Leveling kits and Lift kits are designed to elevate a vehicle’s ride height, so as to fit tires of bigger sizes, and to potentially raise the overall vehicle ground clearance.
Find out more about the two types of kits, what makes each one stand out and Leveling Kit Vs Lift Kit – or how one varies from another.
| Appearance | Leveling Kit For Silverado | Details |
|---|---|---|
  | Rough Country 2.5" Kit | |
  | MotoFab CH-3F-2R Front & Rear Leveling Kit | Details |
  | Rough Country 2" Kit | |
  | MotoFab CH-2.5-2.5" Kit | |
  | Supreme Suspensions Kit | |
  | Supreme Suspensions 3-Inch Front Leveling Kit | |
  | MotoFab Lifts CH-25F-2R Leveling Kit For Silverado | |
  | MotoFab Lifts 99CHTK-WSE | |
  | MotoFab Lifts CH-1R | |
  | ADPOW 3" Front & 2" Rear Leveling Kit |
What Is Leveling Kit & Lift Kit?
Know about the two types of vehicle kits.
Leveling Kits
In case you are a truck owner, you have possibly seen that its rear part has a higher elevation than the front. Trucks are designed to pull heavy objects and the extra rear height is deliberate – as it ensures there is no sagging of trucks when there is additional weight.
But when you are not hauling anything, the results might not be visually pleasing. A leveling kit is a convenient way to resolve this problem. This type of kit lets you raise the truck front by a few inches, so as to correspond with the rear.
In a few leveling kits, such as for Jeep Wranglers, a rear spacer might be included in order to account for the extra weight - whether full-sized spares or the after-market bumpers. In case the front section of your Jeep or truck has a winch, the additional weight might be compensated by a leveling kit.
This is primarily for aesthetics but can offer you a small amount of ground clearance. Most of these kits offer a lift of just 1 – 2 inches. Based on the leveling kit, you might be capable of setting up a tire of a slightly larger size.
It is easier to set up-leveling kits as compared to a full-on suspension lift kit, as most of these have a bolt-on setup system. Based on the leveling kit, the installation might need strut disassembly. Various components can be included in leveling kits, such as:
- Lift blocks
- Shocks
- Strut extensions
- Spacers
Most such kits can let you maintain factory quality ride while keeping the rig leveled out at an affordable cost. You can level the ride at less than a few hundred bucks, and simultaneously offer a better stance to your Jeep or truck.
Leveling kits are of various types:
- Leaf Spring Blocks - These are set up between the axle and the leaf springs, and are typically used to change the ride height on a vehicle’s rear end.
- Strut Extensions - These are for trucks with the front suspension having Coilover struts. Such types of kits put a spacer atop a factory strut. There is no other change needed for your factory components.
- Coil Spacers - These look just like strut extensions, the sole exception being that the spacer is integrated to not the strut but the top of the spring buckets that come from the factory.
These also offer unmatched comfort and quality of ride and allow vehicles to articulate better on open trails.
Leveling Kit Vs Lift Kit: For More Watch Till The End
Lift Kits
A leveling kit lets a vehicle have a better balance, while a lift kit can offer more ground clearance, better off-road performance, and more height. These are costlier than leveling kits but offer much better advantages.
Lift kits range between 1 – 7 inches in size and can offer a more elevated ride height. These feature adjustable coil springs, sway bar links, track bars, shocks, bushings and control arms, and have more components as these have more involvement as compared to leveling kits.
Most of the lift kits preserve the quality of ride and factory steering and can offer more ground clearance to let you add bigger sized tires. You can easily move over rough terrain and crawl over rocks. Keep in mind that the more you lift your truck, the higher its CG is going to be.
There can be stability problems with a higher center of gravity, and it can be less safe for you to drive the vehicle at faster speeds – particularly on the highways. Although lift kits have more advantages in terms of off-roading performance, these are tougher to set up and costlier than a leveling kit.
These are of different types:
- Spring Over Axle Suspension Lift Kits – These demands that you weld the axle top with new perches. You can get optimal traction and articulation in suspension.
- Torsion Keys – These are for trucks having torsion bar suspension.
- Shackle Reverse Suspension Lift Kits – These give a seamless ride quality on moderate terrains, and allow a more natural front suspension.
- Shackle Suspension Lift Kits – These have a longer shackle that can elevate vehicles half the additional length.
- Lifted Spring Suspension Lifts – These are intended to provide rough terrain with a higher level of control. Such kits can extend more camber and may be used along with leaf spring suspensions.
Leveling Kit Vs Lift Kit: Face To Face Comparison
- A leveling kit lifts only a truck’s front part, whereas a lift kit can elevate the rear as well as the front of the car by several inches, based on the kind of lift kit that is used.
When we talk about Leveling Kit Vs Lift Kits, leveling kits offer lift by only a few inches, primarily to correct any imbalances between the vehicle’s front height and rear height.
- Generally, a leveling kit is designed to offer as much as 2 inches of lift in the front end. These kits come with hardware that can raise a vehicle’s front part only a little – so as to make it correspond to the rear stock height.
Lift kits elevate trucks and even kits 10-inch or taller in case the consumer likes to go custom. If you want a stock-style stance, you may pair front-end leveling kits with spacer blocks located on the leaf springs in the rear, so as to offer a small amount of lift to all the 4 corners.
- Often called suspension systems, Lift kits happen to be more comprehensive as compared to leveling kits. These have new control arms, shocks, springs and anything else that is required for maintaining the preferred height.
In this Leveling Kit Vs Lift Kit comparison, leveling kits are quite basic in form, and generally, need torsion keys or spring spacers to ensure proper completion of the task.
When it comes to lifting kits, new driveshafts often have to be created. You have to bend the brake lines along with the suspension pieces. Thus, larger kits generally witness more involvement.
- To put simply, leveling kits as well as lift kits are aimed at elevating the body of the truck away from the axles. This helps fit tires of bigger size, and raise ground clearance. Leveling kits have hardware that can elevate vehicle front so as to match the rear stock height. These are generally designed to offer an optimal lift of around 2 inches to the front end.
Typically, leveling kits are very basic and only need torsion keys or spring spacers to ensure that the job is properly carried out. But a lift kit can change your truck completely, and make it an off-road monster from a city cruiser.
Before you decide on which form of kit is ideal for you, it is essential for you to consider a number of factors. You need to have clear goals and know about what you are getting into, prior to choosing a lift kit of a specific style.
- In case you intend to use your rig on forest roads, backcountry roads, on trails, or on highways, a 4 or 8-inch truck lift kit might be the best option for you.
With a lift kit, your 4X4 jeep or truck will have tires of bigger size with a tread that is designed for the trails. You can get more ground clearance and ensure that the undercarriage is off the rocks and the intake is out of water.
Your truck’s rear or front end will not get buried deeply during steeper inclines. If you would mainly like to drive on the pavement, but like to have a more aggressive and better appearance, a leveling kit can be a less expensive and convenient to set up option.
You may still fit cooler tires and larger wheels, and you can have a more aggressive-looking stance.
- Price is another point where the two types of kits differ. Leveling kits tend to cost around 200 dollars while some types of lift kits might be as much can cost up to a couple of thousand dollars.
Conclusion
In case you require more ground clearance for fitting bigger tires, you can drive on tougher terrain much better. A lift kit would be better suited to your requirements, as compared to a leveling kit.
But if you are trying to balance your truck’s appearance while driving down the main thoroughfares, a leveling kit can be an affordable, easy and great alternative to setting up a comprehensive lift kit.
Irrespective of what your choice is, ensure that you purchase a superior kit. This is because the new components you will be adding to the truck will be a part of the suspension system that you have. It can easily have a positive impact on the quality of your ride.
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