Downey 4 inch lift

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FJBen said:
of course! I'm in Greeley...we walk to the corner...hit a cow in the head with a ball peen hammer...cut off desired meat and cook to perfection...
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LOL! (BTW, that stands for Laugh Out Loud, not that grade school acronym some of you know) :D
 
I went into an alignment shop today to check caster.

Ever since the conversion to 60 series pwer steering, the front end has been a little darty.

Came back as having -0.7 deg caster on the left, and -0.8 deg of caster for the righ front wheel. The guy at the shop was opposed to shims - he said they always bounce out. Any opinions here?

There are some other issues as well, need a steering stabilizer still, and the spring packs are not the same width as the spring hangers on the frame, making the shackles look weird. I'll post pics shortly...
 
I've been running shims for 3 years. I broke one, since they are cheapo cast shims that I've been using. Pretty easy to replace though. I think mine are 4 degrees. Made a HUGE difference in driving on the road.

Bill Morgan told me that Roger Brown makes shims, and his shims are high quality, not the cheapo cast ones. You might check with him. His web site is here:
http://www.4crawler.com/

He's the Toyota Truck Tech editor/writer for Toyota Trails.
 
Best to do a cut and turn....forget the shims, do it the right way...I did mine and no more wander or problems wacking the pinion flange on the rocks...
Ymmv, but that is what I did.

Cheers!
 
Hulk said:
I've been running shims for 3 years. I broke one, since they are cheapo cast shims that I've been using. Pretty easy to replace though. I think mine are 4 degrees. Made a HUGE difference in driving on the road.

Bill Morgan told me that Roger Brown makes shims, and his shims are high quality, not the cheapo cast ones. You might check with him. His web site is here:
http://www.4crawler.com/

He's the Toyota Truck Tech editor/writer for Toyota Trails.
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How is the angle on your flange? Ever meaured it? Do you get any bind at the third member?
 
Beats the crap outta me. I ran the lift for a couple of years with NO shims. I've had 4 degree shims for the last 3 years. It made it much easier and safer to drive down the road. I never considered any binding at the third member. I bought the lift from Charlie Rupp, and he said I wouldn't need shims. I probably didn't NEED shims, but boy, my 40 drives a lot better with them!
 
Hulk said:
Beats the crap outta me. I ran the lift for a couple of years with NO shims. I've had 4 degree shims for the last 3 years. It made it much easier and safer to drive down the road. I never considered any binding at the third member. I bought the lift from Charlie Rupp, and he said I wouldn't need shims. I probably didn't NEED shims, but boy, my 40 drives a lot better with them!
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I wish I were going to be ther tonight to take a look at your 40...
 
TJ, I installed the 4" NHK springs on my 40 a few months ago now, and have not had these issues. I have to admit that I was more than a little curious, seeing as how I've been selling these springs for several years. Now I have first-hand experience.

When I removed my 2.5" ProComps and put on the 4", I also took the liberty of removing the 2.5degree shims from the front axle, so that I would know what to expect as far as a baseline. Believe it or not, the truck does not have any shimmy even without any shims.

When I had the truck in the rack to install the lift, yes, the driveshaft was binding at both ends. To be fair though, in the lift, the cantilever shackles were also at full droop, which is something I have NEVER EXPERIENCED ON THE TRAIL! I am confident enough in the set up as-is to try it out on the Rubicon in a couple of weeks. Of course, EVERYONE will hear about it if something goes wrong!;p

Like you said, cut and turn does seem like a bit much for an SUA. So, we'll see.;) I'll keep you posted.
 
Stabilizer: yes.

Measured caster: no.

School of 'if it ain't broke.............:)
 
I have found out that I have some play in the trunion bearings that I need to attend to. This is at least contributing to the darty behavior...

Some articultaion pics (finally!):
MVC-406F.webp
MVC-403F.webp
 
PabloCruise said:
Never thought about shackles inverting - and they never have!
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Then you're not wheelin hard enough!;p

Honestly TJ, I inverted one of my rear shackles with these springs on the very first outing I did after installing the springs.

I have since moved my shackle hangers 1" closer to the axle but have still not made any other anti-inversion provisions.

I wheeled the Rubicon with this configuration a couple of weeks ago. Got a lot of compliments on the suspension, and it ran great, without incident.:)
 
How much Caster?

Hulk said:
Beats the crap outta me. I ran the lift for a couple of years with NO shims. I've had 4 degree shims for the last 3 years. It made it much easier and safer to drive down the road. I never considered any binding at the third member. I bought the lift from Charlie Rupp, and he said I wouldn't need shims. I probably didn't NEED shims, but boy, my 40 drives a lot better with them!
Click to expand...

65swb45 said:
TJ, I installed the 4" NHK springs on my 40 a few months ago now, and have not had these issues. I have to admit that I was more than a little curious, seeing as how I've been selling these springs for several years. Now I have first-hand experience.

When I removed my 2.5" ProComps and put on the 4", I also took the liberty of removing the 2.5degree shims from the front axle, so that I would know what to expect as far as a baseline. Believe it or not, the truck does not have any shimmy even without any shims.

Like you said, cut and turn does seem like a bit much for an SUA. So, we'll see.;) I'll keep you posted.
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Alright, how much caster do people who shim like to have for good "road feel"

Can I drop in 2.5 degree shims and leave my orig center pins?
 
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