Help needed with Trail Taylor rear spacer install

[kcjaz]

Having an issue installing trail Taylor 30 MM spacers. The lip on the bottom of the spacer will not fit over the conical isolator.

What am I missing? I assume the purpose of the lip is to keep the spacer centered on the spring.

 

[terdrocket]

Put the bump stop through it

 

[kcjaz]

Thought of that but the ID of the spacer is too small. The bump stop would not seat down into the spacer if I did that. I suppose the weight of the vehicle would compress the two together but that just didn’t seem right.

 

[terdrocket]

Lube it up and slip it on.

 

[kcjaz]

For real? have you done this with the trail Taylor 30 mm spacers? Will I be able to take it apart again if/when I change springs?

 

[nwfl4runner]

Isolator should be on the frame (cone thing). Spacer should go between it and the coil. Will it not fit at all?

 

[kcjaz]

When I tried that it left about 1/2 to 5/8” between the bottom of the cone “flange” and the top side of the spacer. At that point the cone isn’t really a cone anymore. It’s a cylinder. Grease and a lot of force might make it press in but that didn’t seem like a good idea. I should have measured the diameter of the cone at its base. I put it back together for tonight. I can try again tomorrow. The good news is that getting the spring out was super easy and putting it back would be easy even with the spacer. I suspect the passenger side will be harder.

 

[kcjaz]

what this guy does at about 4:50 in the vid is not how my isolators cone was going in. It did not just drop in or fit snuggly. I would have needed a press to force it.

 

[TexAZ]

I had to shave some material out of my 30mm spacers. I just used a utility knife to make a beveled corner on the inside edge

 

[kcjaz]

I had to shave some material out of my 30mm spacers. I just used a utility knife to make a beveled corner on the inside edge

Yes, I have been thinking about trying that. The ID of the spacer is 5.25”. I didn’t measure the isolator diameter at its base but I’m guessing that it is something like 5.5”. That is more that shaving it a little.
Anyone got ID measurements for 200 series rear spacers? I think I might have spacers made for a 100 or an 80.

 

[TexAZ]

I used 80 series spacers. There were no 200 series spacers when I did mine

 

[Mogwai]

Interesting, I used the 80 series spacers too... but put mine at the very top above the cone. Hmmm haha... Haven't had any issues but I do like the way they fit between the cone and spring.

 

[kcjaz]

Update:
I took the driver side rear spring out again tonight so I could measure the diameter of the isolator. The diameter is 5.6875" at the base and 5.5625" about 1" down from the base. The ID of the spacer is 5.2500" so no way will it fit by pressing. Trailer Taylor got back to me and just said others had installed these on 200's and no one had reported issues. perhaps there is some variation in the conical isolator diameter between the years.

Trail Taylor said I could return them but then that leaves me with no spacers. To fix the spacers means machining 7/32" off of the ID to make it 5.6875" ID so the "cone" will drop into it. That will result in the width of the ring going from 1.0625" to 0.8438". I don't think that reduction in width will make any difference as the "flange "on the cone remains the same and so does the OD of the spacer.

I know a guy with a CNC machine so I think I'll try to see if we can cut the hard rubber without just melting it. Since its a CNC machine I might try to tapper the ID to match the cone but I don't think that would be necessary.

I might be able to get this done just before LCDC but part of me wonders if I should really make this mod and then drive to Colorado a few days later and hit trails. I don't see much risk here but almost everything I have ever learned was something I didn't see coming...

Anyone see anything wrong with my plan to machine the spacers to fit?

 

[Mogwai]

Curious, if you change the title of this thread to Help with Trail Tailor Rear Spacer install if those "others" will chime in. And he did confirm that these go in the manner you're thinking and not on top of the cone?

 

[grinchy]

I don't suppose you own a lathe?

 

[kcjaz]

Curious, if you change the title of this thread to Help with Trail Tailor Rear Spacer install if those "others" will chime in. And he did confirm that these go in the manner you're thinking and not on top of the cone?

Good idea. I explained to TT in an email how I was installing then and they just said it should work as other 200 owners have installed them.

 

[kcjaz]

I don't suppose you own a lathe?

Yes. I’ve thought about trying mounting the spacers on a face plate and using my lathe. The CNC option is better as I can use cooling lubricant.

 

[TeCKis300]

Lathe would be awesome. It's not really a critical fitment and while it won't look as pretty, taking away material manually should do the job fine. I wouln't hesitate to grind away material off the spacer. Might be a pain in the ass and a bit messy. It'll get it done.

I'd probably used a tapered stepped drill bit on a drill press and mill away material from the spacer.

 

[kcjaz]

Update:
My son in law 3D printed a template that I used to trip the spacers:

Then I used a coping saw to trim excess material.

Now it fits. There was no way this would press fit in without making the ID bigger.

Ready for LCDC!

 

[eatSleepWoof]

I had the same issue with these bump stops and my ‘14 LX. The shop doing the install ended up slightly trimming the bump stops.