Bluesky 07
Senior Member
Update 02Jan23: Thanks to all who replied. I got an alignment and asked them to take a look since they also do suspension work. They said the wheel spun freely when they jacked it up after the alignment. Tried it at home and they’re right, no more binding. Briefly considered putting the spacer back in before deciding to leave well enough alone.
As mentioned below, raising the axle just a fraction of an inch with a jack to reduce the axle angle stopped the binding so I assume the alignment achieved that reduction. Leaving the thread in case it helps someone else who has this issue in the future.
Original post:
I just swapped in Eibach coilovers on my 2007 V6 SE. Added a 1/4" spacer on the driver's side to correct the lean. Also installed 1A Auto LCAs. Truck drives fine, no unusual noises or such (though I only took a couple of low-speed trips up and down the street so far).
The issue is that the driver's side axle is binding at full droop (when front wheels are off the ground). As others have described, it turns about 1/4 of a revolution and stops. I've read up on what causes this and my first step was to remove the spacer since I haven’t had one before and the passenger side axle turns freely. Driver’s side still binds at full droop but if I jack the LCA up a fraction - I’m talking less than a single downstroke on the jack handle - it turns freely.
So my thinking is that if the difference is that small, a matter of a very small percentage of the total travel, it should be fine.
Just grabbing numbers for illustration’s sake, say total travel is 8” before axle binding occurs. Now say my travel is 7.75” or even 7.5” - is that significant enough to worry about? I get it if your lift is such that you’re binding at 6” or whatever, yeah, that could be trouble, but a half-inch less?
And another possible factor is that the driver’s side front tire has always hung a bit lower than the passenger side when the frontbis jacked up. Never have understood why.
Thoughts, comments and suggestions are more than welcome.
FWIW, axle is a NAPA so I can get a warranty replacement if necessary. Installed 3 years and 66K miles ago.
As mentioned below, raising the axle just a fraction of an inch with a jack to reduce the axle angle stopped the binding so I assume the alignment achieved that reduction. Leaving the thread in case it helps someone else who has this issue in the future.
Original post:
I just swapped in Eibach coilovers on my 2007 V6 SE. Added a 1/4" spacer on the driver's side to correct the lean. Also installed 1A Auto LCAs. Truck drives fine, no unusual noises or such (though I only took a couple of low-speed trips up and down the street so far).
The issue is that the driver's side axle is binding at full droop (when front wheels are off the ground). As others have described, it turns about 1/4 of a revolution and stops. I've read up on what causes this and my first step was to remove the spacer since I haven’t had one before and the passenger side axle turns freely. Driver’s side still binds at full droop but if I jack the LCA up a fraction - I’m talking less than a single downstroke on the jack handle - it turns freely.
So my thinking is that if the difference is that small, a matter of a very small percentage of the total travel, it should be fine.
Just grabbing numbers for illustration’s sake, say total travel is 8” before axle binding occurs. Now say my travel is 7.75” or even 7.5” - is that significant enough to worry about? I get it if your lift is such that you’re binding at 6” or whatever, yeah, that could be trouble, but a half-inch less?
And another possible factor is that the driver’s side front tire has always hung a bit lower than the passenger side when the frontbis jacked up. Never have understood why.
Thoughts, comments and suggestions are more than welcome.
FWIW, axle is a NAPA so I can get a warranty replacement if necessary. Installed 3 years and 66K miles ago.
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