How Many MPG Could You Lose With A Leveling Kit?

If you've recently discovered what a leveling kit is and are considering installing one on your truck, you may be concerned about its impact on fuel economy. There's good news and bad news regarding gas mileage. The bad news is that, yes, a leveling kit may have a negative impact on fuel efficiency.

The good news is that the effect is pretty minor and should result in only a 0.5 to 1 mpg difference with a leveling kit. Some drivers may not experience a decrease in economy at all. However, with the more dramatic height increase you get from a suspension lift, you may lose 4 mpg or more.

A leveling kit, as the name implies, is designed to raise the front of a truck so that it sits at approximately the same height as the rear end to eliminate the factory's nose-down stance. Unlike some truck accessories that impact comfort and utility, a leveling kit is largely about aesthetics. Whether it's worth the trade-off in efficiency will come down to how much a difference in ride height between the front and rear annoys you.

As with most truck accessories that affect fuel efficiency, several factors join forces to influence results after installing a lift kit. There's the weight of the lift components themselves, including spacers and strut extensions, but bigger tires, which are also a common add-on for such a modification, add more rolling resistance. This added drag means the truck has to work harder, which in turn results in burning more fuel.

Lifting can also affect a truck's aerodynamic envelope, making it harder for it to cut through the air. Overcoming air resistance requires more energy as speeds increase, so the fuel penalty will also be more severe at higher speeds. Practically speaking, the takeaway is that if you do a lot of highway driving, you'll likely see more of an impact.

Proper installation and maintenance can help mitigate some of the mpg loss. Improper alignment or inflation can also increase rolling resistance. As an alternative, you might want to consider a basic leveling kit instead of a more extensive suspension lift; skipping the upgrade to larger tires and just using spacers can make a difference in fuel economy.