Before



After



HBS Kit

 

Very sharp lookin truck!!!

 

HAHA, I'm glad everything worked out for you. I assumed it would.

Great job.

 

Dang It Hoss.


Sharp buddy, sharp.

You about like me when it comes to mods ehh? When I fall of the wagon, I usually fall off, get ran over by the wheel, the spoke grabs my collar and tosses me back on, and I fall off again.

 

Meh...I'm pretty much done. I just figured if I was gonna do one thing then I might as well do the other...and the other...and the other...and while I was at it I might as well do this one too. I'm done though. Really. I am. Scout's honor.

 

Good looking rig Hoss. What size tries and rims are you running? I'm looking at doing the same to my truck. Just need to select tires and rims. Didn't want to do a leveling kit, but not sure I have any choice in the matter if I do 35s.

 

Tman,
Those are stock 17" wheels with Nitto Trail Grappler M/T 35x12.5x17

 

What New2Diesel said. Stock rims with 35's.

I didn't want to do a leveling kit either, but now that it's done I'm really glad I did it. I think it makes the truck look a lot better. And unless you like rubbing you're gonna have to have it if you go with 35's. It's possible that different 35's might not rub. I don't know. Mine have pretty aggressive sidewall tread and I'm pretty sure that's what was rubbing. Something that isn't a mud tire or that doesn't have sidewall tread might not be as bad. I recommend a leveling kit though.

 

Hoss, are you running a adjustable track bar or running the stock track bar?

I'm running bilstein 5165 up front and 5100 in the rear. I'm impressed on how much better they work over the stock shocks.

Nice truck Hoss

 

Thanks!

I'm all stock on the track bars and shocks. What benefit do adjustable bars provide?

I'll eventually change my shocks to Bilsteins and i may even put a 1" lift in the rear, but after spending around $3K in mods on a truck with only 1000 miles on it my wife has firmly put her foot down.

 

I tell you what. On my 08 I just leveled it and left it. It rode ok, albeit considerable stiff than the stock ride. It did pull, to the right, as expected with the level kit.

This go round I opted to swap the shocks when doing the level, 5100 series Bilsteins, expensive but not rediculous. Front with an additional 2"s of travel to compensate for the level.

I also went ahead and put the Carli low mount stabilizer and the Carli adjustable track bar on it.

Money. Well. Spent.

My truck rides pretty dang close to how it did stock. It actually surprised me quite a bit how well it rode. No front end play, no wobble at all. Steering is nice and tight, and the best part, on a good road, I can let the steering wheel loose, and it just tracks along merrily as is not a care in the world. It feels as if I didnt even change anything from my truck being stock, to as it sits now. Im tickled pink with the end results.

Hoss, to answer your question, the adjustable track bar recenters your axle. The level kit, cause the axle geometry to push to the right, and this will not allow it to be aligned exactly right. The adj track bar will recenter it, and allow the geometry to be correct.

I always doubted the worth of one, but now that Ive seen what it does, I wont own a truck leveled without it.


Just do what I do. Take the wifey to dinner, maybe a movie. A full weekend of shopping. Manicures and makeup and such. Make her just overjoyed about the whole situation. That way when you get home from shopping and there is a box of goodies for the truck on the porch, you can just say "Well Ill be....." and not be in too much danger.

 

I'll have to try that approach and see how it works with my wife.

Good to know on the track bar. I'm still trying to comprehend in my mind how the leveling kit pushes the axle to the right. If that's the case I'm assuming it's a very small amount since the anti-sway bar and everything else still lines up.

For now, I'm happy with the way the truck rides and handles.

 

When the leveling kit is installed, the increased front height increases the angle at which the track bar runs from the frame to the axle mount point. The increased angle shortens the horizontal distance between the frame and axle mount points. The change usually isn't drastic, but it is noticeable especially with wider tires.

But this results in the axle moving left (to driver's side), not right...unless the 4th gen front end is reversed from a 2nd gen.

The adjustable track bar allows you to lengthen the bar beyond stock length to restore the proper horizontal position.

 

I wish you hadn't told me that. Now every time I walk toward the front of my truck I notice the axle is slightly off centered and it bugs me. I suspect adjustable track bars from HBS are in my near future. And maybe one of their steering stabilizers while I'm at it.

One question...I get that installing the leveling kit moves the axle back a little bit, but how does that result in it also moving to the left?

 

The steering is weird, you lose some turn ablity to one side and gain some on the other side. There is also a slight increase in wear on moving parts like the bushings in the control arms and sway bar end links, but nothing major.

The worst is issue is the weird visual and weird steering.

I was going to put a lift into my 2010, but I prefer the stock steering vs. a lifted truck. I drive way too much on awful icy/rutted/mud roads.

I'm sure impressed on how well the bilstein 5165 work, really fixed up the ride quality on my truck. When I pulled off my shocks on the 2010, they were done and needed to be replaced (at 80000km or 50000 miles) Dodge sure put in a lot of junk front end parts in the 4th gen's