Ready to lift my truck: How do I avoid the lean?

[HemiAlex]

A local guy donated a CS005RA from his truck. Low mileage take off that was on the truck when he bought it. Had 2x CS005RA in the rear and added a RB to even it out side to side.

I see that OME suggests "North American models do not lean so the same spring should be used on both driver and passenger sides, choose two “A” springs for a 3” lift or choose two “B” springs for a 2” lift."

With CS005RA and RB in the rear the truck sits at 21" front and 22" rear, completely level side to side.

Has this been the general consensus with the RA vs RB? Some people I see online run the same spring side to side and some run staggered. What I don't get is this: how can it not lean now but if you add a staggered leaf pack it level out? It would seem more reasonable to keep two of the same spring. Also, how do you place the springs side to side, do they always lean the same way?

I don't know if the truck is crooked or the springs are inconsistent from ARB.

I'd like to get lucky and by a CS005RB rear and CS005F front and have the truck sit like his does.


Thoughts, comments, criticism?

 

[crikeymike]

All the info I've been given over the years is that the Aussie and some other spec models have barn doors, and those generally have a lean to them and need the offset rear springs. (maybe due to the 2/3 and 1/3 door offset of barn doors?) But here in the US they're all tailgate+liftgates, which are more well balanced, so they can use the same spring side to side.

I'm quite sure that @cruiseroutfit also suggest 2 x A's or 2 x B's for US spec trucks too. B's are lower, A's are higher

I had a BJ74 with barn doors, and it had 2 x A springs in the back and it leaned pretty good. I swapped out one for a B and it was level.

Our Dobinsons springs have small spacers that can be installed/flipped around to compensate for lean no matter if you buy the LH or RH side springs, so it's an easy fix if there is a vehicle lean from accessories or bent frame/whatever.

 

[masonbarnard]

i have a very slight lean to the left. Its because i found out this after installing, can barely tell. The + sign on the spring means above spec, the - means below spec. use the + on the driver side. I have never had a leaf sprung anything so its a learning experience.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Thoughts, comments, criticism?

 

[Super77]

I just did the ARB 2" lift and went with two B's. I can't remember which is which, but one stands about 1/2" taller when placed on the ground crown side up. I've heard completely opposite advice on this, and even ARB tech pubs are confusing. I ended up calling ARB tech support, and they said go for it with a symmetrical install (I have an otherwise stock NA market 62), and that if I ended up with lean, they'd send out a free replacement spring of the necessary type. Yep, even got it in writing. Super-friendly tech support and they happen to be local to me.

Right after installation, I measured 1/16" difference between sides. Tech suggested a few hundred miles of breaking in, then take a final measurement. So far, it's dropped almost 1/2" symmetrically.

 

[HemiAlex]

And the plot thickens.

 

[Super77]

...I can't remember which is which, but one stands about 1/2" taller when placed on the ground crown side up...

I should have said "I can't remember whether it's the A or the B, but one stands about 1/2" taller when placed on the ground crown side up." The "B" springs I bought were identical when placed on the ground crown side up. Also, I've heard that some ARB springs are marked "+" or "-" for variations in tolerance. Not so with the ones I bought. Maybe I happened to get two dead-nuts on-spec ones?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I've always put the taller one on the driver side.

Besides, once you drive it a bit and have some junk in it, whether it's level or not won't matter to you.

 

[87CRUSR]

I have a slight lean since OME Dakar install with rear A and B packs and have learned to live with it. I figure once I'm done with all the rear bumper and spare tire mount it may level out.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I have a slight lean since OME Dakar install with rear A and B packs and have learned to live with it.

^^^^ THIS......!!!
I learned to live with it from the first day that I installed the OME Dakar springs....
Even when fully loaded....
Eventually I used air bags cause of the heavy arse, and that took care of the sag and the lean.

 

[HemiAlex]

ARB says that its 50/50.

I'll be getting a CS005RB for the truck to do an A/B install.

BB or AB, either way it may have an issue. I'm ok not knowing, because they have an awesome warranty.

 

[Spike Strip]

I have the CS005 combo and no lean but I do have a slight 'stink bug' stance. It's there because it's engineered that way to provide overload so the truck is level when loaded. I also have a 40 gal tank. I live with it because it functions as it should and truck is level when tank full and loaded.

I bought from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters and he helped tremendously to get the proper setup to avoid the side-to-side lean. And it will depend on how your truck is set up, if you carry passengers, roof rack, spare on bumper (left / right), etc.

Check his tech page for proper install techniques. Helped me.

 

[HemiAlex]

What combination of rear springs are you using?

 

[Spike Strip]

It was 8 years ago, and they've been painted since then. But IIRC, it was an AA rear, both sides. Whichever was the driver's pack went on both sides. Their coding may have changed since then?

Again, Kurt was a wealth of knowledge and experience and he took his time to help me figure it out.

@cruiseroutfit