Kdss lean or not installed properly.

[stithis]

Recently I had a shop install the OEM spacers for the front struts on my 2011 200series. Then I've been noticing a lean which is 1inch lower on the front driver than on the front passenger. I've done all the KDSS lean fixes with no improvement (unless I'm doing it wrong). So I took a closer look at the struts and notice a difference in height..the front passenger (higher side) strut top hat seems to sit about 1 or 2 inches above the UCA and the front driver (lower side) strut top hat seems to sit about level or a few millimeters below the UCA. could this be installation problem vs kdss? Or does the LC200 Really sit lower on the driver side normally. In the picture below you can clearly see the top hats are different in heights which I'm assuming is causing the lean. Can anyone verify that is the correct positioning of the struts?

 

[bloc]

Put a lot of weight on the passenger side or jack under the driver side frame, it'll look the same.

What you are seeing is simply the fact that the suspension on each side is in a different part of it's normal stroke. Whether the problem is caused by KDSS imbalance, a-arm bushings loosened then tightened in unequal position, or something odd about the spring/strut/spacer, any time one side is lower than the other for any reason other than tire pressure, you'll see what you are seeing.

I couldn't get any mileage out of the KDSS "fix"... which I see as a band-aid anyway. All it does is hydraulically pre-load your swaybar system to fight a problem caused by something else.

I'm planning on bringing mine to toyota for an alignment soon, and specifically want the tech to loosen all front and rear-end suspension bushing locations (upper and lower arms), balance KDSS, then align and tighten everything. I'm hopeful that will even things out.

FYI I'm a little fuzzy on this but I believe in the toyota manual 1" is within spec.

 

[stithis]

Is the driver side heavier? The road was completely leveled. I am almost convinced that something isnt installed correctly...

 

[Markuson]

(Bah! Edit number 5 due to eye problem!)

1.5 cents...

Before deciding whether something is seriously wrong...
...Even the slightest non-level parking spot can make it temporarily sit funny & make it hard to judge.

Also...true level/measured height equality will almost ALWAYS be elusive and change both directions regularly.
Another thought... Check your rear springs. Did they put the taller spring where it goes? -Taller rear spring goes on passenger on US spec trucks (side with fuel tank).

In the end...
I've mostly gotten over fighting it... which is very very difficult for this OCD guy...but in the end, it balances out and isn’t a performance issue.

That’s not to say you don’t have a problem. Just that if we all measured? Many of us would not be even left to right.

Tip: If you park on a non-level driveway or parking spot...at home or work, etc.... alternate between truck facing forward and facing backward in that spot.

 

[cboyd]

I fought this for awhile including a KDSS re-bleed after a 2” lift. After all the OCD and measuring, parking one side on blocks and every remedy reported here and YouTube, I finally got something to work.

After i determined that jacking the driver lower control arm the slightest bit caused the rear to level out - we added a 1/4” spacer to the driver side and everything went level. And this was after a fresh Toyota KDSS service and re-bleed (to the tune of nearly $800)

I can’t really explain it. But it works in my case.

 

[Fisher23]

Installing a front aux 2nd battery using the slee aux battery tray on the passenger side will help cure that.

 

[ntsaint]

Put a lot of weight on the passenger side or jack under the driver side frame, it'll look the same.

What you are seeing is simply the fact that the suspension on each side is in a different part of it's normal stroke. Whether the problem is caused by KDSS imbalance, a-arm bushings loosened then tightened in unequal position, or something odd about the spring/strut/spacer, any time one side is lower than the other for any reason other than tire pressure, you'll see what you are seeing.

I couldn't get any mileage out of the KDSS "fix"... which I see as a band-aid anyway. All it does is hydraulically pre-load your swaybar system to fight a problem caused by something else.

I'm planning on bringing mine to toyota for an alignment soon, and specifically want the tech to loosen all front and rear-end suspension bushing locations (upper and lower arms), balance KDSS, then align and tighten everything. I'm hopeful that will even things out.

FYI I'm a little fuzzy on this but I believe in the toyota manual 1" is within spec.

@bloc I would love to hear results from this.

Ever since my lift i have a 1.5” lean, passenger side high. KDSS ‘fixes’ have all been tried, at best with only temporary success.

And what you say above makes sense because on passenger front (first corner we did during install) we loosened up a lot more stuff than necessary, lower arms included. Reading your post I’m now pretty convinced that’s the cause of the issue for me.

My Toyota dealer is terrified of the KDSS system, so if this is successful, would you mind posting up exactly what you have done to fix? i would very much appreciate it!

 

[cboyd]

I’d agree with the MrT dealer statement. Mine wasn’t interested at all about working through it - they just said they’ll have to do the whole procedure from the book before they did anything else. And then they had to have a tech spend half a day reading the procedure and talking to the regional factory field engineer.