Daystar leveling kit

[bulldogger]

Hey just a quick heads up for anyone using this kit. In the directions it tells you to remover lower strut studs by placing strut in vice and to hit the studs out. My word of advice is that is going to be very difficult. I have a harbor freight 12 ton press and used that to remove them. Using the press takes about 5 minutes per strut. Once studs are removed the whole job is done in about 3 hours. The upside to Daystar is the spacer is polymer so it won't rust and look like crap over time. I have done about 8 lift kits and leveling kits in the past. This was the first time I did one by removing lower control arm and have to say I believe this way was much faster, a lot less stuff to disconnect. Like I said just a heads up for anyone considering it.

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[RANGER_MARC]

Hey just a quick heads up for anyone using this kit. In the directions it tells you to remover lower strut studs by placing strut in vice and to hit the studs out. My word of advice is that is going to be very difficult. I have a harbor freight 12 ton press and used that to remove them. Using the press takes about 5 minutes per strut. Once studs are removed the whole job is done in about 3 hours. The upside to Daystar is the spacer is polymer so it won't rust and look like crap over time. I have done about 8 lift kits and leveling kits in the past. This was the first time I did one by removing lower control arm and have to say I believe this way was much faster, a lot less stuff to disconnect. Like I said just a heads up for anyone considering it.

Thanks for posting, man. What about the results? How is the ride? Any pics?

 

[bulldogger]

Ride is exactly same as stock as this system sits on top of the strut with 1.5" spacer. Ride gets effected when you install strut spring spacers for the lift.

 

[gcan]

Can you explain your response please, not questioning just trying to understand because I have the RC spacer and plan to replace the front strut shocks so trying to determine if I should keep the spacer with a better strut shock or go to a fully adjustable strut...... I want the level lift but also want the best ride

 

[bulldogger]

When you install a top spacer on the strut it doesn't effect the spring load so the shock functions same as it was from the factory. When you disassemble the strut to put in a preload spacer in for the lift, the spring is under more tension so you can get a slightly more bouncy ride. RC sits on top so ride quality won't change. My truck has FX off road and I like the ride so I didn't want to buy new struts because I wasn't sure how they would ride.

 

[gcan]

Thank you for explaining this and also reviewing your install

 

[bulldogger]

Thank you for explaining this and also reviewing your install

Anytime, if you have any questions about installing a leveling kit feel free to ask.

 

[Jrel209]

Hey just a quick heads up for anyone using this kit. In the directions it tells you to remover lower strut studs by placing strut in vice and to hit the studs out. My word of advice is that is going to be very difficult. I have a harbor freight 12 ton press and used that to remove them. Using the press takes about 5 minutes per strut. Once studs are removed the whole job is done in about 3 hours. The upside to Daystar is the spacer is polymer so it won't rust and look like crap over time. I have done about 8 lift kits and leveling kits in the past. This was the first time I did one by removing lower control arm and have to say I believe this way was much faster, a lot less stuff to disconnect. Like I said just a heads up for anyone considering it.

you recommend installing coilovers (planning on stage1 fox or icon) by just removing the lower control arm for the fronts as well? I seen a few diff videos and all 3 did it a bit different. But i did see one video where he just removed the LCA but he was also doing some cutting so wasnt sure how this would apply to just a leveling kit.

 

[bulldogger]

you recommend installing coilovers (planning on stage1 fox or icon) by just removing the lower control arm for the fronts as well? I seen a few diff videos and all 3 did it a bit different. But i did see one video where he just removed the LCA but he was also doing some cutting so wasnt sure how this would apply to just a leveling kit.

LCA install is nice because a lot less stuff is unbolted. Install is okay, but you will need a ratchet strap to help keep the LCA in alignment when you go to jack it back up into it's proper location. I used two jacks, one on each end of LCA and moved them up kind of evenly. Ratchet strap around bottom of strut and hook it to holes in frame on cross member for alignment. It stops the strut from trying to move towards you. You could probably use one jack and a 2x4 that runs across both the LCA mounting bolts that are used for camber alignment. As far as cutting, I only read about that when you go with bigger tires that hit the front crash bar. As long as the new strut is a 3" lift, like the icon stage one states it is, it should work exactly the same way. If it is adjustable on the truck set it to lowest position install it then jack the truck and set it to the height you like

 

[bulldogger]

Jrel209,
another way to do it is you can usually borrow tools from auto zone on a free rental basis and just grab a strut spring compressor from them which might help a lot if you are doing it alone.

 

[2021Ranger]

David, you said you used a 1 1/2 kit from daystar? I only see 2” kit. I like the idea on the poly spacer, so why do you need to remove the strut lower bolts?

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