New Lift Arrived w/ No Shims... Do I Need Them? (Rough Country) (1 Viewer)

[dustinuhls]

I just received my new Rough Country 4" lift kit in the mail and opened up all the boxes to check everything and read through the install instructions thoroughly. In the instructions it says to be sure and install with the "fat part" of the shims facing the back on the front springs and the "fat part" of the shim facing the front on the rear springs. Only problem is there are no shims... I called the tech line and he told me the instructions were probably written 20 years ago and he is pretty sure I don't need them because the springs have been redesigned to correct the pinion angles without shims. I'm not sure how that is, because the leaves and all the spring packs are all the same thickness. Anyone had any experience with this? I don't want to install it and have my steering screwed up because it needed shims.

 

[John Smith]

Take your current pinion angle / caster measurements before you remove your current springs. If you are using stock shackles you may not need shims. For my 4 inch Skyjacker lift I needed to shim front and rear, but I was using longer than stock shackles also. Use steel shims, if you must shim. Trust me, if your caster goes negative, you will know you need shims on the first drive, when your steering feels super scary. My "guess" is you will need shims based on my experience and others who installed 4" lift springs.

 

[FJsnoozer]

Lifts don't usually come with shims, or new bushings for the frame side of the shackle. It is good to have all of these.

My rough country needed 4 inch shims with stock length anti inversion shackles. FYI

You may consider getting some just to have around as you are installing the lift. 30 bucks shipped from marlin crawler.

FYI. My rear springs on my Rough country never settled in. While I did not do any wheeling to flex them out, they were at 90 degrees, so I decided to remove the second smallest leaf. It rides absolutely great now and is a much better ride.

I removed the leaf as I was installing my shims since the job goes hand in hand.

 

[Irish11]

If you add longer shackles you will need shims. I just went through this last week actually. Since you have a longer set of springs you will want longer shackles to make sure the springs can flex all the way out. You can run stock shackles with them, but it is not ideal.

 

[dustinuhls]

If you add longer shackles you will need shims. I just went through this last week actually. Since you have a longer set of springs you will want longer shackles to make sure the springs can flex all the way out. You can run stock shackles with them, but it is not ideal.

I was planning on using my stock shackles for now and see how tall it is and how it performs. I know longer shackles will lift it even higher. I was just worried about the steering issue if it needed shims and I didn't install them. Like I stated before, the instructions said it had shims, but the tech on the phone said they were old, and the new springs have been engineered not to need them...

 

[pb4ugo]

If you were to install the shims like they describe for the front, you would have a good pinion angle, but I'd bet It would be a handful to drive. You'd probably have major negative caster. Typically a 4" lift will tilt the axle towards neg caster, and will have to be adjusted by installing a shim w/the thick end of the wedge towards the front, towards + caster. I'd install the lift, then park it on level ground, check tire pressures & check the caster angle. Then if it needs shims you will know what degree shims you need to get it to spec+.