Help - BDS 7” Coilover Kit, Fox 2.5’s Disaster

Calling for help here, boys

@hngo01 @Danman34 @tmart @Spvrtan

Ever since I got my truck back from the shop, my tie rods have hit the coilover’s. I figured this was just going to scratch the coil, no big deal and I carried on. Today, while going over a cattle guard, my steering wheel jerks hard to the left. I center it, and it pulls hard left again. I get out to check my tires, assuming I have a flat. Tires are good.. keep rolling. Constant hard jerking of the steering wheel to the left. I drive it back to my office and what I see is crazy. My wheels are jacked up! It wore the inside of my tires so bad, I may have to replace them on the front. My determination is that the kit is NOT supposed to have the tie rod pushing into the Coilover. I believe this kit came with tie rods, but are mine factory? I thought the ones included with the kit are black? ... would the tie rod pushing into the Coilover force the lower ball joint to bust? I drive about 150 miles a day, all off road. I take turns, off road. So while this may not be a common problem to the average driver. My driving conditions will amplify any problems. I have included a video of what is going on, as well as a picture.

https://youtu.be/uwFwHMGm_Rg


Is there anything that sticks out to anyone as far as installation error? I just had this kit installed less than 2 months ago and had no problems, other than tie rod scratching the coil, until today.


Thanks for the help!

 

I have no clue, but...you've got negative camber for DAYS!

I can't imagine that a tie rod should be rubbing on a coilover at all

 

That’s just doesn’t look good @papasmurf once had a bds 7” kit I believe maybe he can help

 

It’s definitely not driveable, one second it was driving fine, cross a cattleguard and everything goes to shit.

 

Tie rods hitting your coilovers has to be adjusted with the alignment.

 

It received an alignment as the last part of the install, I don’t have the specs however.

 

Holy shit! I just watched that video. Yeah, that’ll do some damage.

 

Can you confirm that where the shock is mounted to the lower control arm you have the large size of the spacer to the front?

Edit — Spacer 23 in this: http://pvg-portal.ridefox.com/_cont...0.1220344232.1556667810-1487286786.1554269268

 

Holy shit, that should never be happening.

 

I don't think that is supposed to be happening.

 

Lower ball joint is gone. Thats first that needs fixed. Second I would check to make sure the shock is still good. If the entire assembly is getting pushed over by just the tire, the shock might have broken internally. I had this happen on my tacoma. Third, I don't know what to say about the tie rod. Something on the top of your wheel assembly has to be broken.

 

your spindle is bent, no big surprise from a BDS spindle. needs to be replaced, they have lifetime warranty on their products

 

I’m in to see what’s wrong with it.

 

upon further review, maybe both your lower ball joint bent and spindle had to tell. but id replace both of those and you should be ok.. but i would look at ditching that kit for a midtravel setup with stock spindles it will give you better ride and stronger than the BDS kit

 

Get a tow to nearest reputable repair facility................

 

Man I just spent a bunch of money on all of this.. I figured if it ran for 120k miles on stock suspension, then surely this kit and fox 2.5’s will give me a good run

 

You don't HAVE to switch. But it would be recommended to beef up the spindles that come with the kit. Find a welder and put some gussets on them if you want to run them. But you need to switch out at least those 2 parts.

 

https://www.chaosfab.com/accessories/2007-2017-Tundra-Weld-on-Spindle-Gussets-59699

 

Bad news kiddos it’s very difficult to weld to cast iron spindles not to mention the gussets would have to be custom TC spindle gussets won’t fit

 

Figured I would try to help him with some options. I know it isn't the easiest thing to do, and I know BDS is different from stock.

 

seeing how much you drive and on dirt roads. I suggest a quality M/T setup like @M C M or Kings/TC/Deaver.
BDS won't handle the abuse you are throwing at your truck.

 

Yeah no doubt good call the issue w cast ductile iron used by bds is it’s soft and difficult to weld to it’s an option but this is a ongoing issue w all bracket lifts

 

Exactly

 

Didn’t you decide to go Icon a few months ago? How did you end up with BDS/Fox?

 

@Haslefre and I appreciate it

@TheBeast @papasmurf @joonbug this is something I considered for a very long time, but ultimately I wanted something that got me more clearance, for function since a lot of my driving is slow crawling- but also for the look. that plus from everything I read and researched- the BDS Kit with 2.5” Foxes was supposed to be one of the better bracket lifts that can handle the abuse. I thought Spvrtan runs this kit and he runs his truck hard too. It appears I have made the wrong decision. I knew the look I wanted to achieve, and I achieved it while still being able to off road it .. I thought.

But at this point I am not throwing any more money into the truck than I have to. So I’m going to try and make this work. I think aside from the cast iron knuckles, there are some other issues like the tie rod pushing on the coilover, etc.

As always, I appreciate every bit of y’alls input!

Some more photos

 

So yes he does run the kit but much slower than you think, the one time he came out and ran it at speed he bent a spindle... it’s an issue w them find a good welder and have them build some gussets that should help your tie rod issue is related to the spindle and lower ball joint... also I’ve Bent spindles too w my bds kit... I can be strengthen just find a good fab shop/ welder and work w them I’d be happy to help you anyway I can

 

Thanks a bunch for the information man. Are there any beefier spindles that I could buy and still meet proper geometry for the rest of the kit? Otherwise I’ll get a hold of a fab welder out here in the oilpatch to rig me something up. But that scares me too because they’re gonna cowboy something up

 

To be honest, it can't hurt it. Just get the new spindle from BDS, take both off and have gussets welded up to them. You'll want to look at some pictures to see how they are done on other vehicles, tacomas usually have a ton for the beefier builds. I am sure some people here have finished pictures too if you go to the mid/long travel threads.

 

What does the shop say about this the guys who installed it? I have fox juts a 3.5 inch lift and it’s amazing dude and there service is killer I called them and they answered all my questions. But I would put this on the shop and bds so sorry I totally get it tho spending all that money I know it’s frustrating

 

Hey, now.. I wouldn't call taking a sharp turn at 45mph in a wash and then hitting a 2-foot tall boulder around the blind corner "slow." That shit did fuck up my spindle real good though but did BDS covered it all under warranty for free.