Driver side > Passenger side after lift

S

SDJ

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I finally had a chance to get the Icon Stage 1 lift installed on my 2014 TE w/KDSS today and i found something that was very counterintuitive. I'm hoping you guys will be able to shed some light on this.

After the install, it appears that my driver side is ~1" HIGHGER than the passenger side. As i was expecting the passenger side to be higher, i'm doubting whether the kit was installed correctly.

Here are my numbers post install with full tank of gas before alignment. Measured from top of the hub caps to the fender.

Driver Front : 21.5
Driver Rear: 22.75

Passenger Front : 20.75
Passenger Rear : 21.75

From the ground to the fender

Driver Front : 37.75
Driver Rear: 39

Passenger Front : 37.5
Passenger Rear : 38.5

Anyone experience the same? Installation error or ?
 
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SDJ said:
I finally had a chance to get the Icon Stage 1 lift installed on my 2014 TE w/KDSS today and i found something that was very counterintuitive. I'm hoping you guys will be able to shed some light on this.

After the install, it appears that my driver side is ~1" HIGHGER than the passenger side. As i was expecting the passenger side to be higher, i'm doubting whether the kit was installed correctly.

Here are my numbers post install with full tank of gas before alignment. Measured from top of the hub caps to the fender.

Driver Front : 21.5
Driver Rear: 22.75

Passenger Front : 20.75
Passenger Rear : 21.75

From the ground to the fender

Driver Front : 37.75
Driver Rear: 39

Passenger Front : 37.5
Passenger Rear : 38.5

Anyone experience the same? Installation error or ?
Click to expand...

Interesting, I'd be wondering if it was correct for sure. Mine is dead nuts level all four corners, Billy's though not icon.
 
guitarsail said:
Interesting, I'd be wondering if it was correct for sure. Mine is dead nuts level all four corners, Billy's though not icon.
Click to expand...

I actually never heard of this happening either. I'm going to try to adjust the coilover to compensate for the higher driver side tomorrow and see if the rear goes down a little as well. If it does, i'm going to assume that the coilovers were preset from the factory to be higher on the driver side.
 
Wasn't there a couple threads a while back that noted that with lifted KDSS vehicles the typical driver's side sag was reversed or something? I vaguely remember that...
 
Bilsteins & KDSS here.. also noticed my drivers side was a hair higher on day 1 and funky numbers.. after a few weeks break-in and re-measuring with a full tank of gas (which sits on the drivers side) both fronts and both rears are bang on both sides.

Run them for a while and measure again.
 
I measured the exposed threads on the coilover and it appears that both of the FR and LR was at 1.25". It's little odd to me that KDSS will lift the driver side by over 1" versus the passenger side. The measurements that i listed above is with full tank of gas and approx. 100# of weight in the rear. Before the weight, the lean was greater than 1" all around.

I will give Icon a call on Monday and report back my findings just in case there may be others that may have the same problem. On a brighter note, adjusting these coilovers are super easy. Six turns of the coilover compensated for the .75".
 
Before and after I installed my Fox's, the drivers side sat half an inch lower than the passenger side. It is still level today after the initial adjustment. I wonder if something is happening to these peoples KDSS system during install.

I purposely left the factory skid plate on mine with a piece of wood under the KDSS piston so when I disconnected the sway bar, the piston did not extend much. I wonder if the allowing the piston to extend all the way is doing something weird here.
 
During my icon install, we had a jack support the kdss piston at all times. We didn't allow it to droop. Mine is pretty much equal on all sides. Passenger rear might be off by 1/8 of an inch if that.
 
Leave it for a bit to see if things settle. If it doesn't settle, you will need to perform a kdss calibration. The calibration is easy, but as the billion posts on here talking about it will tell you, don't back the bolts off too far or else it turns into a $1500 job at the dealer (if your dealer even has the tools). Search for kdss calibration and you will find the procedure.
 
dahorst said:
Leave it for a bit to see if things settle. If it doesn't settle, you will need to perform a kdss calibration. The calibration is easy, but as the billion posts on here talking about it will tell you, don't back the bolts off too far or else it turns into a $1500 job at the dealer (if your dealer even has the tools). Search for kdss calibration and you will find the procedure.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply everybody. It really does look like i need to do the KDSS calibration after letting the suspension settle down a bit.

Just curious, is there side effects of just letting it be? I don't mind the lean since adjusting the coilovers compensated for the lean so is there downside of leaving the KDSS uncalibrated?
 
I had the exact same issue after installing my icons with remote resi's. Did the install myself as I've done on over ten vehicles now. I had 4WheelParts adjust the fronts to compensate for the weight of my bumper after I installed it because I was too lazy to rip out the coilers and adjust. After I got it back and took my trip to Moab I noticed a 1" lean to the passenger side (1" higher on the drivers side). I thought 4 Wheel Parts had messed it up but realized I needed to do the KDSS calibration. Called Icon to verify and while they weren't very friendly on the phone (which I was highly surprised about) I decided to try the recal. first. It worked, slightly, taking the 1" lean down to about 1/2". This was about two - three months ago. I've been waiting to do another recal. but this thread has reminded me about it. I'll try it again and see if it fixes it. One thing I found is that with a full tank of gas, the lean almost goes away, then as the tank empties, it comes right back (weight issue). Hope this helps someone in need of some info!
 
guitarsail said:
Interesting, I'd be wondering if it was correct for sure. Mine is dead nuts level all four corners, Billy's though not icon.
Click to expand...

this tends to happen with the ones with kdss. mine is the same way and i just ordered the lean correction spacers.. even tho they say its for the left side to raise it .. im going to be using them on my right side.. i'm about 1/2" lower on pass front and about a full inch lower in the pass rear
 
transworldmoto said:
I had the exact same issue after installing my icons with remote resi's. Did the install myself as I've done on over ten vehicles now. I had 4WheelParts adjust the fronts to compensate for the weight of my bumper after I installed it because I was too lazy to rip out the coilers and adjust. After I got it back and took my trip to Moab I noticed a 1" lean to the passenger side (1" higher on the drivers side). I thought 4 Wheel Parts had messed it up but realized I needed to do the KDSS calibration. Called Icon to verify and while they weren't very friendly on the phone (which I was highly surprised about) I decided to try the recal. first. It worked, slightly, taking the 1" lean down to about 1/2". This was about two - three months ago. I've been waiting to do another recal. but this thread has reminded me about it. I'll try it again and see if it fixes it. One thing I found is that with a full tank of gas, the lean almost goes away, then as the tank empties, it comes right back (weight issue). Hope this helps someone in need of some info!
Click to expand...

how are you recalibrating the kdss? toyota? how much are they charging you?
 
transworldmoto said:
I had the exact same issue after installing my icons with remote resi's. Did the install myself as I've done on over ten vehicles now. I had 4WheelParts adjust the fronts to compensate for the weight of my bumper after I installed it because I was too lazy to rip out the coilers and adjust. After I got it back and took my trip to Moab I noticed a 1" lean to the passenger side (1" higher on the drivers side). I thought 4 Wheel Parts had messed it up but realized I needed to do the KDSS calibration. Called Icon to verify and while they weren't very friendly on the phone (which I was highly surprised about) I decided to try the recal. first. It worked, slightly, taking the 1" lean down to about 1/2". This was about two - three months ago. I've been waiting to do another recal. but this thread has reminded me about it. I'll try it again and see if it fixes it. One thing I found is that with a full tank of gas, the lean almost goes away, then as the tank empties, it comes right back (weight issue). Hope this helps someone in need of some info!
Click to expand...

Any reason why you didn't just adjust the coilover or trim stack?

I read somewhere that up to .75" of body lean is still under the Toyota's recommended specs. Mine was over that - just like yours - and i corrected the lean by adjusting the coilover. I'm going to drive it a few days and take out the correction and attempt to re-calibrate the KDSS. I will also report back with my findings so that others can see if the calibration cures the lean.
 
Both Four Wheel Parts and Icon recommended adjusting the coils to compensate as well. It wouldn't really affect the up/down travel or anything like that, either. I guess I just like plug and play setups and expected it with Icon. I've installed four Old Man Emu suspensions on four different Toyota's I've owned and never had issues with the lean (I did install the trim packer that came with their kit). Maybe I'm just being finicky?
 
I installed icon resi front and rear and have kdss and also have the driver side just slightly higher. I've been letting it settle but may have to adjust the coil over after reading this. It's only about a .25 difference on mine.
 
Update:

I spoke to Total Automotive and they seem to believe that the > 1" lean is caused by the shorter track bar found in 2015 and some late 2014 w/KDSS. Either way, i'm going to stick with what i have and pray that the OCD in me doesn't get the better of me and purchase the track bar.

I adjusted the coilover 6 turns and it is dead even on both sides. The ride? It's perfect. The nose dive is gone and it really does drive that good. I will be going on a maiden voyage this weekend with the new suspension so we shall see.
 
transworldmoto said:
Both Four Wheel Parts and Icon recommended adjusting the coils to compensate as well. It wouldn't really affect the up/down travel or anything like that, either. I guess I just like plug and play setups and expected it with Icon. I've installed four Old Man Emu suspensions on four different Toyota's I've owned and never had issues with the lean (I did install the trim packer that came with their kit). Maybe I'm just being finicky?
Click to expand...

Finicky?! No way! Not on this forum. If anything, this is the norm on this forum :)
 
SDJ said:
Update:

I spoke to Total Automotive and they seem to believe that the > 1" lean is caused by the shorter track bar found in 2015 and some late 2014 w/KDSS. Either way, i'm going to stick with what i have and pray that the OCD in me doesn't get the better of me and purchase the track bar.

I adjusted the coilover 6 turns and it is dead even on both sides. The ride? It's perfect. The nose dive is gone and it really does drive that good. I will be going on a maiden voyage this weekend with the new suspension so we shall see.
Click to expand...

We'll mine is a 2011 with the lean, so that's not right. And if they mean the track bar/panhard bar, I bought an adjustable one that extends as needed when you lift. So that rules that out
 
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