Ford Escape Leveling Kit 6-Month Follow-Up

We installed a Ford Escape Leveling Kit in a previous episode, and now we've lived with it for 6 months to see how we like it! Join Uncle Jake and Jeff as they review what it's been like after the leveling kit was installed. We learned a few things, and we've got our review and impression of what its like to have this lift kit on the Escape. It's snowing in this episode, so grab something warm to drink and join us as we present our Ford Escape Leveling Kit 6-Month Follow-up!
NOTE: Jeff said 275 tires and we didn't mean it!! Sometimes when you're filming the words just come out wrong and you don't notice until after the video is published. The correct size of the tires in this video are 245/75/16’s
#FordEscape #LevelingKit #MotorsandMischief
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-Motors and Mischief

[@MotorsandMischief]

You know on this channel we love to answer your guys' questions and we've gotten quite a few on how well the 2-inch leveling kit on our Ford Escape is holding up. So we're answering all the questions! Thanks so much for watching guys, we love you!

[@santiagodelgado7309]

do you know where i can get the spacers? those you reference are located in ukraine; i think they are not making shipping

[@colindgrant]

245/75R16 is a nice size but only available in an LT which is super heavy and overly stiff for the vehicle weight. Heavy tires kill performance. I ran 255/70R16 Duratracs for 50k, they looked awesome, maxed out the wheel well, zero rubbing, and available in SL which is much lighter and more compliant (better off road). Now running 225/75R16 Duratrac for better mileage, also in SL, 50k so far and they will hit 55k+. Lots of towing and off highway use. 1.5” lift, 2001 AWD V6, no sway bar modifications needed. Hopefully this is helpful to someone else! Great video, thanks!

[@TheChaoticCelt]

I REALLY appreciate the follow up with the issues! Great job guys!!

[@MotorsandMischief]

Our pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@robertcourtney6913]

Really nice video guys, thanks for doing this. So cool when you give us feedback after you've used a product for a while. This is awesome!

[@wildbrosNW]

Sounds like a great tip! Looks way better with the lift.

[@jimmywilson1388]

It looks way better sitting level and the all terrain tires on it… It looks more aggressive, more like a man’s vehicle instead of a soccer moms car…😁 I think I’m gonna do the same to my Escape… My mom gave me a 2008 Escape limited… I really like it, but I can’t stand how it sits way higher in the back… Did it make a noticeable difference to the camber on the front tires? Normally when you raise independent suspension the tires don’t stand straight up and down anymore. When the suspension droops more the tires get closer together at the bottom.

[@edicsonjaimes1333]

Today I installed the 1.5" kit and I had to change the sway bar link for Ford Fiesta ones that are shorter and fit perfectly. Otherwise, the sway bar links hit the fork. The video was super useful and especially motivating to do it on my 2008 Ford Escape, it looks great, I just need some bigger tires. From Colombia using google translate jajaja

[@MotorsandMischief]

¡Eso es genial! Google Translate funcionó muy bien, el inglés es casi perfecto. Intentaremos devolverle el favor y hacer que Google Translate ponga este comentario en español para usted. Me alegro mucho de que el video haya ayudado y hola a todos nuestros espectadores de Colombia, ¡los amamos!

[@felipesierra5031]

Edicson. También soy de colombia y quiero hacerle esa modificación. Donde la hiciste?

[@joelguerrarodas4344]

Great videos...thank you, Masters

[@dewholdingsllc1050]

2nd Gen Escape has a known issue that has frequent end links wearing out. Without the level kit.

[@MotorsandMischief]

That's fun. This Escape is doing well since this video so maybe the kit helps. If not, good to be aware, thanks for commenting!

[@dewholdingsllc1050]

@@MotorsandMischief fyi Ford expert say replace OEM motor-craft end links with a Moog or comparable high-end part that has grease zerts on the ends. Moog end links are less than $20 each on the jungle.

[@MotorsandMischief]

Great tip!

[@joseoyea1647]

I put these in my escape a few years ago and ended up taking them back out. they destroyed my lower control arm bushings and my tires. They just shove everything down. the tires then leaned outward at the top. The rubber ripped off the bushing in the control arm from being pulled down all the time and the ball joints didnt like the new sharper angle either. you can get a lift kit for some escapes that have longer struts and shocks. that would be the true way to do it i think.

[@MotorsandMischief]

Yours is the first comment we’ve gotten like this but we for sure appreciate hearing about real world experience. Ours seems to be holding up just fine for what it’s worth. But we love having all the info for people to make up their own minds so thanks so much for sharing your experience!!

[@davidrfowler6432]

you have to loosen the lower control arm bolts before you install the spacers , when the spacers are installed , then you re-tighten the lower control arm bolts , 2/ there are lower control arm camber and caster kits that have to be installed in the lower control arms , although you have to google the kit numbers

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Funny, even with new rear suspension, my Escape XLT seems to 'slouch' in the back. I'm going to Holley coil spacers to add 1" of lift to the rear coils.

[@davidlloyd101]

Love the look of the Escape. Thinking about doing my own Escape. Are still happy with the lift?

[@MotorsandMischief]

Jeff is still thrilled with the lift. Its a good little truck.

[@MillerSteinbrenner77]

Did Jeff mean they are 245/75/16’s on his Escape? They look great, I’m thinking about putting the same size tire on my 2012. I just finished installing a 2” leveling kit today and have a similar clunking noise, hopefully the new sway bars fix the issue. Thanks for posting the video!

[@MotorsandMischief]

Yeah Jeff did mean 245/75-16s. We meant to post that on the video but it somehow got posted without it. But yes, that is the size! Let us know if the sway bar bushings fix your clunk. Thanks for the question!

[@seth_867]

Did the new sway bars fix the noise? I’m doing mine this weekend and I might as well do them while I’m at it.

[@MotorsandMischief]

The sway bar end links, yes! They did, for sure recommend doing them while you're at it.

[@big_happy7108]

Will oem size sway bar inlink work cuz I found a whole suspension kit that come with them but don't want to pull the trigger without good info

[@seth_867]

@@big_happy7108 yes oem will work. I have really thick ones that are grease refillable and I was worried I was going to have noise because how close the link was to other parts but the only noise I get is when I back up every so often I’ll get a click noise from the suspension. If you are going with ones that are not as bulky and look like the oem it seems like people aren’t having issues

[@qldavis3005]

How did your fuel mileage change? What are you averaging now?

[@MotorsandMischief]

You know, its pretty minimal actually. Not enough to really even tell and a nice surprise.

[@user-mo5te2tn6v]

The ebay link can’t be found. Can you let us know what the bushings are.

[@justinlyons5374]

just put a 2inch ( actually 2inch) on my 2010 escape and its alot nicer not having the nose facing down

[@zacharymatheson3174]

Wait in the video you said you needed sway bar bushings but you linked the parts to the sway bar links so which one do I need? Do I need just the bushings or the links

[@MotorsandMischief]

Good question! After the lift, the vehicle made some noise when driving and in investigating it, we found the bushings were dry and cracked and lost shape, which is what we believe was causing the noise. We replaced the sway bar links, which came with the bushings, and that took care of it. The links were cheap and saved us having to swap bushings, but it did not *need* the links, just the bushings. Thanks for the question!

[@xavierwild8948]

Loved both videos guys. I Really want to put a lift kit on my 2009 V6 4x4. I think i will go with the 1.5 inch lift kit because I want to fit 245/70/16 tire on mine. with that extra clearance I will be more comfortable in the offroad. But do the drive feeling is good with the levelling kit ?

[@MotorsandMischief]

We checked with Jeff and the ride is great! Jeff says its not worse because of the lift, pretty much the same, except that it seems to drive better, actually, and, of course it has the new torsion bar bushings now too. Thanks for the question!

[@alexmatthews2956]

Lake CDA?

[@MotorsandMischief]

It is!

[@TheMrBrighty]

Did the rear camber stay within spec with the lift?

[@MotorsandMischief]

The rear would have to change height to change camber settings. Changing the angle that the frame comes forward relative to the rear axle position has no affect on camber. So yes, it stays within spec when leveling the front. Thanks for the question!

[@beantown_billy2405]

Please don't go out buying 275 tires based on this video, almost certainly not correct.

[@MotorsandMischief]

This has come up in the comments a few times, Jeff misspoke, he meant 245/75/16’s. We apologize for any confusion and we'll add a note in the description. Thanks for the comment!

[@edgarsoriano2628]

hello...hope you are well...i did the same with my 2012 Escape and it resulted in vibrations when accelerating...the same thing happened to you

[@MotorsandMischief]

Thanks so much for the comment! We originally said we didn't have the issue and thought it might be an install error, but we've decided we disagree with ourselves. We've written up a much better response, see below. Hopefully that is more helpful.

[@MillerSteinbrenner77]

I have the same issue on my 2012, my car vibrates while accelerating after the 2” leveling kit. The new linkages fixed the clunking, I’m hoping an alignment will fix the vibration.

[@MotorsandMischief]

Ok so we dug into this to try to get you guys some better info. Although the leveling kit lifts the vehicle up above the suspension, and isn't changing the suspension, as we said, it technically IS changing the angle between whatever is bolted to the body and whatever is bolted to the front suspension. Since the Escape is a front wheel drive-based SUV, the engine/transaxle will stay with the body and the hubs will stay with the suspension. So our best guess as to what's happening is the angle on your CV joints has increased a small amount, and the effective length of the front axles is now slightly longer. You should have plenty of room in the axle assembly to take up the additional length, but if your CV joints are worn or the axle is being over tensioned by the hub, it could for sure cause a vibration. We're not positive on the fix here, since we're only speculating and ours didn't have this issue, but if the alignment doesn't solve it, we'd probably try one of two fixes. One option would be to try swapping to 1.5" spacers instead of the 2". This might change the angle of the CV joint enough and/or relieve enough tension to stop the vibration. The other idea we have is to order 2 new hub nuts (they are one-time use only according to Ford), and remove your existing hub nuts and pop the axles out of the hub to release the tension on the axles, then reseat the axles in the hubs and install the new hub nuts and torque to spec. The idea is this will allow any extra tension in the axles to be released, then reset to factory settings when you install the new nuts, and hopefully that resolves the vibration. If anyone tries either of these, post here and let us know if it worked!!!

[@seth_867]

Do you have 6cyl or 4cyl?

[@MotorsandMischief]

This one is the hybrid, so 2.5 liter four-cylinder teamed with a battery powered electric motor.

[@everjurado2918]

Hi, would a 265 65 17 fit with that lift?

[@MotorsandMischief]

We have 245/75-16s on there, which translate to 30.5" x 9.6". Your 265/65-17s translate to 30.6"x10.4. So they will *probably* fit. Your tire is about 3/4 of an inch wider, so it runs the chance of rubbing either the rear of the fender or the back part of the bumper in the front, during turns. We have a Suburban that has slightly too large a tire on it and it rubs on bumpy turns but its been that way for almost 20 years now and no adverse affects to the truck or 3 sets of tires. But yours may be better or worse. Hope that helps!

[@beantown_billy2405]

No

[@DoctorTorque]

Jake seems to have people drive off on him. He must be annoying.

[@MotorsandMischief]

It happens a lot on this channel to both Joel and Jake 😂