Ridetech 3"/5" Lowering Kit Camber Problems

[Terrantula]

Just finished up the install of the Ridetech 3"/5" lowering kit on my 2024 RCSB. Followed all the default settings throughout the install. Took it in for an alignment after everything was done and the alignment shop says they can not get camber into Ridetech's spec of -.75 degrees. Stated there is not enough adjustability in the lower control arms to do so. I've seen a ton of reviews on the kit and haven't seen this issue raised before. Has anyone else run into this?

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[latoracing]

I'm curious, is your's a 4x4 or a 4x2? I have a super cab 4x4 and had the same issue, ended up slotting the lower control arm holes 1/2" more to get it to align. Seems the '24 model has a different frame configuration than the previous year since the other components are the same part #"s. After numerous attempts to contact Ridetech to find out why this happened to me, I finally got up with Greg Schneider ([email protected]) and was told that I had an "anomaly truck". They have sold a multitude of these kits and never had an issue with them before. Hay Ridetech, looks like your kit needs a little attention here, I bet there's going to be more people like us!!! Send Greg an email and tell him Mike sent ya! Upper control arm needs to be longer to compensate for whatever changes have been made IMO, or adjustable, would be even better. Love the kit, rides great, handles fantastic, installs straight forward. Ridetech needs to pay attention to their customers, and not just dismiss them. I will be very reluctant to ever buy anything from them again.

Slot your lower control arm bolt holes is the best answer I have for you. Install the locking cam nuts to keep your alignment in check. You'll love your truck and the ride despite the hassle and having to pay for two alignments and the slight modification to your truck.

Mike

 

[Terrantula]

I'm curious, is your's a 4x4 or a 4x2? I have a super cab 4x4 and had the same issue, ended up slotting the lower control arm holes 1/2" more to get it to align. Seems the '24 model has a different frame configuration than the previous year since the other components are the same part #"s. After numerous attempts to contact Ridetech to find out why this happened to me, I finally got up with Greg Schneider ([email protected]) and was told that I had an "anomaly truck". They have sold a multitude of these kits and never had an issue with them before. Hay Ridetech, looks like your kit needs a little attention here, I bet there's going to be more people like us!!! Send Greg an email and tell him Mike sent ya! Upper control arm needs to be longer to compensate for whatever changes have been made IMO, or adjustable, would be even better. Love the kit, rides great, handles fantastic, installs straight forward. Ridetech needs to pay attention to their customers, and not just dismiss them. I will be very reluctant to ever buy anything from them again.

Slot your lower control arm bolt holes is the best answer I have for you. Install the locking cam nuts to keep your alignment in check. You'll love your truck and the ride despite the hassle and having to pay for two alignments and the slight modification to your truck.

Mike

Thanks Mike!

Yes, mine too is a 4x4. Very frustrating. I've watched a bunch of videos of the same kit being installed on 2024 models but no mention of this issue. I was really excited about the kit and the install up until this.

 

[GK150]

That seems really bad, over 2 degrees negative even using all of the adjustment. I've seen two or three guys mention they couldn't get the camber right with the Ridetech but I can't remember for sure if they were 24s...I think they were. If so it does seem like the Ridetech upper arms aren't long enough to work properly on some 24s.

I'm debating what components I want to use to lower mine and this is something that I'm concerned with. I don't want to slot the crossmember to get the camber right even though I've done that on other vehicles before. I may end up piecing something together and using IHC adjustable upper arms.

 

[Terrantula]

That seems really bad, over 2 degrees negative even using all of the adjustment. I've seen two or three guys mention they couldn't get the camber right with the Ridetech but I can't remember for sure if they were 24s...I think they were. If so it does seem like the Ridetech upper arms aren't long enough to work properly on some 24s.

I'm debating what components I want to use to lower mine and this is something that I'm concerned with. I don't want to slot the crossmember to get the camber right even though I've done that on other vehicles before. I may end up piecing something together and using IHC adjustable upper arms.

I'd hate to have to purchase an additional set of control arms, but I'm with you on the lack of desire in slotting the crossmember. Everything I read about this kit was "bolt on". To me, bolt on doesn't mean a permanent change to the truck.

 

[Oakridge88]

I was told by two alignment techs that I need get and install concentric Bolts to get the Camber to where it is supposed to be.

 

[latoracing]

I'd hate to have to purchase an additional set of control arms, but I'm with you on the lack of desire in slotting the crossmember. Everything I read about this kit was "bolt on". To me, bolt on doesn't mean a permanent change to the truck.

I also wanted a non modified truck, but wasn't going to ruin a set of front tires every 5000 miles to do it. Just very thankful I am able to do all this work myself, couldn't imagine having to take it somewhere and have it done, then redone. Thant would be bad. I also spent quite a bit of cash on a kit that supposedly would work without doing anything else. If there is away to order the Ridetech kit without their upper control arms and buy the IHC adjustable upper arms, this would be the way to go IMO. The Fox shocks are very nice along with the rear flip kit. Thought about cutting the Ridetech arms and making them adjustable, just haven't taken the time as this is my new daily driver. For the $500.00 or so that the upper arms cost makes you not want to go and cut them up. Also for the price of other adjustable arms, on top of the $$ spent on a kit that doesn't require modifications I really do not want to go spend more on someone else's arms to fix a problem Ridetech should be willing to solve.

 

[Flash69]

Just for clarification for anyone else who reads this thread, which kit did you buy and install? The front coil-over kit does not include the upper control arms. The webpage for just the front coil-over kit states the upper control arms are required to fix the alignment. If you purchased the full front and rear kit which includes the front upper control arms, you are good for the suspension.

Take the truck to a different alignment shop who knows what they are doing. My 2022 with the full kit is aligned just fine. Even has 15,000 miles on the tires with no uneven wear. The problem is, many techs are lazy these days and don’t want to actually do the work to align it correctly. I’ve seen multiple people say they could not align something due to X and when I pointed out X was already installed (I do all my own wrench turning), they just stood there. Not worth the time dealing with lazy people.

Now, as for slotting the lower control arm bolt holes, they are already slotted from the factory. There is also a LOT of steel on those holes so taking an additional 1/2” to 1” is not going to hurt anything. I have a 2022 Platinum and didn’t need to slot mine but I would do it with zero concerns if I needed to.

Latoracing could be correct, there could be a design change by Ford which is causing issues with your alignment. Ridetech is AMAZING to deal with and they will work with you to figure out the problem and if they need to make a change, they will do so as quickly as they can. Sometime in 2022, Ford changed the rear leaf springs on all F-150s. Ridtech didn’t know about it until people started running into problems. They immediately figured out and fixed the issues for new kits. For anyone who already had a kit, you called and they immediately shipped out the corrected parts. They are one of the best companies out there. I would certainly call them first thing tomorrow morning.

I’ve had lowered trucks all my life and the Ridetech kit is the best kit I’ve ever used. I used Belltech and VAS on my 2014 Platinum and would never use those kits again. The only kit I will use now is Ridetech.

 

[Terrantula]

Just for clarification for anyone else who reads this thread, which kit did you buy and install? The front coil-over kit does not include the upper control arms. The webpage for just the front coil-over kit states the upper control arms are required to fix the alignment. If you purchased the full front and rear kit which includes the front upper control arms, you are good for the suspension.

Take the truck to a different alignment shop who knows what they are doing. My 2022 with the full kit is aligned just fine. Even has 15,000 miles on the tires with no uneven wear. The problem is, many techs are lazy these days and don’t want to actually do the work to align it correctly. I’ve seen multiple people say they could not align something due to X and when I pointed out X was already installed (I do all my own wrench turning), they just stood there. Not worth the time dealing with lazy people.

Now, as for slotting the lower control arm bolt holes, they are already slotted from the factory. There is also a LOT of steel on those holes so taking an additional 1/2” to 1” is not going to hurt anything. I have a 2022 Platinum and didn’t need to slot mine but I would do it with zero concerns if I needed to.

Latoracing could be correct, there could be a design change by Ford which is causing issues with your alignment. Ridetech is AMAZING to deal with and they will work with you to figure out the problem and if they need to make a change, they will do so as quickly as they can. Sometime in 2022, Ford changed the rear leaf springs on all F-150s. Ridtech didn’t know about it until people started running into problems. They immediately figured out and fixed the issues for new kits. For anyone who already had a kit, you called and they immediately shipped out the corrected parts. They are one of the best companies out there. I would certainly call them first thing tomorrow morning.

I’ve had lowered trucks all my life and the Ridetech kit is the best kit I’ve ever used. I used Belltech and VAS on my 2014 Platinum and would never use those kits again. The only kit I will use now is Ridetech.

Full 4x4 suspension kit with replacement control arms.

I plan to take it to another alignment shop to see what they say.

Good to know and that might be an option worst case.

A change for 2024 seems to be the issue. Everyone I've seen who say they have a similar issue have 2024s.

I don't disagree that the kit seems to be of high quality and rides great, just not thrilled with either the alignment shop or the changes to the 2024MY.

 

[latoracing]

Just for clarification for anyone else who reads this thread, which kit did you buy and install? The front coil-over kit does not include the upper control arms. The webpage for just the front coil-over kit states the upper control arms are required to fix the alignment. If you purchased the full front and rear kit which includes the front upper control arms, you are good for the suspension.

Latoracing could be correct, there could be a design change by Ford which is causing issues with your alignment. Ridetech is AMAZING to deal with and they will work with you to figure out the problem and if they need to make a change, they will do so as quickly as they can. Sometime in 2022, Ford changed the rear leaf springs on all F-150s. Ridtech didn’t know about it until people started running into problems. They immediately figured out and fixed the issues for new kits. For anyone who already had a kit, you called and they immediately shipped out the corrected parts. They are one of the best companies out there. I would certainly call them first thing tomorrow morning.

I’ve had lowered trucks all my life and the Ridetech kit is the best kit I’ve ever used. I used Belltech and VAS on my 2014 Platinum and would never use those kits again. The only kit I will use now is Ridetech.

Flash69,
I installed the 12290115 kit (plus the rear anti-roll bar) specifically for the 4x4 installation (spring rate on the front coil-over is the only difference per Ridetech between the 4x2 and 4x4 kit by the way) It has the new upper control arms included in the kit, with very nice bushings and quality screw in ball joints. Like I have previously stated, good parts, really good reviews.

My deal with any company is when they do not listen and immediately dismiss any input from a customer that may benefit their product line. I bought this truck to modify, doesn't bother me in the least to have to cut on the cross member a little to achieve my intended goal, and my truck is not that low. I get they have sold a bunch of these kits without issue, that is why I was wondering why this is happening now, not looking for a free-be or a handout, but I do want them to take me seriously. I might want to put this system on someone else's truck but they may not be too happy when I show them what I did to mine to get it to work. I read the reviews of all the other kits from Belltech, VAS and IHC before going this route. This truck had 1500 miles on it when I put this kit on it. I have installed more complicated systems and worked with vendors to fix various issues to get products to work. I have also worked in R&D / customer service for the majority of my adult life, I find their approach to a semi-minor situation with they way they dealt with me disheartening.

I did the homework to have answers ready for why there is a difference, least as much as I have found to date. If you look up the parts for a 2024 truck on line, you will not find much. Going to my local Ford dealer (got friends there) and having them pull up parts (that wasn't easy for them either) the bolt on parts have not changed for my truck, same as a '23. Obviously the frame is a different part number but without measuring, I cannot explain the difference. I can say, my truck with the lower control arm bottomed out on both slots, the camber was -1.8 degrees before I slotted the holes. I'm positive there is something that has been done to the attachment points, as more people install this kit, more people will have issues. Just want people to be aware of this, cause it is not always the techs. This is a fantastic kit, with the little hick-up and my displeasure with Ridetech, I'm not taking it off my truck, just will be reluctant to do business with them any further.

Mike

 

[Flash69]

Flash69,
I installed the 12290115 kit (plus the rear anti-roll bar) specifically for the 4x4 installation (spring rate on the front coil-over is the only difference per Ridetech between the 4x2 and 4x4 kit by the way) It has the new upper control arms included in the kit, with very nice bushings and quality screw in ball joints. Like I have previously stated, good parts, really good reviews.

My deal with any company is when they do not listen and immediately dismiss any input from a customer that may benefit their product line. I bought this truck to modify, doesn't bother me in the least to have to cut on the cross member a little to achieve my intended goal, and my truck is not that low. I get they have sold a bunch of these kits without issue, that is why I was wondering why this is happening now, not looking for a free-be or a handout, but I do want them to take me seriously. I might want to put this system on someone else's truck but they may not be too happy when I show them what I did to mine to get it to work. I read the reviews of all the other kits from Belltech, VAS and IHC before going this route. This truck had 1500 miles on it when I put this kit on it. I have installed more complicated systems and worked with vendors to fix various issues to get products to work. I have also worked in R&D / customer service for the majority of my adult life, I find their approach to a semi-minor situation with they way they dealt with me disheartening.

I did the homework to have answers ready for why there is a difference, least as much as I have found to date. If you look up the parts for a 2024 truck on line, you will not find much. Going to my local Ford dealer (got friends there) and having them pull up parts (that wasn't easy for them either) the bolt on parts have not changed for my truck, same as a '23. Obviously the frame is a different part number but without measuring, I cannot explain the difference. I can say, my truck with the lower control arm bottomed out on both slots, the camber was -1.8 degrees before I slotted the holes. I'm positive there is something that has been done to the attachment points, as more people install this kit, more people will have issues. Just want people to be aware of this, cause it is not always the techs. This is a fantastic kit, with the little hick-up and my displeasure with Ridetech, I'm not taking it off my truck, just will be reluctant to do business with them any further.

Mike

Hey Mike. I completely understand being disheartened with how they seemed to dismiss your input when you talked to them. I’ve had completely opposite interactions with Ridetech support. I just called them last week with a question and they were very helpful. I was looking at the install instructions online and found they changed the rear leaf spring spacers to no longer re-use the factory spacers when you flip the bolt on the leaf spring pack. They shipped me out the replacement parts same day.

With your experience, you are the right person for them to work with. Hopefully you can get to someone on the engineering/R&D side to work through this issue.

 

[1slo5oh]

First shop I took mine to got it close but not quite right so I bought the cam bolts and raised the front end a little when I installed them. Took it somewhere else the 2nd time and had no issues.

 

[hecaar2]

That seems really bad, over 2 degrees negative even using all of the adjustment. I've seen two or three guys mention they couldn't get the camber right with the Ridetech but I can't remember for sure if they were 24s...I think they were. If so it does seem like the Ridetech upper arms aren't long enough to work properly on some 24s.

I'm debating what components I want to use to lower mine and this is something that I'm concerned with. I don't want to slot the crossmember to get the camber right even though I've done that on other vehicles before. I may end up piecing something together and using IHC adjustable upper arms.

 

[hecaar2]

I had a ride tech kit installed and took it to two alligment shops already and they can’t correct this I’m so frustrated and don’t know what to do at this point.

 

[GK150]

Something seems really odd there...that's a huge camber difference between the sides. Do you have alignment numbers before the truck was lowered? I wonder if one of those Ridetech arms is the problem...you might contact them and see what they have to say. I'd be curious to see the lower control arm bolts to see where they're at in the slots.

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