King 2.5 front install notes

[bloc]

Hello all,

I’ve had my kings on for a bit and am really happy with them, and figured I’d post some notes on install for other people considering going this way or who might have already pulled the trigger. They are very impressive shocks but I found a couple little details during install that you may run into.

They are works of art, but when you see them in place you understand just how well they had to be designed to do what they did.

Example picture, full extension, there is less than 1/32” clearance here, but it doesn’t quite touch.

The install instructions clearly state that the front bump stop and bracket will need to be shaved to fit the shock. I was a little surprised how much metal I had to take off of this. I found it easiest to use an angle grinder with a flap disk, install the shock and check, remove it to take a little more.

This is what I ended up with. Note that I not only had to remove metal from the octagonal flange on the bump stop itself, I had to shave significant metal off the bracket it is mounted on. I don’t think this weakens it notably, but I’m no engineer, just a guy that has done a fair amount of metal fabrication in a past job.

Even after removing all that metal, this is how close things are with the shock in place

This clearance will change a bit as the LCA cam adjusters are moved for your alignment, so I’d advise moving the LCA bolts toward the center of the vehicle while modifying this bit so you are planning for worst case scenario.

 

[bloc]

Not listed in the instructions was a small issue I ran into between the passenger side reservoir bracket and the high pressure power steering line. When bolted in there was interference. I just stuck the bracket in a bench vise and bent it outward about ~1/2” with the bend itself above the top mounting bolt.

Before:

After:

 

[bloc]

The other issue was twisting the hydraulic lines to stay off the spring and UCA. IMO this is a reason to spring for the compression adjusters, as with those the lines come out tangentially and hug the frame rail better. Without, the hose comes off the reservoir radially and if it’s not touching the frame rail, it is pointed somewhat sideways and may rub the tire at full lock. In real world use the interference will be limited frequency and the hoses are very robust with strong internal structure so I’m not really worried about them.

Either way, while they were close they did need to be twisted slightly. I contacted Ben at Filthy and he said these fittings are designed for much more pressure than the 175-200psi they are charged to, so you can loosen them slightly and turn the fitting without a big leak.

Thing is on the driver side especially wrench access is tight, and I ended up loosening too much and lost some oil. I wasn’t sure exactly how much but it seemed like less than a couple ounces, and since I had the shock fully extended I was confident it wouldn’t lead to vacuum in the shock body side of the reservoir sliding piston during driving at full extension.

Best case is find a way to pressurize your reservoirs after the twist, bleed pressure, twist them, then refill with nitrogen.

To get my leak addressed I had to buy shock oil and a small nitrogen cylinder and regulator, but I planned on investing in this stuff eventually as I will be doing my own rebuilds on these. I bled pressure then disconnected the reservoir and kept the line pointed upward, measured the sliding piston position on the other shock, injected oil into the reservoir to match it, put everything back together, and charged it with nitrogen.

Point is, be careful when you turn those lines.

I’m not doing a big write up on the rears as they bolted in without drama.

As usual hit me with any questions or suggestions.

 

[CharlieS]

Did you find a need to cut slots in the rear bump stop mounts (horizontal surface) to make room for the reservoir brackets?

I was surprised to find worn through coating on my front struts from where the hose rubbed the coils. I touched them up with some paint, but am wondering if I should try to put something else there to protect from wear.

Also, I'd recommend using something on the front bolts (3/8" hex) that mount the strut to the mount if you are in a rust prone area. They're mild steel and rusted within six months - I brushed them off with a brass brush and applied marine grease to the shafts and heads. Same with the rear strut mounts - protect the shaft and where the spacer collar mounts to the shaft. They are also mild steel, and also rusted within 6 months. Marine grease was what I went with.

 

[bloc]

Did you find a need to cut slots in the rear bump stop mounts to make room for the reservoir brackets?

No I was able to get the bolts to start and run in sufficiently without modifying, in large part because those bolts were the type toyota sometimes uses with a tapered end as the threads start. It was very close though. If so I would have just used a rat-tail file to slightly enlarge the holes in that direction.

 

[Cruisin911]

Nice write up. I had many of the same issues. I was able to reposition my reservoir on the passenger side to keep the hose away from the tire and the coil. One install note though is that the passenger side coilover is MUCH more difficult than the drivers side. I had a heck of a time getting things lined up and installed. Probably had to do with the fact that I didn't mess with the KDSS bolts and the passenger side sway bar was in the way nearly the whole time. Took some ratchet straps, a floor jack, and LOTS of patience to get that drop link back into the LCA.

Still the best suspension purchase I've ever made. I'm extremely happy with them.

 

[CharlieS]

Nice write up. I had many of the same issues. I was able to reposition my reservoir on the passenger side to keep the hose away from the tire and the coil. One install note though is that the passenger side coilover is MUCH more difficult than the drivers side. I had a heck of a time getting things lined up and installed. Probably had to do with the fact that I didn't mess with the KDSS bolts and the passenger side sway bar was in the way nearly the whole time. Took some ratchet straps, a floor jack, and LOTS of patience to get that drop link back into the LCA.

Still the best suspension purchase I've ever made. I'm extremely happy with them.

Same here, driver side dropped right in with hardly any persuasion (small pry bar to align hole), but the passenger side was impossible (like 3 inches too far impossible).

So, on the passenger side, I disconnected the sway bar links, and then had all the room in the world. Getting that passenger sway bar link back in was fun as you said. For me it ended up requiring a 4' pry bar pushing down, while using a ratchet strap pulling up on the LCA.

Another technique someone told me (maybe Bloc or Markuson) that can help is loosening (but not removing) the sway bar mount bolts on the frame rails, but I didn't bother. That might give you enough clearance without wrestling the end links.

And this is with both KDSS shutter valve screws open.

Bloc, on the rear bump stops, the first vehicle I removed so much material that it was almost to the edge, so I slotted it with a hacksaw. For the second install, I used a Dremel cutoff wheel to turn the holes into slots, and it worked great. Quick and easy.

As an aside, those factory bump stops are surprisingly expensive.

This is all very fresh for me - I just finished the Kings install on my rig last night (moved them from my '13 to the new to me '16). The second time was a lot easier. I bet the third and beyond would be a piece of cake.

 

[bloc]

I had no KDSS screw issues so unhooking the sway bar links was among the first things I did. Then with LCA pivot and outer ball joint bridge bolts loose, the lower arm swung completely out of the way.

Getting both of the sway bar links back in was tough, but I assumed this came with any lift and wasn’t new info. Now that I think about it I may have actually put some weight on the suspension to get the arms to a more neutral position to make it easier. And, with the extra down travel given by kings maybe it makes getting them hooked back up more difficult.

 

[Cruisin911]

Same here, driver side dropped right in with hardly any persuasion (small pry bar to align hole), but the passenger side was impossible (like 3 inches too far impossible).

So, on the passenger side, I disconnected the sway bar links, and then had all the room in the world. Getting that passenger sway bar link back in was fun as you said. For me it ended up requiring a 4' pry bar pushing down, while using a ratchet strap pulling up on the LCA.

Another technique someone told me (maybe Bloc or Markuson) that can help is loosening (but not removing) the sway bar mount bolts on the frame rails, but I didn't bother. That might give you enough clearance without wrestling the end links.

And this is with both KDSS shutter valve screws open.

Bloc, on the rear bump stops, the first vehicle I removed so much material that it was almost to the edge, so I slotted it with a hacksaw. For the second install, I used a Dremel cutoff wheel to turn the holes into slots, and it worked great. Quick and easy.

As an aside, those factory bump stops are surprisingly expensive.

This is all very fresh for me - I just finished the Kings install on my rig last night (moved them from my '13 to the new to me '16). The second time was a lot easier. I bet the third and beyond would be a piece of cake.

From your picture, your hose is definitely twisted like mine was on the passenger side. Looks like its up against the coils too. Keep an eye on it and adjust. After about 1k miles on mine, it rubbed flat spots on the hose and took the paint off the coils. I should have paid closer attention. You'll want to follow @bloc advice on adjusting the hoses. It also looks like you'll likely contact the hose on right full lock.

If you made it through the passenger side install without scratching your coilover, I commend you. I tried like all heck to avoid it but the passenger sway was just too close and it contacted the bottom of mine and scratched it slightly. Life goes on. It just sucked because like mentioned above, they're just so pretty.

 

[CharlieS]

From your picture, your hose is definitely twisted like mine was on the passenger side. Looks like its up against the coils too. Keep an eye on it and adjust. After about 1k miles on mine, it rubbed flat spots on the hose and took the paint off the coils. I should have paid closer attention. You'll want to follow @bloc advice on adjusting the hoses. It also looks like you'll likely contact the hose on right full lock.

If you made it through the passenger side install without scratching your coilover, I commend you. I tried like all heck to avoid it but the passenger sway was just too close and it contacted the bottom of mine and scratched it slightly. Life goes on. It just sucked because like mentioned above, they're just so pretty.

Yeah, I hate to mar a work of art.

Scratched the bottom eye on the first vehicle (one KDSS valve wouldn't open), but on this vehicle with KDSS screws open, and sway bar disconnected, the passenger lower control arm would have pivoted down to point to the floor like Bloc's if I hadn't had the upright wired (so the outer CV didn't come apart) and a strap supporting the LCA in a semi horizontal position. So much more room to work like this. To Bloc's point, more droop on the Kings, so the LCA neeeds to come up to get the sway bar link back in. But yeah the sway bar did make contact with the bottom of the strut briefly before I started prying down, no scratches that I saw. Maybe I got lucky. II pried it down and put a punch through the sway bar link mounting hole to hold the sway bar out of the way while I worked.

Re rubbing... It might be the angle of the picture, but maybe not. I guess I need to reread Bloc's clocking advice for the hoses. On the prior install, I had rubbing on my coils (removed paint to bare metal) where the hose made contact, so I was trying to avoid it this time.

 

[bloc]

On mine at full droop the UCA will pull the hose into the coils, but closer to normal ride height nothing quite hits. I do think without compression adjusters there just isn’t a way to totally avoid contact of the sidewall at full lock.. that hose just points outward too much. I’d even be happy with a gutted compression adjuster that doesn’t actually do any damping merely to get the tangential hose connection.

One note about that.. king makes nice stuff but personally I like the idea of the compression damping being done by the shock piston & valve shim stack directly, not by restricting the flow of fluid (created by the shock shaft displacing it on compression) out of the shock, which is what their comp adjusters do.

When I rebuild these things the plan is to just put new hoses on them.

 

[Moby]

This clearance will change a bit as the LCA cam adjusters are moved for your alignment, so I’d advise moving the LCA bolts toward the center of the vehicle while modifying this bit so you are planning for worst case scenario.

Were you able to get the coils to clear with the cams all the way in? I've taken a lot of metal out and I still get contact about 1/3 in from cam bolts straight down.

 

[bloc]

Were you able to get the coils to clear with the cams all the way in? I've taken a lot of metal out and I still get contact about 1/3 in from cam bolts straight down.

Yes, but I had to take a lot of metal off.

 

[Moby]

Thanks, back in I go then... maybe I'll swap to the pneumatic grinder and a carbide bit.

 

[bloc]

Thanks, back in I go then... maybe I'll swap to the pneumatic grinder and a carbide bit.

I went digging for pictures in my phone and had forgotten that I posted some above. Is yours getting close to my amount of trimming?

 

[CharlieS]

An angle grinder worked for me.

 

[Moby]

I went digging for pictures in my phone and had forgotten that I posted some above. Is yours getting close to my amount of trimming?

Yes, close enough that I'm worried about breaking through. I'm into the bumpstop itself too. But I'm going to hit it with the carbide burr tonight (don't like sparks in the shop at night).

If I had this to do this again I would cut out a big chunk and weld a piece back in. Or cut it out and put in an air bump.

 

[bloc]

Yes, close enough that I'm worried about breaking through. I'm into the bumpstop itself too. But I'm going to hit it with the carbide burr tonight (don't like sparks in the shop at night).

If I had this to do this again I would cut out a big chunk and weld a piece back in. Or cut it out and put in an air bump.

Breaking through what? The cup for the bump stop or the support leg?

I definitely got into the rubber on mine. So far so good though.

 

[Moby]

The support leg. Good to know you also had to go into the rubber though. I think it will be OK as long as most of the 4 corners are solid. I'm just going to keep going and watch it over time. If it buckles (unlikely) I'll cut it out and replace it.

 

[Yarrow Babb]

I’ve got my King 2.5’s sitting in boxes, awaiting my UCA’s from Camburg. I was looking forward to doing this myself, in the driveway. I’m ok mechanically. I just installed a SDHQ hidden winch on my 200, but reading all these posts makes me a little hesitant. Can 1 guy install these by himself in a day or 2? This Kdss thing worries me….should it??