ProZach

Some people like the firmer ride.

You know how when you take a turn hard or change lanes rapidly in a truck it kind of dips and sways over to wherever you have the wheel pointed? With the 5100s you'll eliminate most of that sway and dip and many people like that feel.

bowhuntinbrian

I have an 09 F150 XLT, and I added a 2" leveling kit. I recently started having noise occasionally in the front end while driving. It sounded like someone threw rocks in my front driver rim. I took it to the dealer, and first they replaced a solenoid, which didn't work. I took it back, and they replaced the front 4wd actuator. He said he would cover it under warranty this time, but he recommended that I remove the 2" lift. He said if I have any other problems with the front end, he wouldn't be able to repair it under warranty because it had been altered. Has anyone else experienced problems like this? He thinks I probably damaged the actuator while installing the kit, and said that he thinks the ball joints are going to fail prematurely because of the added pressure. I put the kit on so I could put some larger tires on, but now I have to decide whether to remove it or not. Anyone have any thoughts?

ProZach

What actuator?
Ball joints will wear out slightly faster but with a 2" level it's not going to be anything drastic. Ball joints typically wear out around 100k miles. with a leveling kit you're probably looking at the 85k-90k range instead.
but again I ask, what actuator?

bowhuntinbrian

The dealer invoice said 4wd left front hub actuator. Here is a picture of one I found online. The dealer was concerned about the ball joints because one of the boots appeared to have a small leak. I was doing some research and I couldn't find a way to just replace a boot. Do you know of ways to do that? Thanks for the help.

s0nicsvt04

I don't quite see how the 4x4 actuator could be effected by the leveling kit unless a vacuum line or something was pinched or damaged in the install. As for the ball joint boots there is no way to replace that separately through ford. You would have to buy a new ball joint. I have seen aftermarket companies offer boot kits on older vehicles like explorers I believe.

bowhuntinbrian

When I put the kit in, I had to drop the front hub to get the strut back in with the spacer. He thought that it either dropped somehow, or a spline didn't line up when I pushed it back in place. I don't remember anything dropping, and I didn't think I had to slide it far enough off that the splines would get jammed after putting it back together, but I guess its just his best guess.

s0nicsvt04

I suppose but that's really just circumstantial. Denying warranty work because of it is a tad much if u ask me. But then again working for ford im not at all surprised.

ProZach

ah that's my bad, I was thinking he said some kind of everyday driving linkage actuator (which I have never heard of). That seems kind of odd. The only thing that I can think of are like others have said, you or whoever installed the kit may have pinched one of the lines on installation. as far as the boot and actuator. I haven't heard of anything like that. I know most dealers will install leveling kits for you that are 2" so I don't see why one would void yours.
But they don't call them stealerships for nothing

88RedLX

Good thread...thanks for the info.

As an aside, the vehicle dynamics terms you're looking for are the following:

"sway" = roll
"dip" = pitch...or dive

Not trying to be a smart*****, just helpful.

ProZach

nah man I get it, I try to use the correct terms when possible but I'll be the first to admit I'm not always the "brightest tool in the shed" and yes, I meant to say that