I finally slapped on the leveling kit.. a rough country set-up, and I blocked the back.. Underneath I have DC 35's on moto 20's... and I gotta admit, I was holding my breath a little to see what it all looked like on full lock-up.

It's good, w/no rubbing at all.. and it aligned as close to perfect as I could ask for..

but this thread isn't about bragging, it's about a little astounding bit of info that has somehow slipped past me for 40 years.. it was one of those moments I was a little dumbfounded by the obvious.. here goes:

the question has been asked here MANY times about leveling kits and how much rubber you can slip underneath, and when you need to start figuring on a proper lift.. I THINK I've heard the answer, and DANG, it makes absolute sense. I'll start by saying this- On the driver side, the wheel/tire size is absolutely maxed- on the passenger side I could go as high as 37", and yes, on a 2.5" leveling torsion key.

it has everything to do with the body of the truck, and what kind of mood the assemblers were in when they placed it on the truck. On my truck, the body 'offset' is most obvious on the bed/cab fitment. there is likely 3/4" difference where the cab meets the bed on my trucks drivers side.. if you run your hand down the door panels heading toward the bed, when you reach the bed 'gap' you'll have to extend your arm 3/4" further to maintain the same contact patch of your palm on the truck.. Likewise, on the passenger side, doing the same thing, you'll have to withdraw your arm about 3/4"..

Another place to look is like this- on my particular set-up, with the front wheels pointed dead forward, I can cram my entire fist between the wheel and the back of the wheel well/body.. On the driver side, I can only cram maybe three and a little bit of my fourth knuckle in there- there is THAT much difference.

so I asked my buddy "why?".. likely, as you guys are wondering too-

He said, "don't freak dude, it's not like your truck has a bent frame or anything, it's just the way the assemblers riveted your body on the frame.", he continued "if you go and look at ANY mass assembled truck you will see this is normal, because those guys drill where the bodies hit, it's not like they are aligning prefabbed holes..".. and I'm like "DUH, I should have figured this LONG ago, but it has somehow slipped past my attention..'

So anyway, it's a question asked here often, and with conflicting answers that sometimes trigger war of words, but here it is- the first time I've (not that I'm an authority or anything) had it explained in a reasonable way.. It's true, it works on some trucks, but not on others, and this is why.

I went over to a stealership and did some eyeballing of brand new trucks, and you can see this plainly. I also checked out a pretty good selection of used trucks there, and could see it too.. Here is the thing: you simply can't see BOTH sides of the same truck at the same time, so you'll only know if you look for this specifically, and use some form of measurement. It's not obvious at all.

The leveling kit worked for me, I hope it does for you- if it doesn't, maybe this is why.

 

What year is your truck? model? Do you have any pics?

 

well said. i think you cracked the case.