Help! Need To Level My Crooked Truck Out!

Carlwalski

Carlwalski

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Hi guys,


My truck has a get er down lowering kit, the kit is good as gold and looks nice but I have a bottoming out problem now, is to be expected lowering a vehicle. I've PMed a few people and had some brief discussions but now I'm confused on which way to go exactly. Truck is in the garage ready to be lifted up and worked on but I'm just not sure how to go about leveling my truck out.

It currently sits 1" lower on the RH (your passengers) side. The rear is perfect, around 3-4mm (0.12") higher on the LH side. It bottoms out on anything above 65mph+ and/or with some decent camber roads or dips/bumps, either way it shouldn't be doing it at those speeds. The front has the stock coil spacers + 1 rubber spacer on each side (supplied with kit). I don't really want to put more on one side and have 4 spacers, sounds unsafe to me. I have 4 options and would like serious input in how to tackle the situation safely and they are:

Option #1) - Put 2 extra coil spacers (total = 4) on one side to level it out.

Option #2) - Re-tension leaf springs. Maybe hard to get it 1" exactly + may level out or settle again?

Option #3) - The option I'm leaning to along with option #4. Trim 3/4" to 1" off the LH rear lowering block.

Option #4) - Get a new spring remade, same lb rating but 1" higher.

Pushing the LH rear down in the garage the front RH rises the same amount as being pushed down. This to me makes the most sense using a lower block height and it is safe. No one will see or spot the 3/4" difference in block height if they do they perhaps need to get a life LOL. :D The rear is level but at the end of the day one end may have to be slightly off (although not to the naked eye), so the rear it must be. 1" higher in the RH front would be perfectly level so perhaps 3/4" will be level at both ends. With a new 1" higher spring that will push the LH rear down but who knows, maybe not?

Thanks for the help and input in advance. I really, REALLY want to get this sorted out. It's annoying me no end knowing it's off.
I have some bits and pieces to do to the truck that requires jacking it up so I'm waiting until I have a fix for this problem before I tackle everything.


Cheers,
Carl

Lean0.jpg


Lean.jpg
 
IMO, if the rear is level, I wouldn't mess with it. I'd try switching the front springs around or if you can get your hands on a neew set of front springs, try them. I offer this as a suggestion as when I owned my Magnum SRT-8, it listed towards the drivers side (happend brand new, stock with less than 500 miles showing). You culd only notice the list when looking at it from the rear -- front looked fine. My dealer checked ride heights, springs, shocks, etc. and finally swapped out both rear springs for new and it improved the stance greatly. Not sure though if this would help you out or not.
 
Truck looks great. Are you sure it was not leaning before you put kit in? Mine sits almost an inch low also but on the drivers side.
 
FastRam said:
IMO, if the rear is level, I wouldn't mess with it. I'd try switching the front springs around or if you can get your hands on a neew set of front springs, try them. I offer this as a suggestion as when I owned my Magnum SRT-8, it listed towards the drivers side (happend brand new, stock with less than 500 miles showing). You culd only notice the list when looking at it from the rear -- front looked fine. My dealer checked ride heights, springs, shocks, etc. and finally swapped out both rear springs for new and it improved the stance greatly. Not sure though if this would help you out or not.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the great input mate. I guess I agree and am leaning towards a new front RH spring, same rate etc. just 1" taller (if that is possible).
My only concern is when I raise the front 3/4" to 1" with a new spring this will have that pendulum effect on the LH rear, there fore making the rear look out? No?

SrtBrad - Thanks mate. :)

nycstev - How so? What kit? Which end? How much off? Maybe together we can compare and fix this annoying fault.

TREKER - I have never noticed the lean before but very possibly. I was informed, agree and have heard that most factory vehicles come slightly off to compensate for a full fuel load and when there is only a driver inside. Lowering the truck would definitely exaggerate the issue or list (just learnt this new word for it lol).

Any more input? Anyone else agree that getting a new front RH spring that is 1" higher than now is the way to go? Won't this throw the front suspension out? IMO I wouldn't think so but I'm no pro - hence this thread lol. Any input into adding the spacers? Good or bad idea? This is not only helping me but also giving that [Search] button more power and knowledge for future users.


Thanks guys. ;)
 
Swap the left and right fronts around, so left to right and right to left. See if that levels it.
 
Stinkers kit.Driver side is lower.Thats the side that bottoms the most. Only on a hard dip. He sent me some spacers which should PU about 1/2 " that shou arrest the bottoming OR I could just add the spacers on THAT side. :D
 
First things first, never measure ride height from a body panel, body panels are never the same and move constantly.Any body man will tell you , you only take measurements from the frame, I think Silverback spoke of this somewhere.
For example there is a thread somewhere fo someone talking about there front clip that actually sits lower on one side than the other, I think it was tnViper that was talking of it not sure, but talking of the headlight to clip being different from side to side.

Also yes most are a touch different from side to side from the factory, some are level, and some are not, depending on how they shipped yours over seas, it could have mulitplied the problem.

but the strange thing is , if the difference is 1 whole inch, then why not install the oem spring on the offending side? that should make it almost level since the springs lower the front end 1.25 inches.:confused: Kinda makes you wonder if they put in both springs :confused:

One other thing to check also is if the springs were installed correctly, on the lower control arm there is a groove, the spring must sit in this groove, if it doesnt then you will have differences from a half inch or more from side to side.

But if you want stiffer springs contact Hot Ram, he has a set that are 20% stiffer than oem, he would like a set of the lesser rates.

I would do a multiple of checks since it seems to be one inch off, I have had a few guys state that they may be a half off or so, but to be one inch would lead a person to wonder if one spring was even changed or not since they are 1.25 lower than oem. If nothing else, cut a half inch off one block on the opposing rear and start from there.

But if you take and install blocks that are the same hieght and springs the same, then there could have been a problem in the beggining:dontknow:


but yes on rough roads, large dips, deep whoops, you may experience rubbing, the 10% helps , and adjusting the bump stops helps, but sometimes a compromise must be had for the look:)
 
Carlwalski said:
Thanks for the great input mate. I guess I agree and am leaning towards a new front RH spring, same rate etc. just 1" taller (if that is possible).
My only concern is when I raise the front 3/4" to 1" with a new spring this will have that pendulum effect on the LH rear, there fore making the rear look out? No?

SrtBrad - Thanks mate. :)

nycstev - How so? What kit? Which end? How much off? Maybe together we can compare and fix this annoying fault.

TREKER - I have never noticed the lean before but very possibly. I was informed, agree and have heard that most factory vehicles come slightly off to compensate for a full fuel load and when there is only a driver inside. Lowering the truck would definitely exaggerate the issue or list (just learnt this new word for it lol).

Any more input? Anyone else agree that getting a new front RH spring that is 1" higher than now is the way to go? Won't this throw the front suspension out? IMO I wouldn't think so but I'm no pro - hence this thread lol. Any input into adding the spacers? Good or bad idea? This is not only helping me but also giving that [Search] button more power and knowledge for future users.


Thanks guys. ;)
Click to expand...

I don't think a taller spring is going to work and it may cause more problems, ill handling as one. I would try swapping springs first and install the spacers, per the kit instructions and double check (tightness, alingment, movement, etc.) everything else. If this doesn't work, new springs may be in order.
 
OK, I probably should stay out of this, but......

Note: I never measured once before 07/2006

After my little incident in 2006, I went over my truck with a fine tooth comb. I also noticed that I had a list to the right and that is the side that took the hit, so there had to be a problem. I took my truck back over to make sure the truck was straight and that there were no problems. They put my truck back on the table where they do frame strightening and alignments. (all this laser stuff that I surely don't understand) What I learned is that all measurements are made from the frame to the table. Measurements aren't taken from any body pieces to the table.

He also told me that that for the most part these trucks will appear to list to one side or the other. (He did not use the word all)

I was also suprised that one of his first checks was air pressure in the tires. But I guess it makes sense.

After all the measurements and laser beams and whatever else went on, he had a print out of the measurements. The differences between the sides was in the thousandths of inches.

I asked what would need to be done to make the body look a little more level and he told me not much. He went into more detail than that, but my brain keyed on the comment of not much and I pretty muched missed everything else he said.

Out of curiosity, when I was at the Bakersfield GTG, I walked amoung the trucks taking pictures and was looking at how level they were. It seems all of the ones I checked were off. I was using the tried and true method of where the fender hit me on the thigh (accurate....not), but an easy way to quick check.

After I had done this to a few trucks, I decided that what I had learned earlier at the dealership made more sense and I haven't woried about it sense.

Because I had not measured the truck before the incident, there was no way to go back and see if anything had changed. Comparing what my truck looked like to any other truck seemed also a bit rediculous, because it seems that everyone elses seemd different but not the same as each other.

My .02... Try as you might to be perfect, but from what I've learned and seen. It will never happen as they were never perfect in the first place.

Good Luck on your endevor Carl

Jeff

P.S.......

I don't have a lowering kit
 
Carlwalski said:
Any more input? Anyone else agree that getting a new front RH spring that is 1" higher than now is the way to go? Won't this throw the front suspension out? IMO I wouldn't think so but I'm no pro - hence this thread lol. Any input into adding the spacers? Good or bad idea? This is not only helping me but also giving that [Search] button more power and knowledge for future users.


Thanks guys. ;)
Click to expand...


Well I first start by checking the mounting and indexing of the springs. If that look ok Then I would just leave the suspension alone and focus on installing spacers between the body mounts and the frame on the side that sits to low.
 
dont we have torsion bars on these? why not adjust the torsion bar on the offending side? something that i myself need to address with my 10 (it list to the front driver, and noticeable after looking at all 4 corners). i remember back in the day, we used to lower mini trucks this way...
 
Have a friend sit in (your) passenger seat and fill it up with fuel - then re-measure. . . !

Seriously, I'm not sure what's up. I'd swap the two fronts, of trim a little off the spring til it's level. I just measured mine, and I'm 32-1/2" in the front (on both sides) and 33-1/2" in the read (on both sides) I've got about 1/4 tank of fuel too.

Good luck Carl!
 
Thanks guys, lots of great input. I will swap the springs around and see what that does. I've been planning on going to 12 on the QA1s as well (driver preference). 10 was firm but 12 will help my driving style, the bottoming out and bounciness problem too. Still a tad bouncy. I'll let you know how I do hopefully with a level truck sitting in the driveway! :)


Thanks!
 
Another thing to check (not sure if it's been mentioned) is to verify the spring is situated in the "seat" correctly. If it's rotated a few degrees, it's going to make it sit higher/lower.
 
Roz-SRT said:
Another thing to check (not sure if it's been mentioned) is to verify the spring is situated in the "seat" correctly. If it's rotated a few degrees, it's going to make it sit higher/lower.
Click to expand...

I noticed plastic cups on the bottom (control arm) side. Is that the "seat" :dontknow:

Everytime he does swaps sides or makes adjustments does he have to get it realigned?
 
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