UPS delivered my front and rear bumpers today and I almost have the money saved for my OME 2.5 HD kit with trac bars. The bumpers (src front and rear with carrier) look awesome but WOW are they heavy. Question is, when I install the lift should I try to level it then or wait till it gets broke in and tear it apart again to level it? I will be adding a winch sometime after the lift. Also, do leveling kits have different size spacers in the kit or do u buy for a specific height?

 

Just do it once. I'm adding a 1" spacer to the front of mine when I install it so I don't have to do it all again.

Edit: forgot to mention that the leveling kit advertises its lift height. Mine (which I'm removing with the new lift) was 2" in the front and 1" in the rear. Some are less than 2" in front, so just look at what you need. Some people will put it all on and then later buy the appropriate spacer for the amount of sag they got - I'm just guessing and putting in a 1" spacer.

 

while it is a pain to do the job twice, there really is no way to know for sure how much you need to correct for until AFTER your lift is installed. i personally like to take a before and after measurement and then determine whether or not a correction is even needed or worth it. i have seen plenty of cases where people install spacers only to find that they didn't do enough of a correction or, added way too much correction and ultimately had to do the job again anyway. but, that's just me.

 

How did you base your 1" guess? Should I expect that front bumper and winch will be that much lower than the rear with tire carrier? Also, what points do you measure to find "level"?

 

it doesn't really matter where you base your measurement from so long as it's the same location after you're done with everything. measuring from the base of the frame rails or a cross member is always good or, you can measure from the bottom of your bump stop to the top of the spring perch on your axle.