I have the rough country 2.5 leveling kit. Me and some friends were trying to get it put on with no luck. First of all took the sway bar completely off as I seeing how it drives without. Then we unbolted steering, upper control arm and then the strut assembly. We can get the strut assembly with spacer back in the mounts but when we try to reattach upper control arm it is a no go. We even tried ratchet strap from upper arm to lower one, it gets so close - just won't go all the way. Just wondering if I'm missing something small or not. My truck is 2wd by the way.
On a side note, my truck has 82k miles on it. The sway bar links and all the ball joints look to be in really good shape, everything is nice and tight. Also all the bolts just zipped right off with the impact. All I seem to hear is the horrors of these suspensions but guess I am lucky so far.

 

me i didnt follow instruction ans loosen lower and upper controol arms....and the 2 metal part welded to shock body where bolt pass tru...may need minor grinding in corners.....hope you understand

 

ran into the same problem here when doing mines as well last summer, ended up using scissor jack to lift up the lower control arm, then using a 4 foot pry bar and a block of wood to lower the upper control arm. i feel your pain brother, we also tried using the ratchet straps too

 

Here's what you do:

Use a jack to lift the lower control arm (compressing the strut assembly).

Use a pry bar, and pry the upper control arm towards the lower. (I used the spring as the leverage point).

Pry enough to thread the nut onto the upper ball joint. After that, its all good in the hood.

 

Put the upper ARM back on,Pop the lower ball joint apart,and install strut, them jack the lower ARM back into position, its really simple that way....

 

thats how i did