1st gen eibach shock snap ring setting

Hey I'm new to the forums and I just put an entire new front end in my 06 tundra I went with JBA UCA's and eibach pro truck coil overs and was curious what snap ring setting everyone running them has em set too? planning on building a bumper too so not sure if I should set them to the 2.5 ring or the "extra load " setting above that

 

Everything you need to know about your truck, including suspension info, is generally in here (it's bookmark worthy, we worked a lot to make this thread): https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

Eibach threads are aplenty, because nobody seems to want to Search, it seems, and we get a lot of drive-by posters who just want to snatch up info and flee:

• https://www.tundras.com/threads/eibach-pro-truck-stage-1.164674/
  
• https://www.tundras.com/threads/eibach-stage-1-lift.148671/
  
• https://www.tundras.com/threads/eibach-pro-lift-kit-stage-1-on-first-gen.166941/
  
• https://www.tundras.com/threads/eibach-setup.130857/

There's a couple more on here, but I think you'll find what you're hunting between those four.

Bigger question is ...

When was the last time you replaced the LBJs, and ... you used OEM LBJ and new bolts, right?

You're using the springs Eibach supplied, right? or OEM? Or something else?

 

I replaced LCA's, LBJ's, inner/outer tie rods, cv axles, and rack and pinion bushings on both sides about a week ago I've had the truck a little over a year and started getting bad noises coming from the front end so I just decided to replace everything so I won't have to worry about it for awhile. I went with Moog tie rods and mevotech LBJ's (I know i should've gotten oem but money was tight) and I am using the eibach springs

 

Mevotech is certified garbage. Worse than most of the others.

You want to see tight on money? The one dude who is posted up on here had his Mevotech LBJ fail on him after 1700 miles, and probably did about $2k in damage would like to talk to you.

But hey ... you do you! Here's 20 pages of people who thought they knew better, or felt paying an extra $50/side on their truck wasn't worth the money. This one pictured below is my favorite, I'm shocked this forum member survived. I wonder if that damage was worth saving $100-150?

Despite what you may read in Facebook groups, aftermarket LBJs are a legitimate issue with our trucks. Don't think you know better, or that some dumbass on the internet who got lucky with a pair knows better. There's always "that one person" who got lucky.

​

 

well shit I guys I'll be ordered ordering OEM here shortly I've just never tried these ones I've had good luck with moog but a few of my buddy's ran them on there 1st gen tacos and had them fail. thanks for the help!

 

Moog, NAPA, and one or two other companies were tied to a national recall of lower balljoints for our trucks, manufacturing defects. They can't be trusted.

The big issue is, the LBJ is "under tension" in our trucks, this generation at least, and there's a fuckton of pressure/stress pushing down on it. Toyota's OEM LBJ use metal bushings/seats/internals, Moog, NAPA, Sankei 555, Mevotech, and others use nylon bushings and seats.

I can post some videos of someone cutting open joints to show you this, if it's interesting.

The big thing to takeaway is this:

For one, I don't know what age you are, I'm half a century old. I've been wrenching for decades. I can tell you, as someone that's been doing this a long time, aftermarket parts these days are fucking garbage. If you're lucky, they are half as good, and last half as long, and you only pay half as much (sometimes 2/3 as much). They do ZERO significant quality assurance testing on aftermarket parts these days, they instead throw a "lifetime warranty" on them, knowing you'll be back when it fails prematurely, and if it destroys your car, you're gonna spend hella money out of pocket to lawyer up, which ... the kind of person trying to save money buying their parts isn't gonna have. In a nutshell, YOU are their QA team, and you contractually agree to being their QA team by handing over your hard earned dollars for their part.

For two, you need to understand that when Toyota tells you, "service window for X part is Y years", that is only if you use their OEM parts! They can't track every aftermarket vendor out there making inferior repop parts for their truck. So while Toyota's timing belt will absolutely last the full 9-10yr or 90k-100k service interval they recommend, a belt from Gates or Continental - which are generally great brands, mind you! - will will probably only last 50-60k miles.

Moog used to be a great company. I used their stuff on all my classic projects. You'll find a lot of mechanics and old-timers who still swear by 'em because they haven't gotten burned ... YET. The sad reality is, and what I don't think they know, is Moog doesn't make their own parts anymore, and hasn't for at least 10-20 years. They outsource to the cheapest possible semi-reputable factory that bids the job, and the cost is lower because both the quality is inferior, it's more cheaply made with cheaper metals and internals, and it's not real-world tested to a great degree.

The bottom line is this: OEM LBJ will last 125k miles, easy. Guaranteed. It costs 30-50% more. Aftermarket may last 50k, 60k? And you'll replace it at least 2-3 times in the time you'd do a single OEM. In the long run, you pay less money for OEM parts, and you *know* how long it'lll last *IF* you buy from a verified source (i.e. avoid knockoff factories like scAmazon and fleaBay)

 

I did the same thing before knowing, except with even more questionable LBJs. The sooner you do it the better. It's a learning curve, and after putting all that work into it, it would be a shame to total it out.
Admittedly my truck is still a test bed for several other questionable aftermarket parts but not quite as critical as LBJs.... well ok, outer tie rods, but that's it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQWwTB8w2Hk

 

I love that guy's stuff.

Here's some more fun:

https://youtube.com/shorts/V3nu20CFs9M?si=zSPrHj3ZUJQa6dcB

https://youtube.com/shorts/gnywGP2mMwo?si=ZWFq47Z4RUr9Kcd_

https://youtube.com/shorts/lMBZNwA80f0?si=f7pT06e1I47FMv-v

https://youtube.com/shorts/TtpQR_AaVp8?si=RMQYo6wUTKbRucLo

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And I love this one, covering aftermarket LCAs for our trucks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6lgyhA3nA​

 

People never learn - as we say in SC, “you can’t fix stupid.”