we strongly recommend reading this guide to find out what RAM 1500 leveling kit problems you might run into when driving your truck.
Leveling kits look fabulous on any truck, but unfortunately, they might do more harm than good. So, if you plan on installing a new leveling kit to your RAM 1500.
There is a lot of debate about whether you should add a leveling kit to your truck.
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Contents
Common RAM 1500 Leveling Kit Problems (+Expert Guide)
Some people dislike the idea of getting a lifted truck since your vehicle might experience some damage over time, such as the steering getting damaged as they are positioned differently.
So, in this guide, we’ll learn more about these issues and what you should do to prevent them.
To get Rid of the lifting problem you can go through the review of Best Airbags For RAM 2500
Common issues You Might Experience on Your RAM
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If you don’t take action early on, the components on your truck will get damaged, which at the end of the day means you have to spend more money to fix the vehicle.
So, here are the most common leveling kits problems you will face at some point:
01. Wrong Angle
You never want to cheap out on a leveling kit. For example, a poorly made and installed leveling kit on your truck can lead to severe damage over time.
The components of your truck will break over time as they are poorly positioned.
You will begin to notice this when you drive at high speeds. The truck starts to shake as you keep going down the road, and you will have to go to the local mechanic to find out what’s wrong with your truck.
So, it’s a good idea to do enough research before you order your RAM level kit for your 1500.
02. Height Level
We know you want that cosmetic update on your truck. But it’s easy to overlook the fact you need to measure the vehicle before you install a level kit for your RAM or any other truck.
One of the most common causes for the 2018 RAM 1500 leveling kit problems is the wrong measures. Wrong measures on your truck can lead to weird alignments and issues over time.
The wires on your vehicle begin to wear out faster than they do. And to be fair, you don’t want to spend more money on tires as they are already expensive.
03. Too Much Mileage
If you notice that your car is performing poorly, and you suspect that you’re getting terrible gas mileage on the truck, then the culprit is the leveling kit.
Bad mileage is super annoying as you spend more money on gas than you do.
On top of that, you need to replace the tires frequently. And that alone increases your budget at the end of the month.
04. Defective Driveshafts
Another common issue with leveling kits is how quickly the driveshafts wear out over time.
You can tell that your driveshaft is working poorly; when you’re going down the road and hear a nasty noise every time you shift your truck.
Another common sign that the driveshaft is malfunctioning is uncommon shaking coming from underneath the vehicle.
And all this happens because the driveshaft is at the wrong angle because of the leveling kit.
And, if you don’t take care of it on time, this can lead to further damage in the future.
05. Damaged Suspension
Unfortunately, when you install a leveling kit on your truck, the suspension system could be affected by it if it was poorly installed.
When you edit the suspension system of your truck, you’re alternating the way your vehicle works. Some components that should not get damaged as easily could break if you had a mediocre job done.
So, if you ran into a damaged suspension system, that could be the main culprit behind all 2018 RAM 1500 leveling kit problems. So, make sure to watch out for a damaged suspension system on the truck.
If you ever encounter that issue, you can fix it by installing new shocks on the truck. It’s also a good idea to maintain the car quite often to avoid any damage to other components.
06. Lack of Maintenance
If you don’t keep track of often you maintain your truck, chances are you don’t maintain your car that often.
Leveling kits cause the components of your car to wear out faster than they do without it. So, you must maintain your vehicle if you want to keep going down the road with a perfectly working car.
It’s not that hard to keep a regular maintenance schedule to keep your car as sturdy as ever.
If you took the time to do so, you would significantly reduce the amount of money that you have to spend on damaged components caused by the leveling kit.
07. Worn Out Pinion Gears
Are the pinion gears wearing out too quickly? Then the leveling kit could be behind this problem.
Running thousands of miles on a faulty leveling kit will lead to severe damage to the car. As a result, the pinion gears will wear out as you drive the vehicle.
DIY Guide: How to Install a Leveling Kit The Right Way
Now that we’re on the same page, we know what a poor installation on your truck can do some nasty stuff to the vehicle. Don’t worry! We’ll show you the right way to install a leveling kit.
A proper leveling kit installation will prevent any RAM 1500 leveling kit problems such as damaged driveshafts and gas mileage problems.
So, here are the steps you must follow to install a leveling kit and avoid problems in the long run:
What You’ll Need
Before we get started, you need to gather a couple of tools if you want to install a leveling kit the right way. Fortunately, if you’ve done anything related to car maintenance, you probably have these tools on hand.
So, here is what you will need:
- A drill
- A wrench
- 2-floor jacks—we’ll use a floor jack to lift the car so that we can install the leveling kit
- 4 jack stands—make sure to get jack stands as it is incredibly dangerous to lift a vehicle only using a floor jack
- Vice grips—we’ll use them to hold onto the bolts of the sway bar
01. Jack the truck
To install the leveling kit, we need to lift the truck up. If you’ve never used a floor jack before—you must be careful when doing so.
If you don’t find a proper lift spot, the car could fall on you—and if you don’t use the jack stands as we said before, there is a high chance that the floor jack could fail on you.
Here is what you need to do to jack up your truck:
- Put the jack stands behind the radius arm on both sides
- Now use the floor jack on the floor of the truck
If you need help, and you feel as though a video would do the trick, here is a video we highly recommend watching:
02. Loosen the brake line bracket
Now, what you must do here is loosen up the brake line bracket. The reason why you want to loosen up the brake line is that it will prevent any tension.
The same goes for both for the passenger side. Make sure to take as much time as needed. Some of the most common Dodge 1500 leveling kit problems are due to rushed installations on the truck.
So, don’t try to speed up the process if you don’t feel comfortable.
Here is what you must do to accomplish this step:
- Get some light underneath your car so that you have an easier time when drilling
- Now you want to grab a drill and then drill the shock bolt
- Make sure to do this on both sides of the vehicle
If you need help, here is a video you watch to get you out of trouble:
03. Remove the Sway Bar Link
This step is a little bit tricky might take some time to pull it of if you have never done anything like this. The whole point here is to drop the sway bar of the truck.
Follow these steps to drop the sway bar:
- Here, you will need a vice grip
- Once you get the vice grip, you need to hold onto the nut and remove it
- You have to do this on both sides to install the leveling kit
Once you remove the bolt off from the sway bar, you’re ready to move onto the next step.
04. Take the Shock Out
Once you have removed all the mounts for the brake lines, you’re good to go. Now, we have to deal with the shock on both the top side and the bottom side.
To do this, here is what you need to do:
- First of all, don’t try to rush this part. If you need more time, take some time off and be patient throughout the process
- Here, you need to remove the bolts on both sides by using a wrench
- If you can’t seem to remove the bolts, add a little bit of wd-40 to loosen them up
- And finally, when you remove the top bolt, you need to take out the shock
- Add a little bit of pressure and hold down the shock and slowly pull it out
- You need to do this process on both sides
- Make sure to put all the parts you take out somewhere you can find them
05. Remove the Coils
Here is the easy part: if you successfully followed the other steps, you should be able to remove the coils from the truck.
To do this, here is what you need to do:
- Here, you have to lower the axle on the front side. This way, you will be able to remove the coil springs
- Now go ahead and remove the coil springs from both sides
And that’s about it for the coil springs. Some people consider that to be a hard thing to pull off, but if you got the other steps right, this should not be hard for you.
06. Install the Spacer
We’re now getting closer to the finals steps. Now, we have to set up the spacers on the truck.
Installing the spacer can be a little bit difficult. What makes this step difficult is that you have to hold the spacers in place, and sometimes that can get somewhat messy.
Here is what you need to do:
- We’ll use the coil springs as a support for the spacers so that they stay in place
- So, grab the coil springs and use them as a support as you install the spacers on the truck
- By doing this, you will be able to set up the spacer in peace
07. Put the Spring Isolator Back
Here things can get pretty messy. You need to install the spring isolator according to the passenger side, and then you have to do it on the driver’s side.
Here is what you need to do to get things working:
- Get the new coil spring and put it back
- You might want to apply some pressure when putting it back as it can be hard to get it working right away
And with that, you have successfully put the spring isolator.
08. Put The Rest Back On
At this point, we are almost done installing the leveling kit on your truck. Now, you just have to put everything back on.
Once you put back everything you took off, you should be ready to go down the road.
Ram 1500 Leveling Kits Problem -FAQ’s
In this section, you can find anything related to leveling kits. Here are three common questions about leveling kits:
Do leveling kits cause problems?
Trying to modify your truck by installing leveling kits can cause some problems in the long run. For example, a faulty leveling kit can cause damage to the car.
What are the cons of a leveling kit?
Here are some cons that you might experience after installing a leveling kit:
- Components will wear out faster
- It can be quite costly to maintain it
- You might experience shaking if it was poorly installed
Does a leveling kit affect the ride of your truck?
There is a common belief that by adding a leveling kit to your truck, the performance of the car will increase. But in reality, it does not make the vehicle any more powerful.
Conclusion
As you can tell by know, RAM 1500 Leveling Kit Problems are mainly caused by mediocre installations on the system.
While we’re not fond of leveling kits, an excellent installation should not cause this much damage to the truck.
On the other hand, a bad installation on the system will cause the truck to work undesirably, which at the end of the day, ends up being expensive.
So, it’s not a bad idea to install the leveling kit on your own if you want to make sure the leveling kit works perfectly.
And, it always comes in handy to become more familiar with how your truck behaves.
