Put leveling blocks on truck, truck now squatted

Hey all, long time lurker first time poster. I have a 2004 Extended Cab

I just got done overhauling the front end on my truck. I went with the Mevotec supreme kit for upper and lower control arms, inner and outer tie rods, and ball joints from Rockauto. Everything has a grease zirc, so that's why I went that route. I had ordered Bilstein 4600s but when it was getting time to wrench, my buddies said a spring compressor wouldn't be available. Looking back at the service records, Monroe quick struts had been used in the past, so I no longer had access to the Toyota springs anyways. So I bought some new monroe quick struts and some new monroe shocks for the rear. On a whim, I bought a KSP leveling kit, as I was tired of the rake and I wanted the option to upgrade to a 33" tire in the future. We put those on and put the overhauled truck back on the ground, and now the truck sits way too high in the front. Do you guys have any advice? Granted, I have maybe 200# of plywood in the back and all of the old suspension components, but I should be less than 700# in the back right now...

 

this is joke right?

 

Non oem lbjs, Shifty is gonna have fun here. What was your front hub to fender measurement before?

 

Mevotech lower ball joints are a definite pass. Their bushings are not great either.

At least their upper adjustable arms are re-boxed SPC.

 

LINK
Preassembled 4600s at the link above springs on and ready to go. Put these on for original ride type. If you're tired of the rake get a 5100 preassembled with the proper lift springs on them. No need for a spring compressor.

You're gonna get a lot of hate here because a lot of the parts you used are known to be subpar quality on these trucks. They'll function for a couple or few years but will most likely give you problems down the road. I'd just get the right front struts (either stock hight or lifted) that are preassembled and put them on and be done for now.

 

You need an Add-a-leaf

 

Only one specific model. They have at least two, possibly 3 UCA models at different price points, and only one is the SPC. At least that's what it was at some point in the last year when I ran the numbers trying to figure out if the Mevotech-SPC claim was valid. We'd need to see a closer shot of OP's UCA to know if the Supreme variety is the SPC upper. I zoomed in on it and used some tools to blow up that section of the pic, but it's too pixelated to tell.

It looks like you made the mistake of buying a suspension part made for a double cab Tundra, which is a completely different beast from your access cab or a regular cab. Then you installed it on a non-4WD access cab pickup, and what you see is the end result of buying and installing something which wasn't intended for your truck, which will end up fucking your shit up and causing damage.

Really, you should take a minute to read the 1st two replies of this post, especially the suspension stuff. You need extended swaybar links at that height or any height above 2"-2.5" (but that looks like you got about 3-4" lift). You're probably going to be slinging grease out of your CV boots at that height (at minimum) if not destroying/bending other stuff completely.

FWIW, Monroe stuff is really not good. I'd put them on-par with Rancho. Rancho bushings are shit and typically blow out within a year. Neither are horrible per se,, it's just not good when you consider what else is out there at similar pricepoints.

And never do aftermarket LBJ. Never. You DO NOT want to be one of the dozens who've been seen here with collapsed LBJ, bent sheet metal, wheel diagonal or horizontal to the ground stuffed up into the firewall.

Go read that thread STAT.

(I really do hope, as others above, that this thread is a joke )

 

It's a 4wd Access cab. Rock Auto never gave me an option to select cab models when I was buying parts.

It's supposed to be a 2-2.5" block. I'll probably just yank them off at this point, I think the front is still going to be higher than the rear though.

I didn't want to go with Monroe, but I had limited access to my buddies shop. When I found out the bilsteins I had ordered for the front wouldn't work, I had to source new shocks within 48 hours, theyre what I could find in stock locally. I still paid $40 more per set than Rockauto.

I'm going to take the blocks off and see how she sits

 

All the weight in the back isn’t helping either. Your leafs a probably a little tired and could use a refresh and possibly an upgrade to some HD rated springs since you’re running a cap all the time. The front is another story. No sense in undoing the work you’ve done upfront, other than ditching the spacer. Just know that mevotech stuff will likely wear fast and need replacing sooner than expected. My outer tie rods lasted 2 months.

 

Honestly, it almost looks like the blocks dropped the rear versus lift. Did you install properly?

But still - you shouldn't be seeing that much lift in the front. That's more lift than most guys get with a 3" lift kit. Something is not right up front, like, very-very not right. Are you using a spacer with a lift? That's often a no-no unless you know what you're doing.

Can you take some pics of the blocks as-installed, and take some more pics of the front suspension please, so we can try to ID what's f'd up and how?

 

Side note, truck looks good. Digging the gold painted OEM on the white AC. Mid rise cap is cool too.

 

Unload the cargo and take a second look. 700# doesn't sound like much but you also have a cap, I would guess in the neighborhood of another 400#. You're looking at 1100# . . .

 

For reference only @ OP: https://www.tundras.com/threads/ome-3-1-kit-goes-full-extension-with-a-bang-too-fast-why.109151/

That's what a similar truck to yours, access cab/V8/4WD minus the cap, looks like with a 3" front/1" rear lift kit from OME. Though they don't tell you this, the kit was intended for a double cab V8 4WD so he ended up getting more than he bargained for, probably closer to 3.5"-4" lift. And it was messing his shit up. He ended up having to pull it and replace with a kit recommended and proven to work by other forum members.

Your truck looks at least 1-2" taller than his up front. That's what I'm trying to come to terms with - how is a Monroe shock putting you into a hardcore Carolina Squat? It'd be illegal to drive that truck in N/S Carolina as it sits.

 

You sure you're a long time lurker? You'd know we only use OEM LBJS if you were. And Monroes are complete shit for our trucks. Way too squishy.

Also, welcome to the forum.

 

See attached

Thanks! Picked up the wheels from a gen2 for $100 and decided to try using plastidip from dipyourcar.com. it's holding up pretty well. Sprayed them last summer, took them off for the winter.

I'm trying to figure that out myself

 

Yup, that's a big ol fat spacer. Pull it off of there. My 1.25" Daystar rubber spacers gave me a shade over 2" of lift. Those look to be at least 2" thick, that makes 3" or more of lift at the axle to fender measurement I bet.

 

A few observations for you.

Doesn't look like you got the good adjustable Mevotech arms, built by SPC. Those look like this, but come in a Mevotech box for $500 left, in separate left/right boxes (diff't part numbers for each), and with adjustment that's pretty critical to get the truck geometry right when lifting as much as you are.

Please give us the part numbers you have for the following so we can look up application data:

• Monroe front strut + spring (I assume it came assembled)
• Upper control arm
• Lower control arm

You need to get that f'n spacer out of there. Then assess where you are. It looks almost like either the strut or the spring isn't correct application for the truck, and the spacer is only serving to amplify your lift.

Something else is hinky on that too, but I can't stare at it much longer, I've gotta step out for 30.

 

Mevotec kit I ordered with part numbers

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=5734881&cc=1426935&pt=15413

Monroe Quick Strut: MON171347L and MON171347R

I'll get the spacer out for sure.

I went and looked at that SPC vs Mevotec post and the Mevotec came in a supreme box which mine came in as well. I didn't see any other option for better uppers on Rockauto though

 

Yeah, those definitely aren't the SPC units. Mevotech's adjustable SPC-built uppers are part numbers CMS861202 and CMS861203.

Got pics of the rear blocks install? How many miles on the truck, so we can gauge the leafs on longevity?

The plywood and cap are adding a few hundred pounds, but to give you a comparison, this is another access cab member with V6/2WD with a kit (Bilstein 5100 + OME 2885 springs) that would probably leave even your truck with a bit of squat and it's not even lifting that high - and he lifted the rear so it doesn't squat as-much, but still has some squat

And FYI, about the thread I linked above and commentary on using non-OEM LBJs ... the Facebook group especially seems to be full of people who are unaware, that's the weak point of the 1st gen suspension. Toyota knows it and over-engineers their lower balljoints to compensate. Most aftermarket suppliers DO NOT over-engineer theirs, and you end up seeing lots of pictures and posts from folks like , , this, this, this, this, this, this, this and .... I'll stop there despite a plethora of other pics.

The constant failure is not just the LBJ, but a failure of the truck owner to listen, as you'll see from the OP in that 2nd linked thread in many of these threads/posts "... I am writing this post to reinforce the warning that I did not listen to" -- I get it ... people don't want to hear about making a bad choice, but you gotta know, people like me can't just rapidly bust out a list of links to examples on something that's not such an obvious, glaring problem...

With your current spacer/puck setup, this is my hot take on why you're at even higher risk, with diagram I ripped off showing visually how/why: https://www.tundras.com/threads/king-2-5-problems.117230/#post-3014599

I realize you just paid cashola for those LBJs and it probably seems stupid to anyone swap out brand new parts. But OEM is really not that expensive, nor getting fresh bolts, and the resulting damage of one breaking costs way-the-fuck-more than installing OEM after-the-fact, assuming you live to tell about it. For refresher bolts, read this.

 

I didn't add any blocks to the rear, reviews on the front spacers showed it as not really necessary. Truck has 130k on it.

I'll look into getting the LBJs replaced with OEM asap.

I'll try to pull out the front spacers tonight to see how it sits. Would airbags get me the same effect as blocks in the rear? I may need to tow a horse trailer occasionally, or load a snowmobile in the back with the cap removed.

 

Has anyone one told you the front will settle and you have a ton of weight in the back? No shit it's nose high. You going to remove the 700lbs of lumber for whatever you got back there and try this again? I don't even care to cover the cheap parts since that's been done to death. I do think the amount of shit in the bed plus camper top, plus level kit and no rear lift was result of a complete lack of understanding of physics and geometry. Get an add a leaf.
There's no way you had rake with all that shit in the bed. What the hell possessed you to "level" the front without lifting the rear? It should've been sagging in the rear as was before the level kit exasperated things.

 

Clicked ALLLLL those links. Put the fear of God in me, I tell ya. I don't have high miles but since my PO could have been using my truck as a dry-land jet boat running drugs through the desert for all I know, plus with my surface rust issues, I want to tackle these (and really all the front suspension) sooner rather than later.

 

Dang checkout those cv angles yikes!

 

Awesome. Non-oem lbj have taken out a lot of these trucks.


No, air bags are just to compensate for load. It allows you to have heavy items in the bed (or tongue weight when towing) without squat. They're not actually for lifting the rear.

 

I think it just looks that way because he's got the wheel full-lock to the left so you have the natural downward angle of the CV, combined with the angle of being at full lock.

Bags are for firming your ride under bed load. Blocks and add-a-leaf and new leaf springs altogether are for lifting the rear.

Blocks are a cheap (not necessarily good) way to go. Add-a-leaf is less expensive than new leafs and not as lackluster an option.

 

That is super high. Did you torque everything on level ground or drooped out on the lift?

And yes, get those LBJ's out yesterday before you end up in a really bad/expensive situation

 

Yeah everything was torqued on the ground and I still need to get it aligned. So it needs to settle in a bit still. I'm pulling the spacers out tonight and not bothering with trying to level it anymore. It was a whim and nothing more. We got done wrenching last night at 11, and I went into panic mode once I saw it fully back on the ground.

 

Yeah full lock, and one looks wet because we had to drill out the brake line bracket bolt after it snapped, and it took a lot of drilling and lube to punch through the screw.