Tooltime19
New member
I thought the guys with the long wheel travel kits had to upgrade their cv shafts due to the extra wheel travel?
Need Help! Getting too much lift from 885's on Bilstein 5100's
- Thread starter 11falline
- Start date
Tooltime19
New member
Here is a stupid question, dont be mad but are you sure the cv's have lube in them? Truck looks good though!
I bought them new at NAPA so they better haha...but even if they didn't they are still binding do to the severe angle when the suspension is dropped fully. If you look at the second pic i posted looking at the axle from the front you can see how severe the angle of the inner joint is...now imagine it as the suspension sags even further if the truck is lifted or going over a drop-off type bump in the road.
Nope, I'm running stock CVs and the front extended travel Radflos just fine. I also gained about 5" in height in the front. No issues, no noises.
The only long travel kits available are for the rear. Unless you are talking about the front mid travel kits that use longer suspension arms and CVs.
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The resting position of your CVs isn't the issue here, it's the extended position. My resting CV position is about the same as yours. Bilstein shocks I've heard have slightly longer travel than stock shocks, and when you put a spacer on the top, you extend the droop length even longer which is past the limits of the CVs. Spacers should only be used with stock shocks.
I really think when you remove that spacer and get it aligned it'll be just fine. Lots of people run bilstein 5100s, and the spring should have no effect on the setup's compression and droop length.
Also, your wheels do look too far forward, was something installed incorrectly?
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I think you need to figure out why your front suspension is shifted so far forward, that's probably the key to your issues. Lots of people run bilstein 5100s with lift springs without any issue, unless those NAPA CVs are crap and that's the issue.
The sway bar should have no effect.
[MENTION=93193]morphious[/MENTION]; [MENTION=96713]drewm[/MENTION]; Here are some better pics of the side view. It does look like the front suspension is slightly forward but I think the other picture was slightly deceiving. Tried to match your angle morphious. Do you think caster adjustment alone push it back enough?
morphious
New member
[MENTION=110761]11falline[/MENTION]; You said you set the original caster setting to +2 which is position A, but +2 plus the arms built in +2 give you a +4 pushing your wheels way forward thus causing your axles to rub. I would reset your ball joint setting on your arms to position D = 0 thus giving you a +2 for caster and have it properly aligned. Honestly your axles do not look like there is too much angle on them. I copied the following from the instructions link you provided:
"Camber and caster can be set with the SPC upper control arm, as well as the oem lower
control arm eccentric bolts. In most cases, it is recommended that the lower eccentrics be
set to their neutral position. This way they can be used to fine-tune caster. alternately, if
caster is set for max positive by the oem lower cams, and final alignment achieved with
via the SPC upper balljoint setting, more tire clearance may be obtained at the rear of the
wheel opening."
"Camber and caster can be set with the SPC upper control arm, as well as the oem lower
control arm eccentric bolts. In most cases, it is recommended that the lower eccentrics be
set to their neutral position. This way they can be used to fine-tune caster. alternately, if
caster is set for max positive by the oem lower cams, and final alignment achieved with
via the SPC upper balljoint setting, more tire clearance may be obtained at the rear of the
wheel opening."
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No they are defiantly at position D right now. You can see the flat side with the logo out in one of my pics. Wouldn't more positive caster push the wheel back if done with the upper ball joint on the UCA. If I put the LCA back at neutral. I may right now only have 2 degrees positive (back) caster because the alignment guy said he didn't quite get the caster within spec because he didn't touch the UCA. The recommended is between 2.5 and 3.9 I think. 4 degrees I believe would move the top of the knuckle back which would also move the tire back. Anyone else agree?
morphious
New member
Only other thing I see is that the axle looks disjointed on the transfer case side. Have you tried putting it in 4 wheel drive or is yours a V8? The red line shows the center of the axle which looks lower than center on the t case side and the yellow shows where it should be if it were centered. These are the only things I can think of so I hope you figure it out or somebody with way more knowledge than me can help. Your truck looks really good BTW.
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Your adjustment tabs aren't set for crazy amounts of in, but yes, it seems more pushed in than mine. Are you sure the CV was the correct one for the 4th gen? It almost seems too long. Did they replace the CV at the same time as the suspension? If so you wouldn't be able to tell if the CV was the problem, or the setup.
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I have a bit of an update on my situation. Thanks to the suggestions by [MENTION=96713]drewm[/MENTION]; & [MENTION=93193]morphious[/MENTION]; i have been able to remedy some of my issues.
I ended up completely redoing the alignment myself. First off setting the lower eccentrics out nearly as far as they can be to give me more distance between the hub and diff. I then put the caster back more positive in the B postion of the SPC UCA's at 3.75 degrees. I adjusted the camber as close as i could and straightened up the tow as well as i could basically using an eyeball, level and an Iphone. (mind you this is only a temporary fix so i don't blow my CVs going over the next dip in the road at speed. It actually drives pretty nice though haha. I will be getting this aligned from a more 4x4 oriented shop shortly)
This completely remedied my CV binding on the passenger side at full droop. My ride height is now about 23.5" from center of hub to fender on both sides. The drivers side still has a very small amount of binding at full droop so i will probably have to remove the .25" spacer I used to even it out. The LCA bushings were torqued at full droop because I was running out of daylight last night and didn't have time to loosen, jounce and re-torque at ride height. That may help a little bit too with the sag at full droop when I loosen & re-torque everything at ride height.
I still have some vibration issues at around 40mph and also more pronounced again at 65-75 mph. I'm not sure but this may be a wheel bearing because my drivers side seemed a little gritty when i was spinning it while i had everything off the hub during install. I also have 1.25" spidertrax spacers on and with the addition of the lift might be causing enough additional stress to produce vibration that wasn't there before. It definitely sucks to change so many parts all at one time. Not real sure where your complications are coming from
I ended up completely redoing the alignment myself. First off setting the lower eccentrics out nearly as far as they can be to give me more distance between the hub and diff. I then put the caster back more positive in the B postion of the SPC UCA's at 3.75 degrees. I adjusted the camber as close as i could and straightened up the tow as well as i could basically using an eyeball, level and an Iphone. (mind you this is only a temporary fix so i don't blow my CVs going over the next dip in the road at speed. It actually drives pretty nice though haha. I will be getting this aligned from a more 4x4 oriented shop shortly)
This completely remedied my CV binding on the passenger side at full droop. My ride height is now about 23.5" from center of hub to fender on both sides. The drivers side still has a very small amount of binding at full droop so i will probably have to remove the .25" spacer I used to even it out. The LCA bushings were torqued at full droop because I was running out of daylight last night and didn't have time to loosen, jounce and re-torque at ride height. That may help a little bit too with the sag at full droop when I loosen & re-torque everything at ride height.
I still have some vibration issues at around 40mph and also more pronounced again at 65-75 mph. I'm not sure but this may be a wheel bearing because my drivers side seemed a little gritty when i was spinning it while i had everything off the hub during install. I also have 1.25" spidertrax spacers on and with the addition of the lift might be causing enough additional stress to produce vibration that wasn't there before. It definitely sucks to change so many parts all at one time. Not real sure where your complications are coming from
morphious
New member
[MENTION=110761]11falline[/MENTION]; Glad you were able to resolve the majority of your binding and you are right about trying to trouble shoot a problem when so much gets changed at once. I don't think the Spidertrax are the issue as I run them and many others do and I haven't heard of people complaining about vibration issues. The only thing I would suggest is checking that all your lugs on them are properly torqued and have not come loose and that you used the thread lock.
Yes, it could because the wheel spacing is pushed out more, so you'd feel a failing bearing more, although I also run spidertrax without any issues.
Also, you can set the toe using two people and a tape measure and measure if the two tires are the same distance apart in the front and back.
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