Help a rookie out

[lhc_cj7]

Got the p-side spring off. The camber bushing is "fixed" and has 2 1/2 stamped on it.

I now see why the washers have to be 3" OD. Searched the garage and local stores with now luck. So, I ordered the poly 2" spacers and will be here next week. The local ford dealer had the f150 coil seat listed as $42 for one side and $35 for the other. I'm going on vacation next week so not much more can be done on this part of the job.

So for this weekend I'll go work on the j__p.

Thanks for sharing the knoweldge and I will post up when I get back in several weeks.

 

[canyoncritter]

sorry about the diff that really blows.


those polly spacers also have problems with spliting and coming apart. IF you put a wanted add out for the f150 spacers in the wanted section one of the junk yard hounds might beable to hook you up for a better price...just a thought.....

 

[koda6966]

I also heard at least once someone used JB Weld to plug the hole, although I couldn't say how well that would hold up.

I patched a hole in my oil pan with some JB Weld.

 

[Sunk]

sorry about the diff that really blows.


those polly spacers also have problems with spliting and coming apart. IF you put a wanted add out for the f150 spacers in the wanted section one of the junk yard hounds might beable to hook you up for a better price...just a thought.....

I've got a set of F-150 spacers. PM me if you want em.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Damn, a drop plate claimed another pig... I would search out a matching ratio pig at a junk yard and swap it.

 

[lhc_cj7]

I've got a set of F-150 spacers. PM me if you want em.

pm sent

 

[pillen140]

sorry about the diff that really blows.


those polly spacers also have problems with spliting and coming apart. IF you put a wanted add out for the f150 spacers in the wanted section one of the junk yard hounds might beable to hook you up for a better price...just a thought.....

mine are holding up fine! maybe depends what brand? and at $30 a set, thats not bad!

 

[lhc_cj7]

Well vacation is over, little over a week in N WI. Lots of those damn mosquitoes, beer and friday fish fry were good

Just before leaving I ordered a set of poly 2" spacers from ebay and "Sunk", a local reader had a pair of F150 spacers he sold me. Thanks Sunk

Anyway, I installed ploy on the P side tonight and not sure about the install.

The coil is all the way in and upon jacking up the axle the spacer started to mushroom out. Something tells me that's not suppose to happen. Here's several pics

The coil in place ready to jack up (BTW check out the action of the shock It looks like it's resting on the arm but I compressed it and no recoil)

You can see the back side mushroomed out.

Here's a pic of the 2" poly and metal F150 spacers. I went with the poly due to the amount of camber I was trying to correct.

Did I miss something or will this thing level out after the tire is back on and take it around the block? Unless you guys have opinions, I'm going to install the d side and take it around the block to see what happens. Might have to go ahead with the metal F150 spacers.

thanks

 

[4x4junkie]

I would use the metal F-150 spacers. Poly doesn't belong under the springs on these things.

If the F-150 spacer alone isn't enough lift, you could always add a couple washers under them as well. Just be sure you have enough thread left on the stud to reinstall the coil retainer.

Yes, the suspension should settle some more once you roll the truck back & forth a bit. You may want to recheck the toe alignment on it though (especially if the steering linkage isn't level due to a mismatch between the lift height and the drop pitman arm length).


Is the shock nitrogen gas-charged? If not, it's normal for them to not self-extend, if that's what you were mentioning.

 

[lhc_cj7]

I would use the metal F-150 spacers. Poly doesn't belong under the springs on these things. Yeah I thought about it all day at work and decided to go with the metal spacers.

If the F-150 spacer alone isn't enough lift, you could always add a couple washers under them as well. Just be sure you have enough thread left on the stud to reinstall the coil retainer. That's the game plan. Just can't find washers that big so I grabbed some 1/4" flat plate from work and will make some if needed. The kit of poly spacers came with the extensions.

Yes, the suspension should settle some more once you roll the truck back & forth a bit. You may want to recheck the toe alignment on it though (especially if the steering linkage isn't level due to a mismatch between the lift height and the drop pitman arm length). I will watch for this.


Is the shock nitrogen gas-charged? If not, it's normal for them to not self-extend, if that's what you were mentioning. They are not gas-charged. I ordered several Bilstein BE5-6215-H5 and are suppose to arrive Saturday.

/

 

[lhc_cj7]

Well got right to work this evening pulling the poly spacer for the F150. Here are several pics

F150 spacer with the original nylon spacer sitting on the axle

Coil installed with F150 spacer.

Moved over to the d-side and after removing shock and coil spotted the attempted repair to the hole in the front diff. They used rtv and what looked like lead tape to cover the gash. I cleaned it up pretty good. Check this out. Ouch

This is the piece and almost dropped into the hole. It was hanging by a thread.

I know the correct repair would be to replace, but funds are dropping and I have a game plan. JB weld. This will take place tomarrow afternoon. I will post pics.

Thanks to all for your input and I hope this helps others. Ted Nuggent is rocking on the radio and it's time for some suds.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Know anyone with the capabilities to weld aluminum? Might be able to get them to patch that back in there for ya.

 

[lhc_cj7]

I am still tring to correrct the camber on this beast. Last we met I installed the F150 spacers and found a hole in top of the diff. JB weld to the rescue. I layered in 10-12 small pieces and smoothed it out. We will see how long is holds.

After installing the spacers and springs I took it for a test drive and upon looking at the tires, the camber remained positive. Hmmmmm. OK so I ordered the adjustable bushings. They came in during the week and now time to see if we can correct. So first thing I did was take the spacers out and after reading the charts I could not get the camber dialed in, it now has gone negative, real bad. So on saturday I'll re-install the spacers and try again.

 

[rickcdewitt]

what are the compressed spring heights on each side?get us a good pic from the front of the suspension so we can see if you even need spacers.you might just need a few washers to even it out side to side.

 

[lhc_cj7]

Update:

Finally found the 3" OD washers here in town. A stack of 4 was about 3/4" which was my starting point. Tack welded them together and swapped out the F150 spacers this morning. Things are looking much better now. The camber is nearly negligible on both tries. Finally figured this out. Took it for a drive and runs striaght with a slight wander to the right. Now it looks like the D-side tire is toe out. I'll get the tape measure out and see what it looks like. Should have went the washer method from the get go. Live and learn.