ADS 2.5 Coilovers and JBA UCA's

Just got these installed yesterday. I upgraded from 5100's. My installer told me the alignment came out excellent, but didn't give me the exact numbers.

When they got everything on initially, the front end was significantly higher. They pulled the coilovers off and adjusted them. The front is still riding higher than the rear, although it's not really noticeable by just looking at the truck. I'll have to see if it settles down a bit over time before trying to adjust them more. These are 650 lb springs. My truck is a double cab with steel front bumper (no winch), and a topper on the bed.

The UCA's are much beefier than stock, and the color goes great with my Radiant Red. I have a little over 1" of space between the UCA and tire. Stock wheel, BFG TA KO2 in 275/65/18.

On pavement, the new setup feels like it handles a bit better than stock with regard to body roll. On bumpy dirt roads, I definitely feel more confident in picking up some speed. Looking forward to airing down a bit and testing the ride on some rockier forest roads around here.

Now I need to decide if I want to do anything more with the rear. I already have 5100's back there. I was thinking of Fox 2.0 (both with and without RR) and Bilstein 5160's. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

Bad ass lookin set up bro.. very nice!!!

 

Thanks, man. I'll feel even better once I get some new rubber in a couple months, haha.

 

very nice ! .I would go 2.5 rear.
Is your front sway bar close to the bottom of your coilovers ?

 

It looks like I have around 1.25" between the edge of the sway bar and bottom of the coilover. I was thinking of removing the sway bar. Seems some people like the ride better without it.

 

yes..same for me here with KINGs. It's close but doesn't touch even under hard driving.

 

why not ADS rears ?

 

They're on the list, haha. Looks like their 2.5 piggybacks run around $900. A little more than I want to drop at the moment. Someone needs to run a sale on ADS.

 

you know you want it....

 

Nice to see a set of the JBA's installed and with good clearance throughout. Installing mine on Saturday. Your installer have anything notable to say about the UCA's?

 

Installer said the UCA's went in easy and commented that it was a really nice kit. Glad I came across the JBA's. Solid product and the company owner, Marlin, seems like a stand-up guy.

 

I also went from 5100 Bilstein's to ADS 650 2.5 front and rear. With Deaver's otw, I kinda wished I went with triple bypass ADS. I'm still happy with the upgrade from the Bilstein's with the stock leafs. If it were me, I'd save for what you want.

 

I'm going with ICON expansion pack for rear. I don't have too much weight there to justify Deaver

 

The Deaver's otw aren't made for towing or hauling, made for a plush ride. Airbags will be there to haul or tow.

 

VWery Nice!!

 

@TundraUTAH do you happen to have your alignment specs available?

 

@OBXTundra unfortunately, no. I picked my truck up from the shop as they were closing. Asked the guy at the desk if they could give me the #'s. He went back to check with the guy that did the alignment and came back empty handed. Just said that it came out excellent. It feels like it's tracking well. I''ll be getting new tires in 2-3 months, so I'll have them check it then.

 

@OBXTundra are you getting anything else done tomorrow, or just the UCA's?

 

I currently have a 3/1 spacer kit on the truck from the previous owner. Spacers on top of the TRD coilovers in front and a 1 inch block in the rear. I'm installing the JBA UCA's tomorrow in my garage and will bring the truck for an alignment next week.

Sometime this winter the TRD Coilovers + spacers will be coming out and a Toytec coilover will be going in. Height will remain the same, I will just end up with more usable travel and hopefully a little plusher ride.

 

those look sick! so many choices for the front....can't deciiiide

 

@speckmon If you're not going uniball, I'd definitely recommend the JBA's. I looked at the the SPC and Camburg UCA's, but the JBA's just seemed like they gave the most bang for the buck. They look awesome, too. Bright and beefy.

 

I'll x2 @TundraUTAH, if your're not going Uniball the JBA's should be a top contender. I also researched every other ball joint UCA before purchasing these.

This will sound crazy to some, but I did not like the adjustability feature of the SPC's. This is one more thing for a clueless alignment tech to mess up and a proprietary ball joint that could be hard to find in an emergency situation or on a road trip.

 

I don't know the difference between Uniball or non

 

If you decide to go this route, just let me know and I will take care of you on the rear shocks.

If you haven't ordered the ICON expansion pack, do a little bit of research on them. They tend to have issues with large gaps on the leaf springs, and its hit and miss on people being happy with the performance on them. The few that I have installed, customers ended up coming back to go with a full leaf pack. Standard Deaver pack actually isn't designed to hold much weight, the K37s are geared towards more performance with an empty bed. I developed an Expedition Style pack with deaver that I sell a lot of because it can handle 6-800 lbs, tows well, and still rides well unloaded. Not trying to upsell you, just don't want you thinking that deavers are only needed for weight capacity. There is a huge performance advantage going to a full deaver pack, especially getting away from the factory overload leaf.

 

still doing my research I appreciate the info

 

what do those run? Come with a lift or stock height?

 

Great choice with ADS!

Running the 2.5 w clickers up front, rear with clickers as well. Out back I have Icon expansion pack with overload removed, rides so much better than stock. I ended up also upgrading my bumps to the Wheelers Superbumps. Overall the performance of everything is very good, I'm very happy.

Ill probably be dropping off the rear shocks at ADS to add some compression to the rear. On road feel is soft, once I hit the dirt (even adjusted all the way firm with the clickers) the fast, larger hits I feel need some tuning.

As Matthew mentioned, do your research as you are. Lots of options out there, lots of good reviews to read through in order to help make the best choice.

 

I didn't go with clickers up front, but I'm happy with the ride out of the box. On pavement, the ride doesn't seem to have changed much from my 5100's, which were a slight improvement over stock. Off road, the ADS's feel great. I'd imagine I could dial them in even more if I had the clickers, but I have no complaints as it is. I am thinking of getting clickers when I upgrade my rear 5100's, but don't know if I want/need to drop the coin on 2.5's. I'm looking at the Fox 2.0 w/ clickers.

How much rear lift do you gain with the Icon expansion pack? I'm sitting pretty much even front to rear after the 650 lb coils settled the last few days. I might kick the front up another .25-.5", so would need .5-1" in the rear.

 

Last I measured im 3" up front, I want to lower to 2.5", and I'm riding on 600lb coils. I'm glad people are taking advantage of the 650lb coils Brian offers!

Rear, without the overload leaf, last I measured I was 3/4" driver and 1/2"pass side from what I recall.

*edit, rears opposite. 1/2 driver and 3/4 pass*

 

Yea, I'm glad the 650lb was an option. I have a steel plate bumper, but no winch, so 650 seems like a perfect fit.

I came across this thread yesterday https://www.tundras.com/threads/suspension-lift-height-measurements-with-visual-guide.354/ but I didn't see any measurements for a double cab. I never got around to measuring when I was completely stock. I added a topper before I did any suspension upgrades. After the topper, I was at 39" in the rear (both sides), and about 36.75-36.875" up front. When I did the 5100's (all four corners, middle setting up front), rear pretty much stayed the same, front went up to about 38.25". When I added the heavy duty bumper, I went down to 38" up front. Now with the new coilvers, and a few days of settling, I was right around 38.5" driver's side (front and rear), and 39.5" passenger's (front and rear). I never had much of a driver's side lean before. Maybe it'll go down a bit once someone rides in the passenger seat awhile? Interesting that the rear seemed to change a bit after the front coilovers. Is that possible, or just sloppy measuring in the past?