LT upkeep/maintenance

Hi all,

I've done a substantial amount of research and have decided on a Camburg LT kit for my 2006. I've unfortunately realized that there will be some decent upkeep involved in keeping the setup rust-free, since I live in an area where road salt is prevalent in the winter. I'm now okay with this (enough that I am still going to go with the kit).

My question however is: How much maintenance should I expect with a LT setup up front if I do not beat the crap out of it? I really will only be hitting dirt on rare occasion for the next couple of years (unfortunately), but will be using it as my dd. I've read a couple threads where people claim that having a LT dd is just great, but also have read a number of posts where people say LT maintenance is just through the roof (I'm wondering if this means when you are actually using it and beating it up).

Thanks so much. Just trying to calm my last few nerves so that I can go through with this and get my truck headed in the direction I'd like her to be going!

cheers.

 

Your answer is in your post, it really depends on your use and what exactly you want it to do. Youll have to get new spindles or gusset yours, your motor mounts, your cab mounts, and a bunch of other ish thats weak from the factory and cant take a beating without assistance. Youll probably eventually want some secondary shocks, some bumpstops, a caged engine and cab in case anything happens. If your not really gonna hit the dirt to often though, you may be able to get away with just a basic kit. Dont think your truck will perform like this out of the box:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAqhpkhx-WY&feature=related


you gotta pay to play

 

My truck is LT up front. It's my daily driver as well and I beat the crap out of it! I have not done any maintenance on the kit yet and it's almost been a year of thrashing the truck..

 

It all depends on how much abuse the truck gets.With the camburg kit the lower arm is on uniballs so you wont have much maintenance there. up[er arm bushings depending on the material they may need to be replaced in a few years. The biggest thing I would worry about is if it had any heims they should be checked after a couple of years for play. Heims and uniballs will wear out with time and create slop. I would say an average is about 3yrs on them but it will all depend on how much abuse the kit gets. Most people dont check there heims and uniballs on a daily driver.

 

thanks guys for your replies.

dysfunctnlretard- yeah, i had previous experience with breaking spindles multiple times on my old truck (maybe 13 years ago). also, fortunately (or not) I don't expect my truck to behave like the one in your video by just putting a bolt-on LT kit up front, particularly with doing nothing to the rear at the moment! I had a custom LT kit on my old truck, and like I said, I had all kinds of problems with it. I do attribute most of this to the fact that I beat it up on a regular basis (drove to work through the desert since it was faster than taking the freeway), and the fact that it was the first upper/lower control arm + shock hoop setup the guy ever did for a toyota (he did mostly i-beam stuff with rangers). Also, I unfortunately won't be taking the damn thing off-road hardly at all for the next 1.5 years since I'm stuck in the northeast. This of course begs the question of why bother starting to build it now, but once you've got the bug and the cash, it's hard to say no.

Taco and 04- thanks for both of your replies as well. This is actually what I was hoping to hear (and somewhat expecting from the other LT DD posts I've read). I'm just trying to qualm the fears that result from seeing people post saying how miserable the upkeep is with LT. Of course, I'm assuming that this is with substantial usage in the dirt (wish I could actually...).

 

I run my truck through the desert pretty hard about once a week, maybe more, and the only maintenance I do is the usual lubrication of all moving parts, especially the uni-balls and every once and a while do a one over of the bolts to make sure they're staying nice and tight.

 

OP did you already buy or getting ready to?

 

Hey Cr250 (I used to have a cr 125 hah)-

Did not buy yet. Sadly, I have had the money saved up and set aside to buy a LT kit and fenders, plus install, for over one month now. I'm sitting on it, trying to figure out if it's a good idea or not.

Honestly, the main thing that has held me back so far (and still is), is pictures I've seen of rusted-to-all-hell uniballs and shocks from folks' trucks in road salt areas.

 

Oh yea that sucks in the salt areas. PM sent

 

i think you should do it.

maybe just spray off your suspension every day with a hose real fast after you drive on road salt?