Lifted suspension issue

Bro you have to disconnect that sway bar. That is what is screwing you up

 

Get a bungee cord on that spindle. You don't want tension on the brake line. Could cause another problem for you. Just trying to help! Cheers

 

.....Just saw this

 

Preeettyyy sure you need some bolts up top somewhere. OP I commend you for attempting this on your own, but I think you may be in over your head.

 

Hold the phone OP. Just want to point out a few things to you.

1. I don't think many of us realized you had 5100's until now. As you said they are adjustable and you can set up the preload to provide lift. You already have it set atleast at the second position as I can see the groove on your shock. This is already going to lift your suspension.
   
2. Now you are adding what, 1.5-2" spacer to an existing lift.
3. This is going to make your truck sit with your control arms down. You won't have any droop, because you are already using it to lift. You don't have aftermarket upper control arms, so they are going to hit the spring if not your tires. The 5100 lift is one of the most popular out there, and at most people will put say a 1/2" spacer on the driver side just to level the truck left to right (taco lean) if all the other parts are stock.
   
4. You may have a cool looking tall truck, but it won't perform well this way.
5. I recommend that you start out by going with just the 5100's. If you aren't happy with the lift you can adjust them (requires a spring compressor, or a technique you can find already documented in video.
6. PLEASE tell me you are using stands. Those jacks under the truck are not enough to safely work under your truck like that. They are cheap, HF has them on sale this weekend. Get a pair of good ones they may save your life.
7. Get as familiar as you can before you continue. Watch the videos, or search for "5100 install". You will get successes , and failures to learn from.

Watch:


2012, 5100's no spacer. Looks pretty good.


Here's more details from a pro shop


You can't get too much information on this stuff OP. Your truck is going to be driving 65+ MPH down the road, and you and your passengers are going to rely on the safety and reliability of what you are doing right now.

 

Now that's the response I needed. I do have Jack stands, just not pictured. So I don't need the spacer?? Bc the kit I purchased said to do the shocks and spacers, am I suppose to just not even use the spacers? This Is where I get confused bc when I first installed the lift with the spacer on the hat and under the coil bucket I couldn't get it to fit...which is why the spacer was moved ontop of the coil bucket (I now know that didn't do much for a lift at all). So i may have gotten more parts than necessary in the beginning? Bc I'm sure I'll have it fitting correctly if I remove the spacer, but the shock is all I need to provide me with the lift?? Like I said before my instructions were unclear and pretty generic. Thanks

 

Do you know what springs are installed with those 5100s??

those 5100s look like they are on the .85 setting so that is alright in my eyes

 

this might be worth a view, just to better understand what you are installing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOCtx6mM-u8

 

Set the 5100s on 1.75 (depending on what springs those are) and toss that spacer.........

 

Just the stock springs...what should my settings be??

 

The shock does not provide any lift. The spring is what provides the lift.

 

Even if they're the ride height adjustable 5100s? I thought those provided lift

 

Setting the clip up just compresses the coil and the ride gets stiff. If you have the 5100's just get the new coils from headstrong and get them installed. Or try it that way and see if the ride is bad or ok for you.

 

Yes. Adjusting the mounting point preload the spring which gives more height. Basically you are mounting the spring higher which stretches the shock out more.

 

This may sound like a dumb question but isn't that what I need? If I'm not using the spacer I just want my spring compressed to give me the lift. Right?

 

That is correct

 

Just be aware that the more you preload that spring the shit tier the ride quality will be. On top of that, the more you preload to lift, you will lose down travel on the suspension which will hurt off road ability.

To combat this the better thing to do is buy an aftermarket set of springs and install them on your 5100 that will be longer and will not preload to provide the same lift

 

Set the clip to the highest setting and get rid of the spacer. or toss some ome or eibach springs on there and set the clip at zero.

 

Dude no way.

 

Aside from the obvious spacer location mistake, the original issue you are asking about in these pictures is 95% of the time attributed to not installing the black shock boot and/or the bushing that is in the boot. These 5100s have a small metal bushing in the top of the boot that will stop the shaft short from poking up all the way through the top of the mount as is what's happening in your bottom pic. And we can clearly see no boot is installed in your bottom pic. Either make sure the boot (with the little metal bushing) is installed when putting everything back together, or if you want to go with the no boot look, you can pop the bushings out of the boots and just install them.