15 Digger

I did ready-lift spacer with Bilstein 5100 shocks. Truck drives perfect with no alignment or tire wear, Maybe lucky. Ride is like stock, Spring Lift with variable coils would cost more but ride better. As they say you get what you pay for.

8Lug_hotrod

Ha, I just ordered my Kore leveling kit today. How necessary is a new track bar when messing with the front suspension? Its it mainly vehicle dependent?
Now to order some new wheels and tires. Have any of you ordered from rimzone.com? I saw their ad in Diesel Power and checked 'em out. They seem to be a little on the expensive side but they also have wheel and tire combos that i like. Any thoughts?

no_6_oh_no

Any time you change the ride height it will change the axle position. So, yes you need an adjustbale track bar.

Fisherguy

I agree with the coil spring [art, my Thuren 3" springs are way nicer than my 2" spacers.

A guy does not need a longer track bar and CA's to make it drive correctly, or at least that's not been my experience.

For my 3" springs the track bar would only need to be ¼" longer, it's not as big a deal as some people will tell you, I still have my stocker and will think about changing it when the bushings wear out, not before.

You also don't need adjustable control arms to set the castor, the stock arms have adjustments at the diff end. I only put longer arms in cuz my 35" tires were too close to my fenders and I wanted to put mud flaps on.

My truck drives straight, doesn't pull or wander, no DW etc now or when I had the 2" spacers.

no_6_oh_no

Check it on an alignment rack, I think your closer to 1/2 or more out and dog trailing the truck.

Maxing the adjusters at stock height only give 4 degrees or so at the most. Raise the truck and thats going down in addition to moving the axle back out of alignment. Just about any tire over stock is going to require 4-5 degree split to drive nicely and get rid of the pull.

It may drive stright, a lot will be tire dependent, but the suspension geometry has been compromised. This is just some of the things that CAN happen and effect handling. If one is going to do it then do it right to minimize problems, IMO.

Fisherguy

Thuren told me ¼", I think he knows what he's talking about.

I had more than 5* when I had it aligned and it doesn't pull and drives nicely, if there was a problem it wouldn't.

no_6_oh_no

Ahh, put it on a rack and verify it. You might be surprised.

You can't get 5 degrees with the stock bars. Only with the adjustables and thats the reason it drives good.

Fisherguy

Ahhhh, it drove GREAT before my longer arms, just lengthened the offset bushings to make the arms as long as possible, sorry if you don't believe me.

no_6_oh_no

Didn't say I didn't believe you, didn't say it wouldn't drive right. Said the potential for problems handling is there and it depends a lot on the tires. I too have been down this road with different outcomes.

Just posting what has been found to be the correct way to do it and cover all the bases.

I wouldn't feel to good if I told somebody to do your way and they had issues.

Fisherguy

But you're okay with having them spend a buncha money when they don't have to?

no_6_oh_no

To err on the side of caution, always. What is a few dollars in relationship to personal injury, or worse, someone elses?

Its the other side of the coin and we are all free to have an opinion and choose, right?

Fisherguy

You made it sound pretty definite earlier you MUST put a track bar in with a levelling kit, then you kinda swayed towards you MUST have longer control arms, I'm just saying that's not necessarily the case.

Sure it would be nice if we all had unlimited money to do everything “properly” as you would say, but if spending the extra money is not really needed and the truck still functions without any problems then what’s the point? To tell people they must do this, must do that when they don’t IMO is not good advice.

Of course we all have a choice, but to intimate not putting a track bar or longer control arms could lead to "personal injury" is a bit of a stretch.

no_6_oh_no

Well, lets take it a step farther then. Technically, its illegal to modify the suspension beyond the DOT certified configuration. Technically, it will void your warranty and since you have not provided paperwork to prove that the modification is safe, it can be deemed unsafe and you absorb the liability.

If one is going out on a limb, don't sawthe branch half way thru first.


Simple physics tells us that moving the axle out of line on BOTH axis's has the potential for causing problems. DW is a REAL problem, why would you condone flirting with that disaster?

Your truck being the exception to the rule does not negate the need to consider doing things RIGHT the first time, especialy when it comes to controlling an 8k battering ram. Sure, we can all do it the cheap way on every single thing on these trucks; fuel system, tires, turbo, etc. What does it buy us in the long run other than more $$ to do it right?

Following that thinking, we don't need a billet input shaft (pick your part) in the 48RE behind a 600 HP race truck. Lets just put all the other good parts in and leave the stocker there because we really don't need it.

At the end of the day, *IT* will work without the good parts but the question begs, WHY?????

ripping r

I put the two inch spacers in five years ago. no alignment no c/a or track bar. tires wear fine. no death wobble. i see no reason to spend a bunch of money for the little bit of lift. unless you want to.

Fisherguy

Why?
Cuz it works just as well without wasting hundreds of dollars.

"DW is a REAL problem, why would you condone flirting with that disaster?"
Ahh, so anyone who doesn't spend all the extra cash will have DW? There you go again with the stretching the truth, you're grasping at straws here...