Finally almost finished the lift... (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 18, 2005
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Charles Town, WV
Got lazy and did not do the castor bushings and the steel brake lines yet. No vibration without the bushings, rides fine, tested upto 70 mph. Is this normal? what will happen if I never putin the bushings. My rear axle is little off so I'm going to order the adjustable pna hard rod ASAP. Fixed the rear breather. So the setup is:

MAF 3" lift ( Js and Ls)
Slee front SB drop blocks.
Slee sliders

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That could be normal. Most of the time the vibs come from adjusting for your caster. This throws the pinion alignment out of the stock configuration because you are rotating the axle. Seems that some find themselves somewhere in between what is ideal for a stock shaft and that of a DC Shaft.
 
Your truck looks really nice! I especially like the tires. PJ dirtgrips, right? I had those on my last truck and I really liked them. Maybe I'll put some on the cruiser too. What size are those?
 
My understanding is that the MAF kit uses drop brackets for the control arms rather than the caster bushings.

You shouldn't need both at that height.
 
boydmick said:
My understanding is that the MAF kit uses drop brackets for the control arms rather than the caster bushings.

You shouldn't need both at that height.

That is the 4" lift which is Js + 30 mm packer. I think he got the staight Js and bushings. With the look of his truck if he were to correct for caster I seriously doubt the bushings will do.
 
My bad, he did say just Js. :eek:

I figured he bought the 'MAF kit' when he really just bought OME from MAF. :confused:

Boyd
 
Thanks guys! I think I'm going to leave the stock caster setting the way it is now, since I don't see/experience any problem such as vibreation..etc. Keep the correction bushing in my stock in-case I run into problems. Yeah those tires are PJ Dirt Grips. Grear tires but one really hard to balance them.

Over all, I am very happy with the setup. The ride is very controlled and lot smoother now.
 
Riad said:
Thanks guys! I think I'm going to leave the stock caster setting the way it is now, since I don't see/experience any problem such as vibreation..etc. Keep the correction bushing in my stock in-case I run into problems. Yeah those tires are PJ Dirt Grips. Grear tires but one really hard to balance them.

Over all, I am very happy with the setup. The ride is very controlled and lot smoother now.

Glad the lift is going well. I'd be interested in hearing your reflections on the MAF kit a few months down the road after the winter and into prime time wheeling season.:cool:

Another thing: When I installed my OME Heavy kit and didn't do the caster bushings either (for two months or so--I had them), the vibrations and driveline wear crept up on me. Everything was good and then vibrations, then bad vibrations, until the front drive shaft xfer case side u joint blew to pieces...er...some pieces. The OEM driveline did not like the new lift, obviously.

I then, to offset future possibilities, changed everything suspension wise--adjustables, drop blocks/brackets, new OEM bushings for every other suspension linkage too.

Truck drive like a dream--about 5 months into it now.

Good lookin rig.
Cheers.
-onur
Akron, OH
 
beno said:
Glad the lift is going well. I'd be interested in hearing your reflections on the MAF kit a few months down the road after the winter and into prime time wheeling season.:cool:

Another thing: When I installed my OME Heavy kit and didn't do the caster bushings either (for two months or so--I had them), the vibrations and driveline wear crept up on me. Everything was good and then vibrations, then bad vibrations, until the front drive shaft xfer case side u joint blew to pieces...er...some pieces. The OEM driveline did not like the new lift, obviously.

I then, to offset future possibilities, changed everything suspension wise--adjustables, drop blocks/brackets, new OEM bushings for every other suspension linkage too.

Truck drive like a dream--about 5 months into it now.

Good lookin rig.
Cheers.
-onur
Akron, OH

Yeah, I have thought and am thinking of this same thing. I just did not want to mess with the castor unless I felt/feel some serious vibration(s). But I guess I will get the bushings done ASAP or when I get to it :D. Before the lift, I had moderate to serious vibration. Mostly because my tires aren't balanced 100%. At least that's what I thought. But after this lift, I'd say 85 to 90% of the vibration is gone! So not sure what was the cause of the vibration. The tires still have vibrations but the ride is 10 times smoother. You are right, it is way too early to be conclusive or I may never be conclusive. My experience (like all the others out there) is: every product has its breaking period. After that period is over, things either go smooth or @&@&@&@& simply hits the fan. But really hard to speculate the exact scenario related to adoption and or adjustments. Some others may have different opinion. The parts (863Js in the rear + 850Js up front and N73Ls and N74Ls) seem to be high quality stuff from MAF. Slee has the same J springss and L shocks, as far as I know. Your case could just be a bad U joint but also could be the stress caused by the castor angle as you have implied. I'd ask the experts to chime in and state their opinions regarding this. I'll let you all know how this setup adopts and or lasts in my wheeling style.
 
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Riad said:
I just did not want to mess with the castor unless I felt/feel some serious vibration(s).

Caster correction is to address steering and control (e.g. return to center) issues. Since you have the J-springs your caster is *way* out and you really need to get it checked and back to factory specs. You may say it drives OK with no correction but we all know it cannot... no way, no how.

-B-
 
Beowulf said:
Caster correction is to address steering and control (e.g. return to center) issues. Since you have the J-springs your caster is *way* out and you really need to get it checked and back to factory specs. You may say it drives OK with no correction but we all know it cannot... no way, no how.

-B-

Sure it can. It may not drive like stock, but mine drives just fine.
 
LR_RESQ said:
Sure it can. It may not drive like stock, but mine drives just fine.

"Fine" is a subjective term. If your truck doesn't handle as good as, or better than stock, then it's not handling OK. It might be acceptable to you but don't kid yourself. Mine has a lift and I am running OEM caster bushings with no correction. No way would I say it handles and drives as good or better than stock.

I plan to install some type of correction after the next round of suspension changes and after a caster scan tells me what correction is need.

-B-
 
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It's funny how some seem to think that the trcuk is so damn slow and need to spend thousands to get those 0-60 numbers, but spend $200.00 to make sure the truck is as safe on the road as it can be.........F-that!!!

Not pointing the finger at anyone, just a general statement.
 
landtank said:
It's funny how some seem to think that the trcuk is so damn slow and need to spend thousands to get those 0-60 numbers, but spend $200.00 to make sure the truck is as safe on the road as it can be.........F-that!!!

Not pointing the finger at anyone, just a general statement.

I'd rather have trail performance than safety! :flipoff2:
 
Welp, I have returned the bushings back to MAF and ordered the 3" drop brackets. All of my vibrations are gone but the truck "DOES" want to wonder off, which is the result of incorrect caster. I will let you all knwo how it goes after I install the brackets, once they get here.
 

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