Unexpected Lift Results

[pcooke1]

This weekend I set out to replace my stock xreas suspension on my 2004 sport edition with a set of Bilstein 5100's. At 181k miles I figured the stock shocks had to be getting a little tired. While I was at it I figured I might as well replace the ball joints and sway bar links to tighten everything up and make it like new again. I decided to replace the entire upper and lower control arms since they come with new ball joints and bushings. The parts I bought include the following items:

Bilstein 5100 front part # F4-BE5-C477-T1
Bilstein 5100 rear part # 33-187174
Toytec front shock replacement bushing/washer kit
Toyota upper shock mounts
Toyota upper & lower LH & RH control arms
Toyota front sway bar links LH & RH

Measurements before I started were:
Driver front 32 7/8"
Passenger front 32 3/4"
Driver rear 35 1/2"
Passenger rear 35 1/2"

After I performed the work the measurements are:
Driver front 35 1/2"
Passenger front 35 1/2"
Driver rear 35 3/4"
Passenger rear 35 3/4"

So the front has lifted 2 5/8" on the driver side and 2 3/4" on the passenger side. The rear lifted about a 1/4". So this is not at all what I was expecting on the front. I set the snap rings on the front shocks at the 3rd groove up from the bottom which I thought would have lifted the front about 1.75". I was trying to level it but now it sits a little nose high.

Has anyone had a similar experience or know what could have caused this? My first thought is the front shock part number. I asked for the new part number which is 24-239370 and I received the old number which I listed above but I'm not sure if they are exactly the same shock or not.

So now the question is should I try dropping the front by moving the snap ring down to the second grove from the bottom or just add a little spacer in the back to level it out. Will I be able to get the alignment back in when I take it to get aligned with 2 3/4" front lift. I'm thinking of dropping the front as the fix but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[Plumber]

This weekend I set out to replace my stock xreas suspension on my 2004 sport edition with a set of Bilstein 5100's. At 181k miles I figured the stock shocks had to be getting a little tired. While I was at it I figured I might as well replace the ball joints and sway bar links to tighten everything up and make it like new again. I decided to replace the entire upper and lower control arms since they come with new ball joints and bushings. The parts I bought include the following items:

Bilstein 5100 front part # F4-BE5-C477-T1
Bilstein 5100 rear part # 33-187174
Toytec front shock replacement bushing/washer kit
Toyota upper shock mounts
Toyota upper & lower LH & RH control arms
Toyota front sway bar links LH & RH

Measurements before I started were:
Driver front 32 7/8"
Passenger front 32 3/4"
Driver rear 35 1/2"
Passenger rear 35 1/2"

After I performed the work the measurements are:
Driver front 35 1/2"
Passenger front 35 1/2"
Driver rear 35 3/4"
Passenger rear 35 3/4"

So the front has lifted 2 5/8" on the driver side and 2 3/4" on the passenger side. The rear lifted about a 1/4". So this is not at all what I was expecting on the front. I set the snap rings on the front shocks at the 3rd groove up from the bottom which I thought would have lifted the front about 1.75". I was trying to level it but now it sits a little nose high.

Has anyone had a similar experience or know what could have caused this? My first thought is the front shock part number. I asked for the new part number which is 24-239370 and I received the old number which I listed above but I'm not sure if they are exactly the same shock or not.

So now the question is should I try dropping the front by moving the snap ring down to the second grove from the bottom or just add a little spacer in the back to level it out. Will I be able to get the alignment back in when I take it to get aligned with 2 3/4" front lift. I'm thinking of dropping the front as the fix but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any input.

I see you're relatively new here so I want harp on it but someone literally had the same thing happen within the last two weeks. Please use the search function. That being said......

It sounds like you assembled the shock wrong. If the spring perch is upside down you gain more than the expected amount of lift.

 

[pcooke1]

Thanks for the input. However, the shock is not assembled incorrectly. The spring perch it oriented the correct way, I didn't put it on upside down. Also,
the stackup of spacers at the top of the shock is also correct. I'm very methodical with my work, doing one side at a time so I always have something to compare against. I take pictures along the way step by step so I don't forget anything etc.

I think the result is from a slight difference in part number as I mentioned above. I think the snap ring grooves may be in a slightly different location but I was hoping someone could lend some insite on that.

While I don't post a lot giving the impression that I am new, I have been reading the forum for a very long time and doing extensive research on the lift options, shocks, tires, ball joints etc. I do almost all of the work on my own car, shocks, brakes, exhaust, headers, etc. I have many of the common 4th gen issues, head gasket, cracked dash, the dreaded frozen caliper pistons etc. I do my research, so lets not jump to conclusions about not searching and being lazy. I think this forum is often too quick to jump to telling people to search, that was posted last week etc.....

 

[jacob7071]

If you installed the spring perch upside down, you would've had way more than 2 5/8" of lift. You'd get the reverse rake from the bottom groove. My guess is a combination of (i) the 1.75" advertised on the Bilsteins is an estimate and (ii) the new control arms are affecting the ride height some. I personally wouldn't worry about it if you're sure everything was installed correctly and torqued to spec. The only question now is, do you like the height in the front? If so, add a spacer to the rear. If you like the rear height, drop the front.

Also, I got about 4.5" of lift with my FJ springs and Daystar spacer in the front, and my alignment was within spec with stock UCAs. I was surprised, but the truck tracks straight and has enough caster to correct itself after a turn.

 

[t-man]

Drive it for a few days, let everything settle in, then check measurements again. Mine sat higher for a couple days.

 

[Theo85]

When I installed my 5100s at 1.75 i was sure that it would be level using FJ springs since they give you a bit of lift. I ended up having my nose high about 3/4" with that setup, just waiting to install spacers in the rear now.

 

[NuclearN8]

Gotta ask. If you got the wrong front shock part numbers (or at least not the ones you ordered and paid for), why would you install them? What was the rush?...

 

[pcooke1]

I do kind of like the extra height at the front. If I added a 1" spacer in the back that should give me the look I was originally going for. I haven't been able to find 1" rear coil spacers. The only ones I've found are 1.5"

If I stay less than 3" of lift in the front the alignment should probably be ok I guess. It should also give me a tad extra room for my Nitto Terra Grapplers I'm getting ready to install. They're just a tad larger than stock at 265/70R17.

 

[pcooke1]

Gotta ask. If you got the wrong front shock part numbers (or at least not the ones you ordered and paid for), why would you install them? What was the rush?...

Well from what I can tell there are at least 3 different part numbers for the same shock. It appears the manufacturer has changed numbers several times for whatever reason. These are also my second set of front shocks. The first time I asked for the newest latest part number and went on to say what vehicle it was for, the distributer swapped out the part number with another number that their computer said was right without telling me. After I received the shocks and saw they were wrong I called them up and after a lengthy discussion with them they called Bilstein while I was on the phone with them. Needless to say Bilstein set them straight, they sent me these shocks per Bilsteins instructions next day, sent me a prepaid return label for the first set of shocks, and also didn't charge me the difference as this second set was more expensive. Now that being said it still wasn't the original number I asked for (24-239370), it was yet again another number which I saw a note on a website saying the that was a possible substitution for the 24- part number.

This has all been very frustrating getting these darn shocks. I had no idea how difficult getting the right parts would be especially since I specifically asked for a certain part number each time and got a different one.

Another interesting bit of info on my story is I had the shocks on backorder for over a month with yet another distributer and canceled my order after waiting over a month without any word on when they would ship. So I found another place and got the above results. Part of the reason for not waiting any more is my inspection sticker has been out of date for over a month and I've been trying to get all this stuff done. I need new tires and wanted to get the lift done before I get tires and alignment.

 

[S p a r k y]

I do kind of like the extra height at the front. If I added a 1" spacer in the back that should give me the look I was originally going for. I haven't been able to find 1" rear coil spacers. The only ones I've found are 1.5"

If I stay less than 3" of lift in the front the alignment should probably be ok I guess. It should also give me a tad extra room for my Nitto Terra Grapplers I'm getting ready to install. They're just a tad larger than stock at 265/70R17.

I cut my 1.5" down to one inch to make it work for me! Used a table saw and did it very slow!