Working out the Lift Bugs

[thezentree]

lol "vibrations after lift"

What a headache. I've been fighting vibrations for years since I lifted mine. I think there's a link to the thread I had going about what I did to try to solve it in the first post in my build thread, link in sig.

Basically the only way I could get it to a reasonable level was to keep the front lift under 1.5", with a diff drop, and use adjustable rear upper links to get my pinion angle good. I still can't get rid of them entirely, but it's better ...ish.

Good luck.

 

[Vansnxtweek]

lol "vibrations after lift"

What a headache. I've been fighting vibrations for years since I lifted mine. I think there's a link to the thread I had going about what I did to try to solve it in the first post in my build thread, link in sig.

Basically the only way I could get it to a reasonable level was to keep the front lift under 1.5", with a diff drop, and use adjustable rear upper links to get my pinion angle good. I still can't get rid of them entirely, but it's better ...ish.

Good luck.

Thezentree!!!

So good to hear from you brotha!! Hahah yes we have been down this road before . My last one was definitely better than this one I don’t get why it’s so bad. I remember reading your thread way back when and I have read it again since. Makes no sense man!!!!

Hope you’ve been doing well.

 

[photoleif]

Hahah I need some clarification on "stagecoach" mod. Whatever that is i like the name lol!

I appreciate your input sounds like I really need to consider doing the rear arms. Did you just replace the bushings? Whiteline or what did you use?

I am glad you said "GD" when you said wandering because that's EXACTLY what it does to me....Effing piss me off..man I get irate lol. Nothing like spending all this time and money and it rides like junk.

Sucks that AT-KOs dont seem to perform well. I used to think of those as upper echelon of tires but time and time again they let me down. I have some on a Grand Cherokee (shhhhhh) and man they SUCK.

haha. i misquoted you accidentally. you said it rides like a covered wagon. i spaced and said stagecoach, oop. perhaps we've coined a term :laugh:.

i went with energy bushings (and only did bushings) for the rear upper and lower control arms (PN 8.3133R worked perfectly for my '99) and just greased the heck out of them. UPS just delivered whiteline panhard bushings tonight, and i'll do that once the dust settles from today's complete front-end suspension / steering rebuild. i also replaced the front and rear sway bar bushings (also energy).

re the AT/KO2, they seem durable, and are capable tires for rocky trails just like the original AT/KO i first started using in 2005. i feel they're embarrassingly bad on slush and ice over pavement, and on dry pavement they frustratingly have a mind of their own and no attention span. they're kinda fun in snow. i run duratracs on the 4R and absolutely love the squishy goodness in all conditions and surfaces except wet snow, where i feel they load up too much but still do pretty well. when the KOs wear out, i'll be going duratracs for that vehicle as well.

 

[Vansnxtweek]

haha. i misquoted you accidentally. you said it rides like a covered wagon. i spaced and said stagecoach, oop. perhaps we've coined a term :laugh:.

i went with energy bushings (and only did bushings) for the rear upper and lower control arms (PN 8.3133R worked perfectly for my '99) and just greased the heck out of them. UPS just delivered whiteline panhard bushings tonight, and i'll do that once the dust settles from today's complete front-end suspension / steering rebuild. i also replaced the front and rear sway bar bushings (also energy).

re the AT/KO2, they seem durable, and are capable tires for rocky trails just like the original AT/KO i first started using in 2005. i feel they're embarrassingly bad on slush and ice over pavement, and on dry pavement they frustratingly have a mind of their own and no attention span. they're kinda fun in snow. i run duratracs on the 4R and absolutely love the squishy goodness in all conditions and surfaces except wet snow, where i feel they load up too much but still do pretty well. when the KOs wear out, i'll be going duratracs for that vehicle as well.

hahahah oh yes we have stumbled across a good one! Stagecoach baby hahahah

Sounds like the bushings werent too bad then...I def. need to do that. I swapped every single front end part and did nothing but install the lift in the rear. :becky: Need to get that going. I never even thought about panhard bushings, as well.

I never have tried the duratracs but I do hear a lot of good things about them. I did STT Pros on mine and as much as I do really like the look...I'm wondering if I should've gone more with something like a trail grappler or something of the like. Oh well...they on there now we gon' run 'em

 

[fourfive]

Regarding the vibration. Sounds like the rear drive shaft/u-joint might be wearing out especially if it improved after greasing it. If the vibration is more noticeable while your on the gas, there's a good chance that's it. You can test it by removing it and going for a short drive in 4wd (don't do AWD like I did). Since 4wd is electronically engaged on your 01, it might take a few attempts for it to engage before you can start driving (since the rear drive shaft is removed). Also, while the rear drive shaft is off, move the joint around to see if it feels smooth or clunky. If it's just starting to go out it might be a very subtle clunkiness which is easer to detect with it off the vehicle. I bought a used rear drive shaft from [MENTION=78895]DeathCougar[/MENTION] which resolved my similar vibration issues. I also bought a new toyota u-joint, 04371-60070, to eventually replace on my original so I have a spare. [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION], [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] & [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] have a video on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6arj3PpT1p4

What is your center hub to fender measurements? If it's over 22.5" that could be contributing to the wandering & overly sensitive steering but also sounds alignment/alignment parts related. Next time you get an alignment mark the LCA cam bolts & OTRE jam nut with a paint pen so you have a reference in case any fasteners come loose. Since the alignment numbers are within the factory specified ranges, my guess would be that either a fastener got loose or something got shifted when the tech was tightening everything back up after having it initially aligned. Having caster on the higher end of the factory specified range is supposed to be better but I think there is a point of diminishing return & that there are other variables that can contribute to twitchy steering from my experience messing around with the alignment on my 4runner. My point is don't get too caught up in trying to overly increase caster because it can sometimes compromise the other alignment numbers & you want to make sure you are able to objectively look at all the potentially contributing variables to the steering/wandering issues.

Other things to consider:
Were the newly installed ITRE, OTRE & LBJ OEM?
Are your lower cam bolts original toyota and still in good shape?
If new lower cam bolts were installed, were they OEM?

If you get under there & everything checks out good then I would take it back to the alignment shop to see if they can recheck your alignment numbers to make sure they are still within close range of your original alignment print out to rule out something getting shifted out of place.

 

[St Runner]

I replaced the rear u-joint and the rear upper and lower control arm bushings and it did make a difference. Well, that and replacing the e-locked housing that was bent too... I could not find whiteline bushings for the rear control arms, only energy suspension seems to make them. And nothing for the panhard bar but oem which I did not do. Not hard at all to replace just grease the hell out of them when you install. The rear u-joint was also easy, check the grease fittings front and rear on the rear drive shaft and make sure they are aligned, from the factory they should both be pointing in the same direction. If they are not someone took apart the driveshaft and did not install it the same way which could possibly cause vibration

 

[Devbot]

I replaced the rear u-joint and the rear upper and lower control arm bushings and it did make a difference. Well, that and replacing the e-locked housing that was bent too... I could not find whiteline bushings for the rear control arms, only energy suspension seems to make them. And nothing for the panhard bar but oem which I did not do. Not hard at all to replace just grease the hell out of them when you install. The rear u-joint was also easy, check the grease fittings front and rear on the rear drive shaft and make sure they are aligned, from the factory they should both be pointing in the same direction. If they are not someone took apart the driveshaft and did not install it the same way which could possibly cause vibration

Whiteline absolutely makes them. I don't think there's a single bushing on our vehicles they don't produce. Timmy has a part number in his video.

 

[fourfive]

I replaced the rear u-joint and the rear upper and lower control arm bushings and it did make a difference. Well, that and replacing the e-locked housing that was bent too... I could not find whiteline bushings for the rear control arms, only energy suspension seems to make them. And nothing for the panhard bar but oem which I did not do. Not hard at all to replace just grease the hell out of them when you install. The rear u-joint was also easy, check the grease fittings front and rear on the rear drive shaft and make sure they are aligned, from the factory they should both be pointing in the same direction. If they are not someone took apart the driveshaft and did not install it the same way which could possibly cause vibration

Whiteline rear lower link bushings: W63378 W63378 Whiteline Trailing arm - lower bushing
Whiteline rear upper ling bushings: W63379 W63379 Whiteline Trailing arm - upper bushing

Sonoran steel also offers strongflex poly bushings for the rear upper links & the factory toyota panhard bar.

Rear upper link strongflex bushings: http://www.sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_11&products_id=9
Factory toyota panhard strongflex bushings: http://www.sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_11&products_id=9

 

[thezentree]

Thezentree!!!

So good to hear from you brotha!! Hahah yes we have been down this road before . My last one was definitely better than this one I don’t get why it’s so bad. I remember reading your thread way back when and I have read it again since. Makes no sense man!!!!

Hope you’ve been doing well.

Yeah man, you too. Glad to see you back in a 3rd gen.


I think some of these things just vibrate more than others for some reason. Maybe some weird resonance thing caused by build tolerances? I dunno.

Either way I hope you have an easier time tracking down your vibration issue than I have haha.

 

[Vansnxtweek]

Wanted to check in as I've still been working on this...

I bought a set of front sway bar end links to use for the rear and they really fit well. The old ones were at a horrible angle and they were completely destroyed. I slightly overlooked that and that helped some with the rear sway. I really hoped this would solve my rear end clunk but it did not.

Still really anxious to get the eimkeith brackets on as I think that is going to be a big improvement.

I did the slip joint fix and HOLY CRAP what an improvement. Unbelievable. The wheel feels completely different now and this helped with handling a lot.

I took the runner back for another alignment and they were able to get the caster from 2.4/2.5 up to 2.9/3.0 and that really made a big change in the twitchi'ness. It is a lot better now. The rub in the front is worse but don't care since I'm going to get a new front bumper.

Lastly, this DAMN REAR CLUNK. I started tapping around with a mallet in the back and I thought it was the passenger rear spring. It was making some noise so I jacked everything up and rotated the spring just a pinch. This got rid of that small noise but it didn't solve the clunk.

I believe the clunk in the rear is the Toytec Aluma shocks. Everything is tight but when I have someone bounce up and down on the rear end, the shocks both make a clunking noise just as they begin to compress. For $369 shocks, this is unacceptable if that's truly what it is. I checked all mounting bolts and top nuts multiple times and its all super tight and good. Its the shock itself. Gonna call them tomorrow.

The vibrations I feel are just about gone. I think the grease had to sling out excess and balance itself back in inside the slip joint of the driveshaft after I greased it.

Hope this helps someone and if anyone has any comments or experience with shock clunking, please let me know.