King 2.5 C/O w/650# Springs installed. First thoughts.

My alignment. I can tell you that the camber is negative (by eye) but it has been from the factory.

Looking at the tire picture, you can see that the inside of the tire isn't making contact on the ground. Is this right?

 

Your right camber looks good, the left is a little high for my liking, I would ask them to fix that. You caster is better in the before. You want that to be around 4*. I don't remember but did you install adjustable UCAs? If not, then this might just be what you get. You can tell though that this was done by a monkey that doesn't really understand alignment and especially not alignments of lifted trucks. "Making all the boxes green" will put you out of proper alignment. Goodluck finding a shop that understands this

 

Not sure I agree here. I used to work at Sears as an alignment Tech. I wanted more caster, couldn't really get it though given the camber. Toe and camber should adhere to factory "green" specs, should it not? Caster is where there is room for improvement. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Why so much camber on the left? That will drive like shit when you drive in the left lane I would think.
Try the chalk, you may find you are over inflated for the weight of the truck on those tires. That may help the ride of those E's.

 

it is possible for a skilled tech to dial it in symmetrical. your truck will drive so much better with added caster. i would shoot for 0.0 camber both sides,.0.05 toe per side or thereabouts, and 3+deg caster. symmetrical really allows the truck to settle and drive super clean. these Tacomas are worth the effort, as are the Kings. i would not be happy with that alignment myself. but if you don't mind it's not dangerous, nothing really wrong with it.

 

Im not good with it. I have too much negative camber. I can see by eye, but I've always been able to see it since the day I bought the truck. Just thought it weird. I tried to get more caster, couldn't, but I'll try again. The camber looks way off to me.

 

Going back to the statements about “riding on clouds” is definitely an overstatement when it comes to just plain street driving. People forget that when you lift your truck the ride quality is going to change and more than likely stiffen up a little compared to stock. I’m riding on KINGS with 650s and you tend to feel a little more road imperfections compared to stock but where the improvements really kick in is off-road. On the road improvements can be felt with cornering, bumps and dips. Instead of easing up on the gas or braking when my truck was stock, I now usually floor it for bumps/dips while street driving and it’s fun every time. Definitely 1000% worth it and you feel more in control of your truck. Nice build OP

 

By the looks .... I don’t think your at 2.5” of lift.... I could be wrong but 2.5 would make your front a little higher than the icon AAL

 

I’m diggin the setup so far

 

Agreed. I think I'm at ~2" of lift.

 

He doesn’t offroad. The ride doesn’t change much for on road performance, they shine when offroad.

 

Longer springs at 600#. Do you understand?

 

Maybe to to get 2.5-3" of lift if that is your only goal but a 600Lb spring should be fine for your truck and I find it hard to believe that accutune recommended a 650Lb 14" spring for a truck with no armor/bumper/winch. I have kings from Accutune with 14" 600Lb and a little less than a inch of preload and Im easily getting 2 inches of lift with no ride quality issues. My previous shocks, Fox 2.5 extended travel had 13" 600lb and i was able to get 1.5-1.75 inches of lift no issues. Im no expert but I feel like if my truck had a heavier spring with no weight it would not ride great. Hope you figure it out my dude, your rig looks sweet

 

I hear you. I didn't order from Accutune, I just referenced their chart. See, my biggest issue with this whole thing is it's all so arbitrary. Most people I read on here just said "clouds" or "rails". That means different things to different people. I measured (best I could) the ride quality stock vs my Kings. I can honestly tell you that the ride was virtually unchanged by the seat feel, but noticeable by my hula girl.. I'll post some videos when I have time, but honestly, I feel like 650# works fine for me, but then again, I haven't rode in your truck. So who knows?

 

No. The 600 & 650# are both 14".

 

False. I HAVENT done the off-road test for it. As I said in my post, my "first thoughts" are only regarding road driving.

 

I'm on Kings 2.5 with 600# springs and i agree -- the on road performance you definitely feel more of the road imperfections but when you offroad thats where in my opinion you really feel a huge difference in how the truck handles. Same thing - with bumps in the road i find its smoother just to gas it and blow through them rather than slow down lol

 

Thanks for the review and resetting my expectations of KINGS. Waiting for my UCA and leaf pack to come so I can install the system.

 

From my limited time on the Kings, I'd agree. But the 650# are not at all jarring. They feel absolutely fine to me. For anyone considering building out their truck and adding winch/bumpers at a later time, the 650# springs roll just fine without it. I can't speak to the ride quality vs. 600# or 700#.

 

Actually true. The ride doesn’t change much on road and does off road.

Now you stated that 99% of your driving is on road and likely what little offroad you do it really just a dirt road. You didn’t explicitly state this was an on road only test.

So yes you don’t actually offroad and likely will never put those Kings through their paces.