Bmf's big suspension rebuild

I've been doing a little research on my next suspension. I've got most of it figured out, but I'm a little torn on the UCAs and shocks.




So what makes the uniball uppers more expensive? Are they worth it? I live in a relatively dry climate that has blowing dust quite often. I've heard they don't like dust and salt. No salt here. Ever.

For shocks I'm just out of my wheelhouse. I hear a lot of recommendations for kings. Icons look good too, no? Fox fixed their brake issue iirc, and ADS looks to be the best, but really expensive.

This is not a daily driven truck, but will be maybe 50/50 street/off-road.

This is all just the planning phase for now; no real plans till December/ January. Me and @JakeJake should be trying out a sequoia axle swap around the same time. Possibly.

Panhandlemonium 2.0 anyone?

 

@des2mtn replied:

Uniballs can have more articulation and give more suspension travel than a ball joint. They generally don't last as long as a ball joint and require more upkeep, but keep them clean and lubed and you'll be rocking for awhile.

I'd knock the Icons off personally. The valving on them would be closer to your current shocks and it would be a little rough on the type of stuff you did with me. If you're wanting to do explicitly crawling type stuff, maybe then I would consider them. The King/Fox/ADS might feel a little more floaty on the street, but it's something you'll learn to tolerate. 700lb springs might help mitigate the floati-ness. If you go with the Fox 2.5s, you may be able to order from Accutune and they can get the valving setup perfectly for how you think you'll want it.


To which I replied:

It sounds like I may go with uniballs then. I saw they have rebuild kits for them, and I don't usually do more than 5k miles a year so if it was like 20k mile rebuilds that'd be 4 or 5 years.

I guess it would be more crawling than desert. Parker would be about the only desert stuff I do. Merus is all crawling, and I haven't been to Sedona enough, but I'm guessing it is too. I'm definitely going 700lb and 2.5" shocks. As of right now with no sway bar it leans quite a bit on highway turns.

Really, I probably started a thread on this so I could keep track of everything for later. Maybe Ill do that.

 

Anything worth doing is worth doing twice.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, and a motherfucker at that.

 

The next time i do my suspension i'm gonna go longtravel. My biggest regret so far, but i'm still holding out for some super duty axles.

 

Avoid Icon. I wish I had gotten King or ADS.

 

Leaks?

 

@memario1214 - your department

 

No leaks yet. Perfectly fine on pavement but really brutal ride offroad.

 

Yes, open bed. No plans for a topper or anything else in the bed. I have the Toytec Boss system currently with Aluma shocks out back with General springs. I got about 2" lift in the front, none in the rear. I'd like to go up another inch in the front and rear.

For the UCA, I have Freedoms now, and my caster is way off. Very wandery on the highway. I wouldn't mind spending a little extra to go uniball if the benefits are easier alignment.

I'd like the ADS just so we'd have a 1st gen with them for the experience, but damn they're pricey. Really I just need another inch up front and good crawling capabilities, and all around good off-road manners. I'm more than willing to give up some streetability to gain off-road prowess.

 

Can confirm: The ATS HD leafs are stiff as shit compared to OEM, or OEM with Icon AAL.

And I'd jut add, "wandery on the highway" could be in your alignment, or in your rack bushings.

 

I’ll say that the ADS are great. I had them on my 2003 AC that I just sold. I found out they come with 700# springs. I felt my ride was slightly stiff without any added weight to the front. But, tires and tire pressure have a decent role in that too.

On my 2006 DC I’m trying out fox 2.5 because they were a little less, come with 650# springs and I kind of wanted to try something different for the experience. I hope I don’t regret it.

I’m using the Eibach UCAs (really they’re SPC) because this will be my third time with them and have always been pleased with them. Like you stated, salt and sand don’t do well with uniballs so that’s my rationale. We put sand on the roads in winter here and the dirt roads can be sandy/gritty so I’ve stayed away from the uniballs.

I think the decision between progressive and digressive will be your main decision and then you can’t really go wrong with a high end performance shock.

 

It's 100% my alignment. The Freedom UCA don't have any adjustment in them so they couldn't get the caster good. That's the main reason I want new UCAs.

 

JBA or Eibach/SPC.

 

I always thought that was weird they somehow lost -1.0 in caster on your alignment then said "maxxed".

I'll add one vote for Eibach/SPC, and when you install, don't clock to "D" as they suggest for OEM+ alignment. Clock at least to "C" (+1 caster, which is where I need to be right now), or to "B" (+1.75 caster) if you intent to roll above 2.5 eventually. You'll get more articulation out of their UBJ anyway, they tout something like 15% more than OEM and any delta/uniball joint on the market.

SPC apparently has a maintenance-free UBJ for these also (no zerk). I haven't seen it.

 

Mine came with the new UBJ. We’ll see how they last, but I kind of liked the idea of them being greasable.

 

Just got off an hour long call with @memario1214. What a wealth of info I just received. Thank you sir! I was apparently trying to go way over-kill for what I'll be doing. The fancy parts bug bit me good.

What we're gonna do before anything is get my Toytecs lifted where I want them and replace the leaf packs. I always thought of added leafs in the rear as a rougher ride. I learned that's not the case. It's more of a progressive spring pack with a lift. Good to know. Anyways, we're gonna keep the Freedoms and get a bit more lift. @JakeJake recommended an alignment shop that can do lifted 4x4 alignments (thanks Jake!). If for some reason they can't get me in spec or it gets in spec and rubs bad enough, I'll go with the Eibachs and probably do a little trimming.

After I get a good base line with that, then I can worry about shocks. I'm wanting to go with a linear shock for a well rounded approach. I'm looking at either getting the Alumas to match my rear shocks, or just replace the whole setup with ADS. Quite a bit of difference, but those ADS are really nice. Uniball lowers will go in around that time, as well as the gussets and bumpstops.

I have a a few questions on the rear after researching a bit more. AALs are bad, but what about the progressive AALs from Deaver or Wheelers that remove the OL spring to make it progressive? Still bad? I usually gloss over the leaf pack stuff and now it's biting me in the ass. I've updated my list:

The K37 for a 2nd gen is listed on FB as a C27HD that a dude bought for his 1st gen.

 

Yup...

Nothing wrong with AAL, the boys doing bastard packs are on-point. I wasn't willing to deal with the guesswork, and ATS is a "known quantity" with regard to how much lift you'll get. And I prefer having an overload spring, since I intend to haul things with my truck still. If I knew there was a less-stiff/more-forgiving leaf pack out there that'd get me in the 1½" - 2" range of lift and wasn't going to cost me $600-700+ I'd dump my ATS and buy tomorrow.

There are others that can speak to the Wheelers on here. Honestly, the Icon AALs weren't bad at all, they just don't lift you for shit. 3/4" is what I got.

 

I'm not planning on adding any weight in the rear, yet, and I don't tow anything, so I may be out on the ATSs. I don't wanna get beat up driving. I'll give it a few days to see what the masses say about the AALs. I guess I should rephrase that to say the Toytec AAL I have is out.

As for the Icon AAL, IIRC @des2mtn snapped his.

 

I was impressed with the bastard pack we built for vr6t. Not near as bouncy as expected.

 

I have the Toytec Aluma fronts, with Camburg UCAs, and the 90-221HD leafs.

Uni-balls do require more upkeep, but they're easy to clean. Wipe 'em off and spray 'em with some PTFE dry lube. Try keep the bushings greased semi-regularly, and I have yet to hear the squeaking that people complain about (knock on wood). Steering is pretty damn tight and responsive with the uni-balls, too. However, if they offered a ball joint for our years I might consider a change. Their rebuild kits are getting more expensive. The 90-221HD are stiffer, but not too bad, honestly. I'll take it for a whole new pack that gives me extra lift. Haven't been very impressed with the TT rear shocks though, I thought the 5100's I had were better.

Getting the sway bar dialed in has really improved the ride. I need to raise the driver's side coil an 1/8" (will be sitting at 23" overall, I'm a bad boy and didn't measure from the originals), but I've gotten the bar as even as I can and just go finger tight, just compressing the bushings. Edit: I should specify, suspension Maxx links.

I just drove 20 miles down a very curvy, rutted, and wash boarded out road this weekend. She handled it pretty damn good! Just in time for my 1.5 Gen parts to show up this week! Maybe I should do a full on write up...

 

I saw in the FB group where someone seemed to have the bastard pack dialed with the Deaver AAL. Can’t seem to find it right now but I think it was the guy that has the Fr33 lance shop.
The instructions for the that AAL says to keep the overload in place which is what I did on my last truck.
I think I may start with the Deaver on my current truck and see where that gets me and may search

 

They're pretty thin, designed for Tacoma, and same thickness as Taco leafs. Sure ... "They fit". But they aren't designed with the 1st gen in-mind, and are thinner/less stout than OEM for Tundra, so I'm not surprised to hear they snapped. Wait ... who was it that snapped the Toytec c/o? I feel like it was one of the regulars who posted that pic.

 

The 3rd gen taco leafs i have are the same thickness and my truck. Just shorter & has a partially wrapped 2nd leaf.

 

Wheelers progressive AAL purchased. I'll put that in, raise the coilovers to level, then get it aligned. Then I'll flex it out and see where its rubbing so I can get the BFH after it.

 

Picturing that now, BMF with the BFH, save some tail for us breau!