Rough country lift issues HELP ! HELP ! HELP !

I have a 2010 Tundra. When i bought the truck it had a 3 - 1 level kit with 35's. Had issues with a arm hitting coils so i had a 4.5" Rough country lift put on. Next I replaced the crappy +18 offset 20" wheels with 20x12 -44 fuel wheels and nitto ridge grappler rubber. The truck wasnt to bad driving until recently. My 4x4 shop didnt like the rough country shocks that came with the 4.5" kit so i decided to get the new Vertex adjustable coil overs and adjustable rears to match. So their site says the shocks will only fit a 6" lift so they sold me a 752 Box 1 kit that would convert the 4.5 to 6. My shop told me that they already put 6" blocks on the rear and did a carrier drop and that they didnt use anything in the box 1 kit. I picked the truck up and drove it home and noticed the drive train seemed loaded and not smooth as it was when i took it in for the shocks. So i took the truck back the next day. Hes had it for almost 2 more weeks going through everything. Ride height is 28" center of hub to bottom of fender in front and 28 3/4 rear. Drive line is right and he lowered the carrier a bit more. Did i mention that now at above 55mph it shakes real bad ? Hes rechecked the alignment 3 times. Put it up on the rack and ran it at 65 mph says the rear is smooth, the front is smooth but seems to notice vibration at the carrier bearing. There are no weights missing on the drive shaft and the u joints are new.
He is complaing to me that the rear shocks make a popping noise on the road but cant simulate it in the garage. He has just lowered the front coils 1" and said it helped but the vibrations are still there above 55.

The truck was smooth before it went in. Whats is happening ? Rough country just told me today that i really didnt need the $350.00 box 1 they sold me. My shop wants me to pull the entire lift and go BDS. If thats the case where does that leave me with this purchase of the rough country that i have $2,600 in the 4.5" lift and now $3,000 in the shocks. ?

Does anyone have a clue ? Could it be the carrier bearing ? He even replaced the front axles and that didnt help.

 

I know Rough county has had issues with kits and have been working to improve the whole kit. My garage says they have no clue as they have endlessly checked everything. Their reply was that other kits have better geometry and that leaves me with a lot of ? ? ? ? ? My shop is Great and they are a professional 4x4 Shop only. I trust them and their work.

 

Maybe something simple like a lost wheel weight. Just gonna have to eliminate one thing at a time basically. Once you start modifications, one always affects many others.That said BDS does make good stuff.

 

I once asked my local 4x4 shop about rough country products, they just looked at me and shook their head "no".

 

What Gravy said!!!No means no!!

 

I say new shop. That guy obviously doesn’t know the issue and is just making you buy parts and replacing them. That’s not diagnosing the problem.

 

Try to post some pics of the front and rear suspension and I think you might get some more help. Especially that 6 inch block in the rear.. Rough Country lifts are fine. I think the mismatching of parts is what's causing the problems.

 

This, take it to a real 4wd shop that knows what the hell they are doing. Sadly most of these places all they can do is install parts. Give them too many boxes and they get confused and fuck it up.

Sounds to me like the carrier bearing/driveshaft angle is wrong. You will get a vibration in the rear end you can feel through the seat above 55 usually. The carrier bearing is spaced incorrectly. I hope the 6" blocks is a typo. I think the RC kit is only a 3 or 4" block in the rear. Maybe he installed the lift blocks backwards, who knows. This is assuming the tire package is balanced. That wheel offset will never ride as good as factory. You will get some bumpsteer, but you should be able to get them balanced out and get used to it.

Not sure why it would feel tight. I think the rough country coilovers are adjustable. Maybe they are just stiff. Maybe the suspension arms were torqued in the air rather than on the ground.

That lift kit isnt that complicated and doesnt change that much from stock. Shouldnt be that hard to figure out. It's not the lift, it's the installer.

 

So the Truck already had a 4.5" Rough country lift i had installed 2 years ago. The truck was pretty smooth before i took it in for the Vertex shocks. I will do some digging and respond. Very good inputs though helps me to find the correct direction.

 

So the shop replaced the drivers rear wheel bearing and parking brake assembly. He had to send the axle out to have the bearing pressed on. The parking brake does not slow the truck down now when pressed at 20 or 10 mph. Is it possible that they jacked the axle up or something with the hub or parking brake ? He sent the axle back to the shop a second time and said the new bearing was bad and they replaced it again.

I can feel the drive train like its working hard. It all starts to appear at 55 + lower than that and its smooth. There is also a creaking and popping noise when i brake and gas at low speeds that was not there before.

The truck drove fine before we took it in for the vertex shocks. Now i have my traction light on abs and 4 hi is flashing.
This is a professional 4x4 shop by the way. There are only 3 in the whole state.

 

First of all, you don't need a specialty 4x4 shop to work on the truck. Secondly, you need to find a new shop. Try to ask around and find somewhere reputable locally. The national chain places are mostly a joke.

 

What National chain places are you referring to?

 

4wheel parts, off road warehouse

 

Did you have a bad experience with them?

 

They mostly hire clowns who are friends of someone else in the shop, not mechanics. True mechanics are not parts changers, there is a big difference.

 

wow! That's a bold statement considering the fact they have installed a fuck ton of lifts including referrals from Toyota dealers. My lift was installed perfect out the door in 2014.

 

Installing a lift is simply swapping parts or adding blocks and spacers. A mechanic can actually troubleshoot problems. It's kinda like a chef can cook from scratch, a cook simply cooks prepared refrigerated products or similar. There is a huge difference. Like it or not, that is how it is.

 

I’m thinking you might need to drop the drive shaft carrier bearing more OR the shop removed the drive shaft and then installed it in the incorrect position. The drive shafts are rotationally balanced from Toyota, so if you remove the drive shaft, you would need to bolt it back up to where it originally was.

How’s your pinion angle? Can you take a picture of your rear axle?

 

There are 3 4x4 shops that specialize in lifts in Ohio. The first shop i took the truck to have the lift installed 2 years back. They did a decent job but i felt like they were up-selling some things. There were a few things i was not completely satisfied with so i went to one of the other shops that were recommended to get things ironed out. The truck was bought with a 3-1 level kit with 20x +18 offset wheels and 35x12.50 tires. At full drop the a-arm was hitting the coil. Sounded like someone taking a sledge to the spring. So i had the 4.5" RC lift put on to fix that. Replaced upper and lower A-Arms. The second shop i'm mentioning i had install the new fuel wheels 20x12 -44 with 35 12.50 nitto ridge graplers. Tires and wheels are 3 months old. They also replaced the front brakes and calipers and wheel hubs. Truck was driving nice but harsh hitting on the highway with bed bounce. He said the RC shocks and factory struts were crap and wanted to sell me fox 2.5 coil overs. I agreed to the Vertex adjustable 2.5 front and rear. While the truck was getting this done he ask if i had an abs light on i said no. I was told the drivers rear hub was bad. So thats when he pulled the axle and replaced the drivers rear. Truck has not been right since. He says he has checked everything and conferred with RC. Says all specs are correct and even lowered the carrier more to see if that helped. He lowered the front coils 1" to see if that helped. Still the same.

 

I'm the best cook in the world and I never went to Culinary school! LMFAO

 

He removed the drive shaft but the drive line vibrations are still the same.

 

best shots i can get while at work

 

The owner of this shop was the service manager for GM for 30 years. He has a good reputation. Something was done wrong and no one knows what it was. I have 2 major issues. 1.) You can feel the drive line now above 55 MPH it shakes the truck not not so much the steering wheel. I know the truck was great before it went in for the shocks. I am wondering if they didn't screw up the rear axle shaft or the wheel hub was no good new.

2.) now there is a popping sound from the drivers rear where the hub was replaced. only does it on take off and break and some corners. When there is load applied. at 55 MPH cant hear it unless you slam on the brakes.

 

Carrier bearing might be toast, as I said before, since you are not capable, see to it that you get the truck to a true mechanic, not a parts changer. Being a jackass to someone giving you sound advice will not help you get it fixed.

 

I agree. My wife is telling me to take it back to him and make him pay for someone else to fix it. I would like to take it and have it evaluated by another mechanic.

 

1. Looks like you actually have a 4” block instead of 6”
2. Your 3rd member is leaking, likely at the pinion seal, may want to look at the pinion bearing while in there.
3. You mentioned bed bounce, longer shackles usually address that. So if you like the height of the rear you could install smaller blocks and pair it with longer shackles to get the same lift height.

 

Good advice. I was actually thinking of better shackles. The pinion is dry is shadow showing on the picture.

 

so i took some better photos of both rear blocks i do not see where there is a tapered shim under the blocks as i did with my other trucks. And the one u bolt is definitely turned on the drivers rear vrs the passenger.

 

looks like the shim is on top of the block and is thin side for thick aft as it should be.