BOSS/Radflo hybrid kit install

With the help of the sage advice from some members on here I was able to install the kit! I call it a hybrid because it is a boss kit, with the coils upgraded to the Radflo coils.

First, I want to give a BIG shoutout to @BOSS4x4s for getting me hooked up with a good deal on this setup, and going above and beyond when we hit a hiccup in the process. These guys have been nothing but A+ in terms of customer service, responsiveness, and being all around great to work with. I highly recommend them and will be going through them for any future needs.

This install tested me a few times (almost brought out the BFH), but here are some things I learned either on this forum or while installing it that I think are worth mentioning...

As posted on here by another member (I will tag/link that if I can find it again), using a ratchet strap from LCA to LCA really helps getting the radflo coils in! Huge win, and I owe whoever posted that a beer!

If you are keeping your leaf bushings for a bit (mine have 4k miles on them so I figured I'll save the poly install for another day), you may (I did) have to grind down the metal teeth on them to get the toltec shackles to fit. Not too bad though, took about 5 mins with a dremel.

I did not find adjusting the collar on the radflos down 1/2" to give me 1" of lift was true, it was closer to 1:1 than it was 1/2:1 on collar movement:lift. Not sure why, but that's how it worked out. But I did find that you shouldn't lock the locking collar back down until you have driven the truck a few feet back and forth to let the tires scrub out and checked height...otherwise you may end up fighting that collar back off (ask me how I know).

Biggest PITA? Adjusting the coilovers. Not sure why they gave me such grief, but they dam sure did.

Here are some pics (sorry I didn't take very many during the install) for the time being...skipped leg day, 315/70/17 wild peak at3ws go on tomorrow with alignment!




Not sure if this is too many threads showing, but this is where the coilover is to get the lift in the pic above (if this looks normal please let me know, there are a little under 3" of thread showing on top):

 

Looks pretty good! Did you have to grind on the LCA shock mount to get the new ones in?

It's crazy you have that many threads showing to get 3". I bought the all Radflo version of this kit from Boss4x4s a few months ago. Must be a completely different type of coilover, because have zero threads showing and I got 3.5". I expected to have to crank them up like you did to get my lift.

 

I did not have to grind the LCAs, I was expecting to...but there was plenty of room for me!

 

Although I was guessing on one part...where the c/o goes into the LCA there are two spacers and one is larger than the other. I put the larger side facing the front of the truck, is that what you did?

 

You're talking about the two metal bushings that slide into the bottom of the shock? I didn't notice any size difference in mine, and there was no way in hell they were going in place without grinding off the rounded corners off the LCA mount.
What UCAs are those? Were they an add-on to the kit or bought separately? They look like they would help my alignment a ton.

 

Yea, I’ll see if I can snap a pic of the metal bushings in a few.

I have read a lot of people had to grind but I had a good amount of room, maybe it was because my coils were only at about 2” of lift when I was installing them? I’ll check this evening to see if they make contact at full droop now that I’ve adjusted them.

And those are SPCs UCAs, add on through boss 4x4s. And my truck is headed in for an alignment this morning so I will show my numbers when I get them.

 

And the finale!!!

 

Looks good! Now go get it dirty

 

That looks sick, bro.

 

I have the same thing goin with my radflo/toytec fronts. I have a ton of threads showing on drivers side and prob normal looking amount on pass side. @reno_tundra Here a pic after first install. I had to crank them a ton. I grind the lca opening out a tad to get the clearance. I didn’t want to risk rubbing on the lower part of the shock. I did not have to grind it out to fit the metal bushings in though. Went in easy there. Waiting on my Camburg uca’s But all camber/caster/toe in spec. Caster is deff on the bubble so I’m excited for the uca’s
The pass side wasn’t much adjusting to get the ride height. But they deff were not set to 3”. I had a 2” lift before this and that’s about what they were set to. I agree with ya though. I felt like it got Way more firm on the ride after adjustment process. I thought about dropping it to 2.75” or so. I’m about a month in on the settings and was hoping it would break in/settle and soften up a tad. But not looking like it.
It’s radflo 2.5 with toytec 700lb springs

 

I dropped my nose a little bit to test it out and it seemed to help the ride quite a bit...I was getting some harsh rebound on speed bumps and I’m trying to see if I can fix that. I’d also like to regain a little rake so I’m not looking at the sky when I have the bikes loaded up...I will report back when I get some final measurements and how it rides

 

I checked this morning and I’m only about 1.5” which makes sense because generally front suspension adjustments are half of total lift. 1.5” = 3” total lift. Don’t have a tape on me at the gas station but I’ll check ride height when I get to the shop

This is drivers side ^



Here’s passenger side.

 

Here’s my alignment spec sheet with the oem uca’s. My caster is almost at minimum spec but all in. I could of gotten it more positive but I needed camber in slightly for now. I’ll update after the Camburg’s installed

 

Right now mine is pretty similar, going back in on tuesday to really push that caster and see if I can avoid a BMC

 

I do my own alignments. I can get caster perfect with stock control arms. However camber gets out just enough to wear down tires. Camber will still be in spec but it’ll wear down your tires faster than they should. Luckily caster only effects steering wheel feel (to put it simply) but Camburg upper control arms will fix all that and then I should be riding smoother as well

 

Do you have a machine?! Or do you chalk the tires and go old school with it?

 

I’m a service manager at a shop and I’ve also been a tech for the last 10 years as well. So I have access to a machine that’s why I have the printouts.

 

That makes sense, lol...well dam i’m jealous!

 

Got the cambergs in! Camburg says to put caster around 6* I just about got it but was more focused on camber. I got it close the other night and it drives much better and a lot smoother. I’ll see how she drives now that I got to spend time doing the alignment. @reno_tundra

 

Very nice!! I got mine realigned and have about 4* of caster and i no longer rub the body mount did have to cut a little front bumper and liner but i’m very ok with that (eventually I’d like to go n fab in the front)

 

Yea I think that’s why Camburg builds in so much caster. So I should be set to run 35’s when my 33’s wear out and ppl say it still doesn’t rub. Good to hear thou that yours is getting to where we want them to be!

 

Update on the drive. All I can say is WOW. Truck drives way way smoother! Drives pretty much how I wanted it to drive with 2.5” Coilover shocks lifted 3”. Super happy and the Camburg uca’s are most definitely worth the purchase! Bumps in my neighborhood almost disappeared. Night and day difference for sure

 

Cant wait to put this on my truck here soon!!! Your set up is exactly what I want!

 

I'd love to have your experience with my Radflos. They've been on a year now, and the whole time my ride has been rougher than it was with the stock Bilsteins, and those had 115k on them. My Radflos were preset to 3" when I installed them and I've never adjusted them. Only difference between yours and mine is mine gave me 3" lift and there are no threads showing above the collar.


I'm still on factory UCAs, at something around 3 deg caster.
What can I do to soften the ride of these things?

 

@BlackSheep it's really that rough of a ride? I think your probably 1 in a handful of bad experiences I've heard on Radflo as far as ride is concerned. Not an expert but every shop has told me (havent bought my kit yet) to purchase UCA's with the kit as the ride can be really rough if without.

 

I am not sure what’s going on with yours. Even when I had them with stock UCA’s it wasn’t super rough or any more harsh than stock ride. I can say putting the camburg uca’s and adjusting the caster it’s been much better than stock uca’s. I guess it’s not as squishy as say a ford raptor ride. So I’m not sure there. I will say I’ll prob swap these out with the boss 2.5’s or remote res toytec shocks and keep the springs and that way I’ll have backup set of shocks. When and if I do change I’ll update this post with feedback on ride differences between the radflow shock and the actual toytec shock

 

When I first put the Toytec/Radflos on mine, it was what I’d call a lil stiff. But after about a 1000 miles, they broke in some and the ride smoothed out a fair amount. I’m running stock UCA’s with caster at 2.4 and 2.6*

 

Well, maybe I need to grab some Camburgs and try it that way, although I don't really understand how UCAs affect ride smoothness, since the coilover doesn't actually contact them. I get the impact they have on alignments and suspension travel. Maybe it's through these things that they help with ride quality?...

 

maybe @Toytec Lifts @toytec will have more info for you on why the ride is so stiff for you