eBay Diff Drop Kit Installed K2500/3500

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I did some research before buying this kit and could find a couple bits of information but I wanted to add a little more to what was out there for people. I recently picked up a 1998 K2500 Ext Cab Long Bed with 109K original miles. The truck had sat for the last 13 years mainly the last 7 with only 3k miles showing on the CarFax from 2014+.

I wanted to daily drive this truck. In the past I have build this exact truck with a procomp 6" lift. Torsion keys, add a leaf. 37s 22x12s, etc. It was an awesome truck but not so practical. Especially with a 5.7L. This time around I wanted to take care of the maintenance first and attempt to end up with as much of a new truck as possible. I had a budget of $13,000 and a purchase price of $6,500. When quoting a 4-6" suspension lift kit for this. Shops around town wanted $3,000. Which was too much of my budget to get a good daily.

That is why I decided to go this route. I wanted to put my funds towards doing an IFS tear down and replacing everything before adding a lift kit. However I needed to get more tire under this truck. I stumbled upon this diff drop kit on eBay for $250 3” diff drop leveling kit. I really didn't want to run a leveling kit. From my experience in the past it just causes problems. I decided this kit could work in my budget and could be easily installed at the time of tearing down my IFS.

I cannot give factory ride heights for my truck to show exactly how much clearance I gained. The truck already had a rancho leveling kit on it.

Here are the results:

• The measurements are 39" height from ground to center under side of fender flares and 21" from ground to cab bottom. The 39" number is the same on the front and the back

• I was able to clear 305/70 R17 (33.3x12") tires with very minimal rubbing. The wheels are 17x8.5 H2's with +12 offset

• The kit could go up another 2" if you wanted but I preferred not to strain new brand new IFS. The 2.5" rear blocks that came with the kit I did not install

• On 17" wheels the upper control arms barely clear the wheels. Going with an 18-20" wheel would give some more room. You could not run smaller than 17's

• If you want to run larger than 33's here you would need to combine with a body lift or do heavy trimming

• You'll need to cut off your bump stops to be able to get the 39" measurements noted


Here are a few links to parts I purchase to run with the kit:

• I did not use the shock extenders in the kit. I purchase 3-4" lift shocks: $150 shocks

• I used 01-10 Duramax Sway Bar End Links to account for the crank: $50 11-19 HD Sway Bar Extended Links

$180 IFS tear down kit$39 Idler Arm Bracket$40 steering stabilizer • Moog Ball Joints from Napa

Summary:

The ride is smooth and functional. By not cranking up the keys all the way I retained great travel in both directions. This is a great way to level your truck to match the rear as long as you don't try and get too much lift out of it. I would recommend going this route for anyone who is looking to run 33" tires on a K2500/3500.
 

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