Icon Stage 1 installed, but...

[limamike]

Here's part of an email I wrote to Joneseyyy earlier today just so I don't have to re-type the whole thing:

"Happy to report that I picked-up my truck from the shop this afternoon. Love the suspension so far, but I ran into what I believe is a problem on the way home:

As soon as I hit 95 and got up to around 70 MPH I heard a loud *thwack* on the inner fender of one of the forward wheel wells (I believe the passenger side). I pulled-over to check everything out and everything seemed fine, so I figured it was just a rock that was caught in the new tires or something. About 40 miles up the road right near the interchange of 95/395/495 I heard and felt the same thing on the driver side. No issues with steering, no issues with the truck wandering, and everything still felt tight.

Well, as I got off the highway and on to city streets it sounded as though the front COs were clanging every time they went over a semi-large bump. Once I got home (after intentionally driving over a bunch of speed bumps to verify the sound) I inspected again and it looks like both COs are rubbing a portion of the lower control arms when they get flexed. No idea if the noises I heard on the drive home were the cause (maybe a bolt flew-out somewhere that I just haven't caught? But again, everything seems pretty tight and steering is fine)."

Please see pictures below. I think I know that this isn't normal, so my main question is:

HOW DO I FIX!? Or rather, make me smart on what they messed-up here (or perhaps broke on the way home...), please!

Driver's side (this looks like it's right against the CO - passenger side shows signs of rubbing, but it's not so tight):

Passenger side (much more space here, but still shows signs of rubbing):

TIA, fellas.

 

[GrantK]

DO you have KDSS? If not, did they relocate the antisway bar mounts?

 

[Ducmonsta]

Call me at the shop...I'm here until 6. 703-968-6648 Bobby

 

[RiDE]

I could be wrong but from the sound of it they may have forgot to install your sway bar relocate mounts. It should have been included with your Icon CO's.

 

[limamike]

Call me at the shop...I'm here until 6. 703-968-6648 Bobby

Looks like I just missed you... Boss called me right after me posting and was talking at me for a while.

 

[magert54]

Stage one ICON comes with a Sway bar relocation pc. that could be your issue. It was left out of the install

I didnt know what they were when I got my Stage 1 ICON until i was reading the instructions.

 

[Ducmonsta]

Looks like everyone's on the right track with the sway bar mounts. I was going to ask you to look underneath while we were on the phone. I figured it was a lot to describe and ask over the internets!

First thing I would do is check your packing slip. You should have gotten the sway bar relocation brackets. It moves the sway bar at the frame forward and down. This will alleviate the angle at which your sway bars are at now.

If you didn't get them, there's really no way to blame the guys that installed it (not me!). But at the same time, I know those guys are Toyota guys and should have caught this.

BTW, how are the alignment specs? Did they do it in house?

 

[limamike]

Looks like everyone's on the right track with the sway bar mounts. I was going to ask you to look underneath while we were on the phone. I figured it was a lot to describe and ask over the internets!

First thing I would do is check your packing slip. You should have gotten the sway bar relocation brackets. It moves the sway bar at the frame forward and down. This will alleviate the angle at which your sway bars are at now.

If you didn't get them, there's really no way to blame the guys that installed it (not me!). But at the same time, I know those guys are Toyota guys and should have caught this.

BTW, how are the alignment specs? Did they do it in house?

I'm looking at the packing slip sent from Metal Tech and it doesn't go into that level of detail. Just says kit/part number and general description. I don't remember seeing an Icon-specific packing slip when I opened the boxes, but I'll look.

Alignment was not done in-house. It drives and tracks no problem, and I don't have all the specs handy right now, but I do know they were at .09 for driver camber and 1.2 for passenger camber.

Here are some more pictures. I thought the sway bar mount was at the bottom of the remote reservoir bracket, no? See pics below:

 

[Ducmonsta]

Can't tell from the pics and I'm not personally familiar with the icon brackets but... Is that an "r" on the brackets? If so, they've got the brackets mixed up from left to right. I imagine the r should be facing the rear of the vehicle. It appears they are offset to move the sway bar forward.
I may be completely wrong so you may have to wait for someone with a similar set up to chime in.

 

[limamike]

Okay, so I *think* I found the major issue that is causing rubbing, but I suspect it's a combination of things. First, both shocks are not installed in the same way. If you look here you can see an example of how the shock should be seated in the lower control arm.

My passenger side (the one with the most clearance and least rub) is seated so that the spacer is forward toward the bumper (ostensibly pushing the coilover more toward the rear to further facilitate sway bar clearance). However, on the driver's side, the spacer is mounted to the rear toward the bumper which pushes the coilover further forward (and further forward to the sway bar). Here is a crude picture to sort of show what I mean:

From this angle I don't think you should see the sway bar butt up directly against the lower control arm shock pocket. It should have a spacer pushing it further "back" toward the bumper to facilitate sway bar clearance.

For reference, this is what is under the sway bar mount:

The one with "L" is mounted on the passenger side of the truck with the arrow pointing toward the front of the vehicle. The one with the "R" is mounted on the driver's side with the arrow pointing toward the front of the vehicle.

I found that it looks like they *did* install the sway bar relocation spacers/brackets which can be seen here underneath the remote reservoir bracket (and above the sway bar mounting location):

When I was speaking to Joneseyyy on the phone right before I took these pictures he suggested it might be the camber of the wheels. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I can see that there is a lot of positive camber on the driver's side (the side with the worst rubbing). Could this also be contributing to the issue?

Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

[Ducmonsta]

Shouldn't R mean right side (pass) and L mean left side (drivers)?

Camber will not change the orientation of the shock. This is adjusted at the upper ball joint.

Castor, however, can change where the lower shock mount sits. Although, minimally. Castor can now be adjusted from the lower control arm bolts AND the adjustable upper control arms. However, don't let this mis lead you. You CAN adjust camber from both places as well. My point is... it should not make a difference with the orientation of the lower shock mount (significantly).

 

[Antman]

Just a thought- shouldn't "L" be drivers side, and "R" passenger?

edit- Darn! Duc beat me by a minute...

 

[Ducmonsta]

Just a thought- shouldn't "L" be drivers side, and "R" passenger?

edit- Darn! Duc beat me by a minute...

Gotta be fast in these parts:gun6:, pardner!

 

[joneseyyy]

I think I told Limamike caster (not camber) but I am sleep deprived, so who knows. However, based on additional info I don't think that is necessarily a contributor.

 

[limamike]

I think I told Limamike caster (not camber) but I am sleep deprived, so who knows. However, based on additional info I don't think that is necessarily a contributor.

Yes, you did - sorry about that!

 

[limamike]

Joneseyyy - can you check your truck to see if the sway bar mounts are the same as mine (L on passenger and R on driver)?

EDIT: Also, it looks to me like those are the stock brackets, not Icon brackets. I think Icon only provides a spacer for the bracket. It doesn't seem to me those brackets would influence the position of the sway bar, but I guess they're labeled for a reason, huh?

Can anyone (with or without an Icon lift) go check their truck to confirm, please?

 

[Keemonrunnin]

Here are some pics of mine. Hope this helps you out.

 

[Qjake]

Mike,

From the install instructions that came with my Icons....

"Install lower shock mount to A-arm: The lower shock mount has two spacers, 1 long and 1 short. Make sure the long spacer is towards the front of the vehicle. This will position the shock further towards the rear of the a-arm to ensure adequate sway bar clearance."

So one of your spacers is on backwards...

Also...

"Install the sway bar relocation block. Using factory hardware bolt the block to the frame with the heads recessed in the block. Make sure the block is positioned so that the new threaded holes are forward of the countersunk holes. using supplied hardware with factory u clamps, reinstall the sway bar in it's new position, forward of the factory position."

So the relocates move the sway bar forward and down, you may need to remove one of the u clamps to see if this is how they did it. Also if you are rubbing at the rear have them set your caster to 2 1/2 this will move your wheel forward abit, it looks as though it is set at zero. if you want copies of the install instructions for the CO's and A-arms I can scan them and send them to you just PM your email addy.

All of these fixes are fairly simple except the CO spacer.

Lemme know

Billy

 

[Qjake]

Also on the sway bar U clamps, R-right L-left arrow pointing towards the front.

There are also some skid plate spacers they should have installed on all the front skid bolts.

 

[limamike]

Also on the sway bar U clamps, R-right L-left arrow pointing towards the front.

Thanks for the quoting the instructions. I figured one of them was on backwards...

On the U clamps, just to clarify - is the L-marked clamp on the passenger side? If the arrows are pointing forward then it would seem to have to be that way, but I just want to make sure. Thanks a ton, Qjake!

I plan on being at the shop at 8 am sharp tomorrow morning when they open to have them fix it. I won't be going anywhere until it's complete and correct (I hope!).