Need Suspension and CV Angle Help.

Wild road Amazon. 69x47 I think. Was 200$.

Sprayed with rustoleum flat black. Tubes filled with expanding foam to eliminate airspace and rust. Drilled the rack and did washers with t bolts for the base and nuts on top.

 

I remember reading somehwere about cam bolts with permanent alignment for these trucks. Is that still a thing? If not I'll order OEM.



Also do I really need upper control arms or can I get by with mine? They don't have any issues. Thanks.

 

Thanks

 

This sounds exactly like every U-joint failure I've had. CVs always vibrate under torque, U-joints usually vibrate when coasting and lock up during torque.

 

I was thinking u-joints, or could even be tire cupping, frankly.

@OP do you hear any clunks if you're at a total stop and shift back and forth between R and D, waiting 1-2 seconds in between shifts for everything to actuate and engage?

Answering questions with questions here ... How much actual lift did you get? Did you measure hub-center to fender edge before/after to confirm?

What are your current alignment numbers, and how difficult was it for the shop to get you into alignment?

Do you currently rub at all in full-lock left, full-lock right both in forward or reverse?

Aftermarket UCA are useful to update your geometry after lifting, allowing for a little extra camber. Most folks recommend if you're lifting over 2-2.5", and would say they're absolutely necessary if exceeding 3". But other things, like blown or crappy aftermarket cam bolts can cause just as bad a problem with getting things in alignment (and keeping them there). Some may disagree with my hot take, I dunno. Just my 2¢.

 

Can't speak to the Napa CV's, but I've tried a version of the "extended travel" CV's before and am already going to be replacing them after 4-5 months.

My truck had 3rd party CV's on when I bought her, so I didn't get a chance to keep the core. If you do have OEM CV's, make sure you keep them (as others have said). I believe the 1st gen CV part #'s are the same through the years (please correct me if I'm wrong) and 43430-0C010-84 is the # for the reman'd CV's (I paid $210 ea and that's w/ the $75 core charge, still half the price of brand new)...if you decide to replace with an OEM down the road.

The job is super easy, in my opinion, the hardest part was finding a socket to fit the axle shaft (35mm if OEM, probably 41mm for 3rd party)...this is all off memory, but:

- Get a small bucket or something to collect the gear oil that will spill from the front diff.
- Lift truck up, use jack stands, take the tire off.
- Take off dust cover, use flat head screw driver.
- Break the axle nut loose (you can pull the center cap off the rim, put the wheel back on, and lower to use the trucks weight for assistance if it's really stuck or if you don't have an impact).
- Take off the 4 lower ball joint bolts (14mm).
- Disconnect the outer tie rod from the lower ball joint (19mm, or 7/8 if 3rd party), if you have a 3 jaw or tie rod puller, use it, or you can thread the nut back on a bit and give it a few good whacks. Might be easy enough to remove by hand, though.

Personally, I'd just take off the steering knuckle to make it easier overall. Good practice if/when you go to do the UCA's.
- Remove brake line bracket bolt on steering knuckle (10mm or 12mm). Or your year has the ABS bracket on the spring, same idea.
- Take the brake caliper off (17mm) and suspend caliper off to the side on the frame with tie wire or bungee.
- Loosen bolt on upper ball joint (19mm I think), but don't take off the nut all the way off, use the 3 jaw puller or hammer whacks to break the ball joint loose from the UCA **make sure to secure the steering knuckle to the spring with a bungee for safety, that SOB is heavy**.
- Remove steering knuckle and set aside. Take note of the condition of the seals and wheel bearing

Back to removing the CV.
- Get another bungee, suspend the CV off the spring to try and keep it level as you pull the axle out, not too tight 'cause you still need to rotate the CV.
- There should be enough room to get a small/medium prybar in-between the CV housing and differential housing. Rotate the axle and use gentle, but firm "prys" as you do. You'll eventually find the sweet spot and the axle will be free!
- Pull the axle out and take care to not to damage the axle seal
- Make sure to grab the metal dust cover (might still be in the diff housing) and note the orientation for reinstall. Don't forget to put it back on!
- Grab new axle, the shaft with the clip goes in the diff, and get the splines lined up. Hook the bungee back up to keep it level and slowly slide the axle in until the dust cover is flush with the diff housing.

I have not done the EGS bushing swap, so if you plan to do that, don't reinstall the axle yet, go do the same thing to the other side of the truck. My expertise stops when it comes to the EGS bushing...

*Disclaimer* the above is what worked for me, it may not work for some.

Okay, time to do some actual work!

 

Not sure if it was mentioned yet but have you considered just lowering the truck back down to stock height? Do you need the lift for anything?

 

None of the oem shackles seem to be in the way of the icon add a leaf. I'm in a no service area on a friend's wifi. Do I cut the oem leaf pack shackles off if they're not in the way of the icon aal or do I leave them on. Thank you.

 

Photo attached here

 

Is this the 51100?? These are the instructions...

 

Basically, take the overload leaf out and put those at the bottom. That's what it sounds like to me.

 

Leave the original spring clamps on unless they interfere.

 

Photo attached for correct install verification. Thank you.

 

Thanks. I appreciate it.

 

If you don't remove the big fat overload leaf at the bottom as @metalpete said, you may end up with way too much lift.

 

I had to unbolt the back of the leaf pack up top To get the pack in. When I did that the top of the pack bushing thing rolled forward. I'm not sure how to get it all back aligned. I'm going to try to drop the truck to the floor with the rear back bolt and u bolts loose I guess and see if it will roll back. Or are these made to articulate while driving? I think it's supposed to be stationary?

 

That's the shackle, it's supposed to articulate. Once you set the leaf spring centering pin in the axle and lower the jack, it should go back to the angle where it needs to be.

 

I got it all in. Gonna drive home and see how it sits. Axles come tomorrow.

 

I'm guessing the B stamped on the bottom u bolt bracket means it should face the back? They looked the identical on both sides of the bracket and i didnt see the B at first. The B is currently facing the front on both sides but I can flip them if necessary. Thank you.

 

Picture attached

 

I don't think it matters. For what it's worth, mine don't have that stamp and I've never paid close attention to that the multiple times I've had mine off and they've likely changed directions.

 

That I'm not sure about, but that screenshot from instructions mentions to put the slightly longer end towards the back. Double check that yours are doing the same.

 

I think that's referring to the length of the add-a-leafs, not the u-bolt plate. Unless that's what you mean.

 

I don't know how to measure lift. I'm okay with it how it is now. It's 5.5 inches from the top of center tire to fender in front and 6.25 inches in back. The rumble has been significantly tighned up because it can't translate through the body as easily with the add a leafs. I'm going to return the axles and start with tires and u joints. I'll do the needle bearing bushing replacement after that. Gonna enjoy the weekend for now. Happy 4th everyone. Is it possible my axles only threw grease when installing the bilsteins and the boots shifted? Or most likely once they leak they continue throwing grease? Thanks.

 

Looking good. Generally you want to use before and after measurements if you're wanting to know how much "lift" you have. With all wheels on the ground, the middle of the hub to the bottom of the fender as a basis of measurement for both the front and back. This measurement will be unaffected by changes in tire size. In the rear, the amount of open space between the top of the bump stop and the plate where the bumpstop hits can be a basis of measurement, or just the axle itself to where the frame is directly above it.

I'd also measure from the ground to the bottom of the trailer hitch if you're looking for before and after measurements, or trying to see how much the lift settles down to. Mind you ground to hitch measurement will change if you go to bigger tires. This specific measurement is useful for departure angle if you're offroading.

This thread has people with different setups showing their measurements: https://www.tundras.com/threads/how-big-is-yours-measure-up.46186/

 

Should i NOT use SPC cam bolts then???

I do not rub at all in full turn hitting bumps or anything. Forward or reverse.

So no uca necessary.. I'm not sure how much actual lift i have.

I have not gotten an alignment. Id have to scedule one like 2 or 3 hrs away one way. Im in the boonies. The place i worked on my truck today was a 20 mile drive through the woods down dirt and gravel logging roads to his place. Its 70 miles to the next town over.

I'll try the shift thing for you. The one thing I know is when I throw it I'm drive and it's cold it wants to GO. It throws forward at about 5mph and there is a clunk. But zero delay. The truck shifts better and has better feeling timing than anything I've owned.

 

One thing to note is the icon add a leafs are night and day. All the chassis or body shudder when hitting potholes or bumps is gone. Feels amazing. I have to almost search for the rumble unless I'm cruising 30 or 50. Also the rumble is there on deceleration (letting off the gas) at those speeds as well. Not just coasting or applying slight cruise control like gas to maintain speed. It DOES NOT occur at all above 2000rpms.

 

Re-use your OEM cam bolts and eccentrics unless they're seized and you have to cut them out, or they're bent. If they have a little surface rust, just grind that off and apply some anti-seize. The OEM cam bolts use steel sleeves while the SPC use plastic sleeves.

 

Just emailed about canceling that order and looked at the spc cam bolt thread. I might just order new oems so I don't have issues. Thank you.

 

Sounds like my type of place Even if you get an alignment you can mess with the CVs after incase you end up re-booting them or replacing them with another.


The CV boots can throw grease from the clamps, mine were at stock height after 14 years. But one thing after lifting that is important is that the fins of the CV boots aren't rubbing each other. From your picture it looks like they're fine.

At the very least to tighten the clamps, you need an ear clamp plier. To regrease and re-boot the axles as previously described in the thread, you'll need these too, unless you cheap out and use worm clamps. I recommend ear clamps.

$29 Lisle 30600 Offset Boot Clamp Plier

https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-30600-...=ear+clamp+pliers&qid=1688185185&s=hi&sr=1-12

Here's a tutorial on how to re-boot a CV joint. You can ignore the mention of the Porsche 930 boot mod. That's for people that have CV boot fins that rub.