Dealer Installed Level Kit - $550 - Thoughts?
05-22-2017, 05:07 PM
#11
Super Duper Senior Member
I did mine myself. My truck is an 08, but the front end isn't that much different than yours. Cost of the parts, plus the cost of the alignment after, and my total was around $150. Took me about an hour to do both sides. And that was taking my time while BSing with a friend while doing the work. Super easy to do.
05-22-2017, 08:30 PM
#13
Senior Member
Sounds worth it to me. Technically, Ford isn't standing behind it, but you've got the dealer on your side. Plenty of extra "support" on your side should a CV axle break or some other warranty issue arises in the future. I'd pay the extra for a little peace of mind myself. At the very least you've got a dealership authorizing the work and using an installer that they deem trustworthy.
Exactly, the extra money paid should be looked at as piece of mind should you need any warranty work done on the front suspension. I wish my dealer would have offered level installations for this very reason.
BKVic
05-23-2017, 04:28 AM
#14
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Justpassingas (05-23-2017)
05-23-2017, 06:07 AM
#15
Senior Member
I've been turning wrenches most of my life as a hobby and quite honestly at my age I don't enjoy it anymore nor do I have the time plus I have the luxury now to be able pay somebody.....works for me
05-23-2017, 06:14 AM
#17
You have a good point 4WD was not specified and I incorrectly made the assumption it wasn't 2WD - my bad. I have still seen dealer techs have failures of IWEs after installation of a leveling kit. All techs are not created equal.
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AricsFX (05-23-2017)
05-23-2017, 08:36 AM
#18
Me personally, I would lean towards the dealer installing it in case of any warranty issues. Only problem is you will be married to that dealer for the remainder of warranty as it will not be covered by another dealer since it is not an approved accessory.
05-23-2017, 10:10 AM
#19
Senior Member
The two mostly widely used labor estimating software programs are Mitchell and Alldata. These two guides are generally yield very similar labor estimates but can vary somewhat from time to time. Interestingly there is a huge difference in the case of 2015+ F150 front shock assemblies
Alldata estimates 2.2 hours labor for both while Mitchell estimates 4.2 hours for both!!
Its just a guess, but perhaps your dealer estimate was based on Mitchell. Based on 4.2 hours of labor I would consider $550 more than fair. That being said, Alldata is a much more accurate estimate in this case and I would say that $300 is a fair price for a leveling kit. (Depending on your location of course. In Colorado $80-150 per labor hour is the going rate.)
Alldata estimates 2.2 hours labor for both while Mitchell estimates 4.2 hours for both!!
Its just a guess, but perhaps your dealer estimate was based on Mitchell. Based on 4.2 hours of labor I would consider $550 more than fair. That being said, Alldata is a much more accurate estimate in this case and I would say that $300 is a fair price for a leveling kit. (Depending on your location of course. In Colorado $80-150 per labor hour is the going rate.)
05-23-2017, 10:23 AM
#20
while I would pay someone to put the lift on my truck, I for one dont appreciate it as much as i do when I do it myself. Corporate america's hours usually keep me from making it to any reputable shops hours during the week so that takes care of that.
