1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Not long after I left, I swear I remember reading in Thrasher or Transworld, 411 (mag or vm) that G&S fell back to only doing surf stuff. I'd heard they closed also, so it's not just you. I was curious so I did a little digging. I couldn't figure out what happened to Floyd Smith, but Larry Gordon passed 6 years ago and the kid/kids are running the business, it's apparently still in the family.

 

Just looking to save you some effort on this one. Because the spacer sits above the strut itself, I don't see how it could possibly help. It's basically just lifting the body of the truck up off the strut. It should theoretically have little to no impact on the things below it.

I remember you bringing up this topic before. I thought someone mentioned that your cam bolts were beat, but I'm not remembering fully and can't seem to find that again.

 

@shifty` I have noticed when jacking up the front end, the tires will bow out in a more positive camber way, but maybe that's just illusion since there's no weight on the tires. It's the reason I wanted to try it and I do remember reading that spacers will change the geometry. I need to find that article.

 

@des2mtn tagging you b/c we're talking about this over here instead of the other thread. Don't want 'ol Turd to get butthurt.

From a mechanical perspective, unless you're jacking at the LCA, lifting up should allow for the wheels to droop. That's the nature of articulated suspension.

In theory, you shouldn't seee a crazy radical positive camber while jacking at a neutral, fixed location. That would suggest other potential problems to me.

I don't know what your specific issue, but I've seen everything from bad wheel bearings to bent spindles and control arms cause the core issue you mention.

 

How do you see birthdays?

 

@shifty` Well nothing is bent since I haven't been in an accident and the right wheel bearing is only just starting to become an issue. Inner and outer tie rods are less than 5 years old and I don't really have any play in the wheels when I jack them up and test them out. The only difference I noticed was the saggy springs since my rake is now about 2.5" instead of 2".

 

Are you comfortable installing springs if someone on the forum can hook you up with a not-worn-out OEM pair?

If I knew my stuff would be here in the next few weeks (2-3 month wait) I'd send you my low-mile assembled struts once I'd gotten them installed.

 

Home page. Right-hand side.

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I just recently compressed them and put in the Bilsteins, so yeah. Although now that I think about it, I should have kept the top nut at the highest setting on the thread instead of screwing it all the way down to possibly add another 3/8" of height. Maybe that explains some of the rake difference; I dunno.

 

Keep in mind with a spacer you are gaining height at the sacrifice of droop. You're making a fixed part of the shock longer, but not changing the moving parts to compensate. Your shocks will ultimately become your bump stop if you hit a big enough bump, as your suspension can't articulate properly to the point where your LCAs are striking the bumpstops like they should

 

Would that lead to the shock wearing out much sooner than expected? I don’t think I ever bottomed out to the point the bump stops were involved unless I can’t tell.

 

If you bottom out and it doesn't bend the shock body, at the very least you might damage the shaft. Either way, bottoming out like that would certainly wear out the shock.

 

I'm guessing the only way to prevent that is stiffer springs or bigger bump stops. I am curious how close I come to hitting them now.

I may just hold off until I after I can find out if it'll go back into alignment first after replacing the torn LCAs. Thanks.

 

Glad someone else chimed in. I had to actually see this drawn out to fully grasp it. (spacer setup on left, obviously)

So with the tower being physically welded to the frame, tossing the spacer in the mix - at least at a 2.5" size - actually forces the strut further into into the LCA which has a side effect of camber+ while also adding more strain on both arms and/or the bottom inch or three of shock?

I've seen dudes on here running spacers up to an inch, the effect was so little, an alignment wasn't required after. Is it just a matter of the spacer height, in this case, that would cause all the beef?

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I think my minimum coil spacer height is determined by the length of the existing top hat screws which are something like 1.5-2" long (I need to check) if I want to avoid grinding them down so they don't go beyond the top of the spacer and hit the tower covering them.

Who else make quality coil spacers besides rough country so I don't have to worry about screw or spacer alignment?

 

I'll pass on answering that one. My takeaway has been, "don't use strut spacers unless there's no other way, and if there's no other way, make sure they're steel, aluminum will fracture." But others may have different input.

 

Somewhere, amidst my pile of crap in storage is a set of 1.25" daystar rubber/poly spacers. Ran them for 2 years till they blew my shocks out, then upgraded to Billies.

 

We’re you bottoming with them? You’d think 1.25” would be negligible.

 

The spacers were 1.25”, but the lift achieved was more like 2”. And they were preload spacers, so they forced the shock to run extended all the time. Not a good long term strategy.

 

And nobody wants to damage their shaft.

 

Depend on whether you have plans to stroke it later or not.

BTW, where the hell has @alb1k been lately? did he make it back from his trip? Maybe he said he was going to be AFK, I feel like I might've read that recently.

 

He said he’s fine. Disappeared in Hawaii to get his kid settled. But not really disappeared, so we need not send cake.

 

So, like, pie instead?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Gdezyt8eY

 

That sounds like something someone would say if they really needed help, but couldn't say it.

We better send cake. Someone get me an address.We can have them write on it, "do you need help"?

 

Why send cake when you can send cake farts?

(please don't google 'cake farts', it's not worth it)

 

And DEFINITELY don’t search it on urban dictionary

 

I think we gotta rent an airplane with a banner. Which island houses the university?

 

It’s in Honolulu, I’ve got inside connections

 

Dorm room, to deliver the macadamia cake with plumeria flowers on top?

 

This could probably be arranged, or even a hula dance at the airport after they go thru agg check