Leveling with washers.

koda6966 · May 31, 2008

I'm planning on maybe leveling out the front of my truck with a washer-spacer for the coils, what size washers would I need to do this, and how many would I need to level it out?
Ive heard anywhere from 1.5'' to 2'', and Ive also heard that the 2'' could cause camber.
I'm planning on welding them together to prevent rub, and painting to prevent rust.

Also, to keep it all in one thread, currently my front tires are angled like this..

/ \

But not that steep, I'll get a picture and edit to include it when it stops raining.
What could be causing that? Is it just funky camber from being the stock hight, or is there something wrong with my truck?

--Pictures--

.

Click to make larger.
You can see the difference between the front and rear tire a lot better with the passenger side picture. Its not much, but noticeable.

Super95 · May 31, 2008

R your coil springs original? they may be sagging.
I wouldn't suggest spacing with washers. If it handles bad or if you replace the springs go to a good alignment shop.

koda6966 · May 31, 2008

Super95 said:
R your coil springs original? they may be sagging.
I wouldn't suggest spacing with washers. If it handles bad or if you replace the springs go to a good alignment shop.

The washers are just to level out the truck, its actually quite common. I've just never done it before.
I have no clue what the deal is with the Camber.

--Edit--

It currently handles just fine. I'm just worried.

Loanranger · Jun 1, 2008

You will be completely fine leveling with washers, it's been done plenty of times, and it's how I leveled out my dad's ranger. There is nothing wrong with using washers. You will want a washer big enough for the coil and isolator to sit on top of, and the hole in the middle will need to be as big as the nut that retains the coil. The stud has a head on it right at the beam, so they need to fit around that. It took (iirc) 5 washers 1/8 thick to level my dads ranger. Basically just measure the length of the stud that sticks up past the coil retaining nut, and get enough washers to fill this void. You may need less, but it's best to have enough in case this is your daily driver. If you put 1" of spacer in, you will recieve about 1.5 inches of lift.

Due to the negative camber you have now, I would do a "wobble test" on each tire before you start, to make sure your bearings and balljoints are good. More than likely your springs are just sagging, which if they are, the spacers may not level you out. IF all your bearings and ball joints are good, then you are almost better off with negative camber to start, because the spacers will make your camber more positive. If you started out almost straight up and down on the camber, you would have massive positive camber by the time you got the spacers in. If the spacers don't level you out, it may be wise to pick up some new or junkyard coils, and then add spacers from there. Regardless of what you do, get an alignment when you're done.

koda6966 · Jun 1, 2008

Loanranger said:
You will be completely fine leveling with washers, it's been done plenty of times, and it's how I leveled out my dad's ranger. There is nothing wrong with using washers. You will want a washer big enough for the coil and isolator to sit on top of, and the hole in the middle will need to be as big as the nut that retains the coil. The stud has a head on it right at the beam, so they need to fit around that. It took (iirc) 5 washers 1/8 thick to level my dads ranger. Basically just measure the length of the stud that sticks up past the coil retaining nut, and get enough washers to fill this void. You may need less, but it's best to have enough in case this is your daily driver. If you put 1" of spacer in, you will recieve about 1.5 inches of lift.

Due to the negative camber you have now, I would do a "wobble test" on each tire before you start, to make sure your bearings and balljoints are good. More than likely your springs are just sagging, which if they are, the spacers may not level you out. IF all your bearings and ball joints are good, then you are almost better off with negative camber to start, because the spacers will make your camber more positive. If you started out almost straight up and down on the camber, you would have massive positive camber by the time you got the spacers in. If the spacers don't level you out, it may be wise to pick up some new or junkyard coils, and then add spacers from there. Regardless of what you do, get an alignment when you're done.

Is it possible to do all of the measuring by just taking off the tire, or are some measurements going to require the spring to be removed as well?
Also, around how much should I expect to pay for an alignment, and whats the negative effects of not having one done?
And since you mentioned picking up some junkyard coils.. aren't there longer coils that will fit from a different RBV but will provide a small amount of lift?

Once again, sorry for all of the questions. I'm a big asker.

Loanranger · Jun 1, 2008

Not sure what you're asking about the measurements. If you crawl under your truck right now as it sits, you should be able to get a rough measurement of the remaining length of the stud, without removing anything. Also just measure the diameter of the bottom of the coil (3" iirc) and the retaining nut (something like a 3/4" hole in the washer should work). Just have a burr or dremel handy if you need to open up the hole in the washers a little.

I have a friend at work that does all my alignments, but I think a general price would be around $75, plus the price of the eccentric bushings if needed. The Negative effects of not having an alignment done would be excessive and uneven tire wear, and possibly bad handling.

On the coils, I'm sure a quick search of the site will give you that answer, seems to me I heard something about Explorer coils, but I could be mistaken.

Super95 · Jun 1, 2008

koda6966 said:
I have no clue what the deal is with the Camber.

--Edit--

It currently handles just fine. I'm just worried.

Thats why i asked about, again, the coil springs age. As they sag the camber changes. New springs better than adding washers to saggy springs.

koda6966 · Jun 1, 2008

Super95 said:
Thats why i asked about, again, the coil springs age. As they sag the camber changes. New springs better than adding washers to saggy springs.

From the origional post it looked like you meant washers were a bad idea to use even if they were new springs. My mistake.
Yes, they're the origional springs. I will be replacing them with non-sagging ones from a yard eventually.

Boggin · Jun 19, 2008

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/WasherCoilSpacers.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/leveling_coil_installation.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/levelingkits.html

I plan on doing washers myslef

sluginxlt · Jul 3, 2008

i say if your springs are already sagging go with leveling coils, i bought mine from roughcountry.com for 130. and made 1.25" and put them in there too

mkpecor · Jul 3, 2008

the washers i used had a 3'' out diamiter and a 1'' hole in the middle. we cant help you with how many to use brcause evry rig is different, but i would start out with 3-4 washers put the coil back in drop the truck and see were its at, if you need more put more in. i used washers and its so much better than the poly bushings, the day star bushings will only last a couple of years if that, they start to break down. use washers and be done with it for ever. good luck man.

koda6966 · Jul 3, 2008

Well I tried to get my tire off today since I was planning on taking out the springs and checking for how many washers I need washers, but no luck. Either the lug nut or the actual stud is stripped. I tried everything to get it off with no success at all. Right now I'm browsing the internet and watching some clips from Expert Village, but any help from you guys on how to get the lug off the stripped stud would be great, along with how to replace lugs if anyone has done it themselves before. My neighbor told me to just smash it out with a hammer. Is that a good idea?

kevinsranger · Jul 3, 2008

koda6966 said:
Well I tried to get my tire off today since I was planning on taking out the springs and checking for how many washers I need washers, but no luck. Either the lug nut or the actual stud is stripped. I tried everything to get it off with no success at all. Right now I'm browsing the internet and watching some clips from Expert Village, but any help from you guys on how to get the lug off the stripped stud would be great, along with how to replace lugs if anyone has done it themselves before. My neighbor told me to just smash it out with a hammer. Is that a good idea?

smash it out with a hammer, put the new one in the rotor put washers on the stud, tighten the stud to pull the stud into the rotor

mkpecor · Jul 3, 2008

koda6966 · Jul 3, 2008

Okay, that's what the neighbor and expert village said to do as well.

But how would I go about getting the Lug nut off the stripped stud?

Leveling with washers.

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