Upgraded suspension components: Data points (1 Viewer)

[GeoRoss]

Hey Beno,

Thanks for all the heavy lifting using the search fxn. I read through them all and my eyes and brain hurt a bit.

It appears to me that you just do the lift that you want. Essentially I came to the same conclusion as you did with the Med/Heavy OME lifts. You do the lift that you need. Do the caster correction and OME bushings. You deal with the other issues if they crop up depending on your vehicle's special 'issues'.

Am I correct in my readings that the adjustable panhards corrected the 1" PS lean?

Personally, I am just going to plunge in for a 2.5" OME Medium (Heavy?) w/ caster kit, front swaybar drops, etc (the easy stuff). If I create/uncover problems with the drive line, I'll just deal with it. The LC is not my DD, so I have the luxury of tackling things one item at a time. I may also look at replacing the other bushings as well. I will consider the adjustable panhards, but I would need local help with this.

Thanks again,

Ross

ps, good luck w/ the writing up. A laptop on the back patio works for me pretty good.

 

[OGBeno]

Onur -

Can you elaborate on, "the truck no longer leans?" I'm not sure I understand what caused it to lean to begin with, which direction it was leaning, how much, and how that is related to the panhard joints. (Gee that sounds a bit like an essay exam. You may now open your blue book.)

Thanks and

Jason

Hey Jason:

Yeah, I'd be happy to elaborate.

It seems from researching that the panhards locate or center the axles underneath the body of the rig and keep them that way when you have shifts of body and axle at the same time--I guess 'lean'.

After the lift, my truck had shifted ever so slightly (about 1") to the right because the truck was higher and the panhards were extended beyond their OEM specs.--at least this is what it seemed like and intuitively made sense. Thus I had a lean....folks told me it was maybe because I had put the springs on incorrectly, but reviewing the installation instructions and talking with Ben at Slee, I checked and everything was correctly installed.

After I installed the panhards and adjusted them as needed for the new inclination and the new body/axle orientation, the truck 'shifted' it seemed back into place. I had it on level tarmac at a parking lot and I could definitely tell the difference after the panhards were in place.

I bought some rear packers from Slee just in case it was a difference in spring height, but I ended up not using them as things seemed to equal out ok.

I am still researching this and some of the links above really get into it well (especially the link that was started by Tyler I believe about buying them....Junk actually has some good things to say about the adjustable ones too--both the panhards and the upper rear control arms).

In any event, I'm by no means an expert at all with this stuff. I am really just learning about this stuff....peeps like Turbocruiser, Bjowett, CDan, Mabrodis, IDoug, CDrew, all have better explanations and have all talked about the intricacies of suspension geometry.

Hope this helps.

Best.
-onur
akron, OH

 

[OGBeno]

Hey Beno,

Thanks for all the heavy lifting using the search fxn. I read through them all and my eyes and brain hurt a bit.

It appears to me that you just do the lift that you want. Essentially I came to the same conclusion as you did with the Med/Heavy OME lifts. You do the lift that you need. Do the caster correction and OME bushings. You deal with the other issues if they crop up depending on your vehicle's special 'issues'.

Am I correct in my readings that the adjustable panhards corrected the 1" PS lean?

Personally, I am just going to plunge in for a 2.5" OME Medium (Heavy?) w/ caster kit, front swaybar drops, etc (the easy stuff). If I create/uncover problems with the drive line, I'll just deal with it. The LC is not my DD, so I have the luxury of tackling things one item at a time. I may also look at replacing the other bushings as well. I will consider the adjustable panhards, but I would need local help with this.

Thanks again,

Ross

ps, good luck w/ the writing up. A laptop on the back patio works for me pretty good.

Right Ross...the issues I came up against might not at all come up for others. For example, IIRC, Boston Mangler just did a J install and had no issues crop up....I just did a OME heavy and had everything pop up.

The lean could be spring orientation (incorrectly installed springs) or it could be increase in extension by the panhards...either way, a spacer might fix it or the panhards might have to be the option for you.

I guess it also helps that the LC is not your DD...you have plenty of more time to figure out issues, let the truck sit on stands for a few days, you can ponder suspension geometry by lying underneath and following things and creating little mental maps in your head...at least that's what I did...

I'm suprised some of the hardcore dudes who do stuff like this (and have much more experience) haven't chimed in...I'm sure they just enjoy newbs finding their own way!

Thanks for the writing suggestion...I just go dauly to my library carousel and write away....just get the damn diss. in the can....

Best.
-onur
Akron, OH

 

[Cruiserhead05]

Beno,

Very nice write up.

I have a question, i recently installed an OME heavy lift on my truck with caster correction and am still battling some driveline issues. I had issues with my u-joints before lifting so im guessing my problem is in the front driveshafts. I just wanted to know how much total it cost you to rebuild your front drive shaft as i may try to do something along those lines soon.
-B

 

[OGBeno]

Beno,

Very nice write up.

I have a question, i recently installed an OME heavy lift on my truck with caster correction and am still battling some driveline issues. I had issues with my u-joints before lifting so im guessing my problem is in the front driveshafts. I just wanted to know how much total it cost you to rebuild your front drive shaft as i may try to do something along those lines soon.
-B

Hey:

I bought the OEM drive shaft parts and basically took off the front drive shaft and brought it to the local drive line shop. I copied the FSM pages and made sure to tell them that it had to be 90 degrees out of phase.

Parts I bought:

2 u-joints
1 yoke sleeve assy.
1 dust cover
2 flanges for the diff side and the tcase side
all of the nuts and bolts.

Basically, I replaced everything except for the actual prop. shaft part.

IIRC, you can get this all pre-put together so all you do is pull out the old one and put in the new one--from CDan for something like $340 (IIRC).

If you need more info., ie-- part numbers, exact prices, etc., let me know and I can PM that info. to you.

best.
-onur
Akron, OH