Icon Stage 1 installed, but...
- Thread starter limamike
- Start date
Ducmonsta
New member
Good luck limamike. I'm glad I went to Bobby first with my lift.
I've noticed my alignment's a little off when i'm in 4x4. Will need to bring it back to you for some adjustments and some new gear.
Thanks, Enzo.
We'll see what's up with the alignment. Although, 4x4 will/should not affect the alignment. It will, however, affect the "driveability" on hard dry surfaces.
I do notice on my personal ride (limited), that there seems to be some torque steer under heavy acceleration. Maybe this is the "light" steering feeling that everyone seems to complain about since I'm usually changing lanes when this happens. I'm also dealing with the AWD system so I imagine this may be similar feeling when SR5 and Trails are in 4x4. Then again, probably not.
overbo0st2k4
New member
Actually, he's taking a screen shot of the iPhone while it's in Movie mode (see bottom right corner of his "pics"), instead of taking pictures. Not sure if the OP meant to be in Movie mode, forgot to switch back to Camera mode, or just felt that at the time it was enough to get the job done and not care as long as the picture comes out.
/threadjack
sandcrawler
Senior Member
was thinking the same thing; chalked it up to being rattled by the situation/shop.
limamike
New member
Haha - guys, I was taking screenshots because the flash won't stay on in picture mode to focus properly in darkness. You end-up with Antman pics if you just rely on the flash. In movie mode you can keep the flash on to focus the lens properly and just take a screenshot once the camera focuses on what you want.
It's an advanced technique.
It's an advanced technique.
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limamike
New member
Sitting in his shop right now!
1engineer
Moderator
Antman pic:
Attachments
Qjake
New member
LMAO...Is that what the guys at the "other" shop told ya...:lmao:
Back on topic, It's almost 5pm.......whats the deal? We want pic's dammit!!
GrantK
New member
Hopefully they went out for a beer to celebrate getting it done right.
Ducmonsta
New member
HaHa...just let him go about 30 mins ago. I'll let him describe the concerns and repairs. He's got a ways before he gets home.
harper7
Senior Member
That would make you the go to Toyota shop back east!
imp:Good thing you just expanded your shop!
Qjake
New member
Or so excited about his new lift and having the problems fixed that he just can't stop driving it all over town :driving: :lookout:
limamike
New member
I know you've all been waiting with baited breath, so I'll start from this morning and work forward:
I drove out to Ducmonsta's shop at around 1030 this morning, and on the way I called the original install shop to let them know I would be taking it to another shop to fix their work and that I expected them to pay for it; obviously they didn't want to pay for it and they wanted me to bring it back to them. Long story short there: after a bit of yelling, them trying to tell me that the Light Racing UCAs can only be installed one way, me explaining that I can't drive 100 miles round trip each time they want to screw something up, and the fact that I *should* be making them replace my coilovers completely since they're now permanently damaged, they conceded to letting the other shop (Ducmonsta's) take a look at it to do an independent evaluation of what needed to be fixed.
My intent from the beginning whether the other shop agreed or not was to have Duc fix everything and just chase the other shop afterward since I really didn't have the time this week to play f*ck-f*ck games with them. Anyway, I met Ducmonsta and we quickly reviewed the issues. He's got the Light Racing UCAs installed on his truck and they're in nearly the identical position to Harper's (set at 0 and with the SPC logo facing out). As you can see from my previous posts mine were just about the opposite of that. Ducmonsta basically gave me two options: just do a re-alignment and let him get the sway bar straight, or completely tear-down the UCAs and basically start from scratch and then re-align. I chose the latter option, and as you'll soon see I'm EXTREMELY glad that I did.
This is what the driver's side sway bar/coilover interaction looked like when I showed-up to Ducmonsta's shop this morning:
From the top looking down
From the front of the truck looking back
First thing that Duc noticed as the truck came in was that the positive camber was absolutely visible and noticeable which I mentioned before but never could really take a good picture of it. Hopefully you can see what I mean below:
About this time Gamerc showed-up because I was buying the wheels he bought from Ducmonsta just last week ( :bigok: )! So, there are two guys on this forum (gamerc and ducmonsta) that saw the clown show that was my truck in the first person and can vouch for all of this. As Duc's technician started tearing everything down he noticed several other things aside from the backwards ball joint on the UCA and the extreme positive camber already noted.
1. The remote reservoirs were mounted way far up in the wheel well touching the top of the inner fender.
2. The remote reservoir hose on the driver's side was rubbing the coil.
3. I was missing a lug nut on one of my wheels (I guess the other shop decided that I just didn't need all of them).
4. The sway bar was not center. It had actually pulled toward the passenger side - hence why there was very little rubbing on the passenger side. On the inner side of the bushing and U-brackets (remember the ones that were originally backwards - left on right and right on left? yes, those) there is actually a bump stop that looks as though it's pressure fit or welded on from the factory. We didn't notice any pins that held it into place.
Driver side (this is what it's supposed to look like)
And this is what my passenger side looked like (i.e. what it's NOT supposed to look like):
You can see that it's pulled away from the bushing and where it was originally seated is exposed.
5. One of the bolts that holds the UCA into place was about to fall-off. Ducmonsta was easily able to spin the nut with his hand, and if he were to give it a good, quick spin I'm certain it would have spun right off the threads and onto the ground. You can sort of see the issue in this picture, but the video below the picture really highlights the issue.
UCA Bolt
UCA on Vimeo
6. And finally, the other shop had installed the jam nut below the regular hex nut on the rear shocks.
See little nut below big nut
Ducmonsta and his techs worked their magic on all of the major issues and realigned everything. This is where the UCAs are now set:
The alignment specs
And the final product with new wheels and everything!
Since I left Ducmonsta's shop I've put about 50 miles on the truck, and the sway bar hasn't budged. I had to run a couple of errands, and I checked the sway bar clearance obsessively every time I got out of the truck to run into a store. I ran it over several speed bumps to see if it would jar loose or pull again, but it's still solid and center. I know it's going to take me about a month to stop checking it every time I approach or leave the truck, though.
Even though the alignment was clearly out of whack before Duc fixed it the truck drove pretty well. After Duc's guys aligned it I can feel a definite different in how it handles, and it feels much more clean and planted overall. Ducmonsta was amazingly helpful. His entire staff is super friendly, and his tech actually thanked me for being able to work on my truck!
The other shop has verbally agreed to pay for what Ducmonsta charged me (which probably should have been a lot more than it was), so I will have the grand total for them tomorrow. At the end of the day, they're getting off extremely easy since there are now a total of at least TEN things they screwed-up on this install. They aren't exactly apologetic, but they've asked for the pictures so that they can "correct the issue and it doesn't happen again". Needless to say I won't be recommending them to any of you guys or anyone else for that matter.
Lessons learned:
1. Don't assume because a shop has done something before they'll know how to do it again.
2. Check every last f*cking detail prior to leaving a shop ever again. I tell myself this every time I take my vehicle in for service, but I hope it actually sunk in my brain this time. Speaking of which: I forgot to load my SR5 wheels in the back of my truck, Bobby!
3. Ducmonsta has an awesome shop and a very comfortable customer lounge. He'll be getting all of my business from now on even for regular maintenance once my free Toyota coupons run-out!
I drove out to Ducmonsta's shop at around 1030 this morning, and on the way I called the original install shop to let them know I would be taking it to another shop to fix their work and that I expected them to pay for it; obviously they didn't want to pay for it and they wanted me to bring it back to them. Long story short there: after a bit of yelling, them trying to tell me that the Light Racing UCAs can only be installed one way, me explaining that I can't drive 100 miles round trip each time they want to screw something up, and the fact that I *should* be making them replace my coilovers completely since they're now permanently damaged, they conceded to letting the other shop (Ducmonsta's) take a look at it to do an independent evaluation of what needed to be fixed.
My intent from the beginning whether the other shop agreed or not was to have Duc fix everything and just chase the other shop afterward since I really didn't have the time this week to play f*ck-f*ck games with them. Anyway, I met Ducmonsta and we quickly reviewed the issues. He's got the Light Racing UCAs installed on his truck and they're in nearly the identical position to Harper's (set at 0 and with the SPC logo facing out). As you can see from my previous posts mine were just about the opposite of that. Ducmonsta basically gave me two options: just do a re-alignment and let him get the sway bar straight, or completely tear-down the UCAs and basically start from scratch and then re-align. I chose the latter option, and as you'll soon see I'm EXTREMELY glad that I did.
This is what the driver's side sway bar/coilover interaction looked like when I showed-up to Ducmonsta's shop this morning:
From the top looking down
From the front of the truck looking back
First thing that Duc noticed as the truck came in was that the positive camber was absolutely visible and noticeable which I mentioned before but never could really take a good picture of it. Hopefully you can see what I mean below:
About this time Gamerc showed-up because I was buying the wheels he bought from Ducmonsta just last week ( :bigok: )! So, there are two guys on this forum (gamerc and ducmonsta) that saw the clown show that was my truck in the first person and can vouch for all of this. As Duc's technician started tearing everything down he noticed several other things aside from the backwards ball joint on the UCA and the extreme positive camber already noted.
1. The remote reservoirs were mounted way far up in the wheel well touching the top of the inner fender.
2. The remote reservoir hose on the driver's side was rubbing the coil.
3. I was missing a lug nut on one of my wheels (I guess the other shop decided that I just didn't need all of them).
4. The sway bar was not center. It had actually pulled toward the passenger side - hence why there was very little rubbing on the passenger side. On the inner side of the bushing and U-brackets (remember the ones that were originally backwards - left on right and right on left? yes, those) there is actually a bump stop that looks as though it's pressure fit or welded on from the factory. We didn't notice any pins that held it into place.
Driver side (this is what it's supposed to look like)
And this is what my passenger side looked like (i.e. what it's NOT supposed to look like):
You can see that it's pulled away from the bushing and where it was originally seated is exposed.
5. One of the bolts that holds the UCA into place was about to fall-off. Ducmonsta was easily able to spin the nut with his hand, and if he were to give it a good, quick spin I'm certain it would have spun right off the threads and onto the ground. You can sort of see the issue in this picture, but the video below the picture really highlights the issue.
UCA Bolt
UCA on Vimeo
6. And finally, the other shop had installed the jam nut below the regular hex nut on the rear shocks.
See little nut below big nut
Ducmonsta and his techs worked their magic on all of the major issues and realigned everything. This is where the UCAs are now set:
The alignment specs
And the final product with new wheels and everything!
Since I left Ducmonsta's shop I've put about 50 miles on the truck, and the sway bar hasn't budged. I had to run a couple of errands, and I checked the sway bar clearance obsessively every time I got out of the truck to run into a store. I ran it over several speed bumps to see if it would jar loose or pull again, but it's still solid and center. I know it's going to take me about a month to stop checking it every time I approach or leave the truck, though.
Even though the alignment was clearly out of whack before Duc fixed it the truck drove pretty well. After Duc's guys aligned it I can feel a definite different in how it handles, and it feels much more clean and planted overall. Ducmonsta was amazingly helpful. His entire staff is super friendly, and his tech actually thanked me for being able to work on my truck!
The other shop has verbally agreed to pay for what Ducmonsta charged me (which probably should have been a lot more than it was), so I will have the grand total for them tomorrow. At the end of the day, they're getting off extremely easy since there are now a total of at least TEN things they screwed-up on this install. They aren't exactly apologetic, but they've asked for the pictures so that they can "correct the issue and it doesn't happen again". Needless to say I won't be recommending them to any of you guys or anyone else for that matter.
Lessons learned:
1. Don't assume because a shop has done something before they'll know how to do it again.
2. Check every last f*cking detail prior to leaving a shop ever again. I tell myself this every time I take my vehicle in for service, but I hope it actually sunk in my brain this time. Speaking of which: I forgot to load my SR5 wheels in the back of my truck, Bobby!
3. Ducmonsta has an awesome shop and a very comfortable customer lounge. He'll be getting all of my business from now on even for regular maintenance once my free Toyota coupons run-out!
GrantK
New member
Wow!!! I don't think the original shop could have screwed thing up more if they tried. I wonder if their grandparents were involved with the Edsel?
You're lucky to have someone like Ducmonsta within driving range. Mike, I hope you don't chase Phookas for very long.
You're lucky to have someone like Ducmonsta within driving range. Mike, I hope you don't chase Phookas for very long.
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Qjake
New member
And the final product with new wheels and everything!
Dave,
Your truck looks awesome!! :thumb3:
That loose A-arm nut is scary, imagine if the bolt had worked its way out of...err nevermind. Thats just to ugly to ponder. Anyhow, glad you got it all worked out!
It amazes me what a difference there is between someone who takes pride in their work and someone, whom it seems, that just doesn't care. As Harper said it looks like Ducmonsta is the east coast go to guy.
Hopfully I won't be making that 800 mile trip anytime soon :nono:Good luck with it bro and keep us updated on your impressions of the new ride.
Q
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