I did the thing - Elka!

sub'd

 

Got the rears installed today. Everything went smooth. The only thing I'm still not sure about is the top nut. I couldn't get a torque wrench in there to get it to spec and wasn't sure how far down I should turn that nut.

 

Here the top shaft nut. I could easily keep turning it but not sure when to stop.

 

Got the 750 lb springs in the mail from Elka today. Got em on the shock and the ride height collar set. Went 22 turns on the passenger side and 23 turns on the driver side. Should come out between 2.75 and 3".

 

21 ft lbs

https://www.tundras.com/threads/suspension-torques.4740/

 

Right but I Cant get a torque wrench in there. It turns pretty easy but I'm using a big 19mm wrench so it's hard to guess where 21lbs is.

 

Tool shopping time

This would probably work
https://www.zoro.com/yellow-jacket-electronic-torque-wrench-38-drive-size-60648/i/G2477680/

 

Got the driver side coilover and both resi brackets installed today.

Took 4.5 hrs.. I was hoping to have both sides done in 5. But learned a lot and we got one side done with no contact issues and everything looks good.

I got exactly 3" of lift on the driver aide as of right now.

Had to grind out the lower control arm so I could fit the shock lower in without rub. Also had to twist the piston rod because it wasn't aligned properly(made me nervous torqing on it like that) and wasn't even sure if if I was supposed to but it was the only thing that made sense.

The only thing I broke was one of the passenger side front sway bar attachment. Didn't break the bolt but broke the nut or the welded part on the inside of the frame. Not sure how I'm gonna fix that or how serious of an issue it is only having one bolt holding the front sway bar arm in. I had to notch out the resi bracket and pry a grab so I could get the bracket in so she's snug for sure, regardless of the broken weld on the inside of the frame. Also managed to lose one washer on one of the 4 top mount screws for the shock.

We couldn't get the UCA bolt to budge...so I might have a shop tackle that because I'm not sure I'm gonna have time.

Passenger side tomorrow morning and assuming it will go a lot quicker now that we know what we're up against. I'll see if I have time to get the rear shackles in as well.

Lessons learned so far... Don't fuck around... Get an impact for every nut 17mm and above, it's worth it weight in gold. Also, Don't take both wheels off right away. Do one side at a time so you can jack the LCA up when you're aligning the bolts for the lower shock, sway bar arm, and reattaching the two LCA bolts. There was enough force to barely lift the truck off the jack stands and I didn't feel safe doing that. So i put the passenger side tire back on to prevent an accident.

Fun stuff... Loved every minute of it.

 

Got the passenger side done in 45 min this morning. Easy breezy when you have an idea of what you're doing. Truck sits a little over 3" in the front now that both coilover are on...but it was closer to four before I drove it around the block so it's already settled around 3/4" and I suspect when its all said and done I'll get right at 3".

Went to do the rear shackles and ran into some problems. The ball joint press I rented couldnt push the sleeve out with the bushing. Then on the driver side the bolt seized inside the bushing and I couldn't get that thing out for the life of me(dont own a torch). So I bolted the factory shackle back in with the top bolts since the bottom bolt threads were effed. Won't go anywhere the way it is but I'll have to take it to a shop and have them get those sleeves out for the shackles. If I wouldn't have had those two issues it wouldve been a real easy job. Unfortunately, with 75k miles on the pick up shit rusts.

Still couldn't get the UCA bolt to budge.

 

Got the UCAs installed today.... Took a little snort.. Well a lot of snort to get those bolts loose. But, I got em!

 

@Elka Suspension bracket lift here also...would love to replace with a higher quality coilover hook the bracket guys up! sounds like this shock is designed for how i drive..

 

Hey Brock it was a pleasure talking with you and I am glad I could help out. Enjoy the Elka's and the truck looks awesome!
-Carsen

 

What exact specs? Let me know and I'll check if it would work.

Thanks

 

pm..

 

Everything is in and I'm stressing about potential problems...that havent even happened yet...go figure. 22 turns on the pass and 23 turns on the driver yielded 3.5" of lift. The engineers at Elka say the shock is fine with that ride height but I'm getting feedback that my CV angle is a little harsh so I'm going to pull the shocks of Friday and back out 4 or 5 turns on each shock. That should put me around 2.75" of lift. Hopefully the CV angles look better after that. I'll report back with final ride height.

One more thing. The ride is AWESOME! That rubber sticks to the road! Truck feels much more controlled and I don't get any of the big bangs and bounces when I got over potholes and low spots in the roads. Took it on a rough hwy yesterday and drove her about 70 and she handled firmer but smoother....hard to explain. The boat feeling is gone and bangs have disappeared. very happy with ride quality.

 

Why do you pull the shocks off to adjust the height?

 

Elka recommends releasing all tension on the collar before adjusting. I tried to loosen it a turn and adjust while the front end was on jacks but I couldn't get them to budge. Saw another guy on here tried doing it that way with elkas and by the time he got the collar to turn they had jumped threads. Not worth fucking up my threads. Should only take 4 hours to pull both out, run em to the shop and come home and throw em back in.

 

Understood. I have adjustable Fox coilovers and I have adjusted them many times without taking them off the truck. One thing I do that you did not mention was spraying the threads with WD-40. Mine are extremely easy to adjust with that and a pin punch. Not sure why Elka's would be different than other coilovers. Both have the set screw, collar to rotate, and threads. Some might say "a heavier spring is harder to turn" but mine are 700 lb.

 

I did spray them with WD40 and the threads were brand new. I've seen guys say that too, maybe I'm not loosening the screw enough...I had some anxiety about loosening it too much and then having it jump threads.

 

For sure. I was pretty nervous loosening the set screw as well after seeing people were jumping threads so i totally get it. For mine, i think I turn a little less or a little more than one full turn. My recommendation is loosen a little and try to turn the collar, repeat until you can turn the collar but know when you've loosened too much obviously. It should turn. I think it's ridiculous they tell you to take them off to adjust but I'm no expert.

 

And when i turn my collar, it does take a little muscle to turn it. It shouldn't turn easily or i think you are getting too loose with the set screw.

 

I'm sure they recommend that to avoid jumped thread calls.

 

I removed my Kings to adjust them as well but it was more than one or 2 turns.

 

Yeah I think im gonna do 4 or 5. For my driver side I did 23 turns and got about .15" per turn. Pass side I did 22 and it equates to .159" per turn. I'm sure its not linear across the board for all turns but I'm gonna start with 4 turns on the driver side and 5 on pass side.

 

@flinky14 shiny. Nice write up

 

Backed off 4 turns on the driver side and lost a half inch of height on the nut...sitting right at 3" of lift. Backed off 5 turns on the passenger side and only lost about a 1/4" of ride height...sitting at 3.25". Getting ride height dialed is proving to be a pain in my ass.

The good thing is I'm getting really good at taking my shocks off and on. Got em out, adjusted, and back in in about 3.5 hrs. I was super hung over too.

 

To provide further clarification, these are the springs specs we use on the Tundra setups:

0-2": C12,5X406 (700 lb/in, 16" long)
2-3": C13,4X406 (750 lb/in, 16" long)

The actual shock damper remains the same between both setups.

 

Just a little update on where I'm at.
Everything is installed, aligned, mounted, balanced, shes ready to rock. I settled in at almost exactly 3" of lift on both front sides. Got an extra 1" from the new tires, so my ride height in the front is about 4" higher than it was.

Some things to note thus far:
Elka Ride Quality = I have nothing but factory shocks to compare these too but, Wow. I'm wondering what purpose the factory shocks served because they were never even in the realm of these Elkas. Firmer, but smoother, more controlled, tires feel like they stick to the road and I get almost no impacts that shake the whole truck and cause the bang that you can feel. Its the weirdest thing to try to explain. You feel more, but feel it less. Can't wait to get out on a gravel road and hit 70 and see how they feel.

Falken Wildpeak Tires - nearly a 35" tire (285/75r18 - 34.8 x 11.8). Only had them on for a hundred miles and havent been in the dirt yet but driving around town I've noticed a drop in power. These tires weigh 15 lbs more per tire than the duratracs that came off and I can definitely feel a little sluggishness. Overall, I'm not too concerned as I don't tow much and I'm not racing or rock crawling so it will still be fine for what I'm doing. These falkens are much quieter than the duratracs ever were. With practically no humming, it was actually a little wierd driving in my truck and not hearing that hum that I had become so accustomed too. This also brings me to my only negative so far. Since I'm running stock wheels, the tire is rubbing against my front resi and resi bracket. It's severe enough that I could easily see breaking the bracket or damaging the reservoir. I don't even need to be at full lock to contact so I know this is an issue I need to address. For driving around town its fairly easy to accomodate for but I still make contact with it about once a day because I forget about it when I'm driving in a parking lot. I'm going to look at a custom bracket or taking the factory one and welding in an extension to get the resi up and out of the way. If anyone has read this far and you have experience with this issue and have a good fix, let me know.

Next up - Rear carrier bearing drop kit to get rid of the shaft shudder. New bump stops. Find a fix for the resi bracket contact issue.

Other than that, I'll report back after a thousand miles and some off pavement driving and we'll see where we stand.

Here's a pic. 3"/1.5" with 285/75r18 on Factory wheels. Doesn't look 4" higher than factory, but I promise you she is.