What is causing my Dakars to become misaligned ?

I have also noticed a bit of axle wrap since I installed the axle shims too

 

If you're up to it Oz , get that sucker in the air (with jack & stands, not go out & jump it..haha) remove the Ubolts, drop the axle far enough to seperate from springs (go a couple inches) get a couple good "C" clamps & clamp tight as hell on each side of centerpin, get vice grips & grip the hell out of the bottom of centerpin to hold it still because you're going to re tighten the pin, those shims are thin & give some under tightening sequence , sometimes this gives a false sense of torque (feels tighter than its actually getting) after re torquing I'd run another nut behind it & snug it tight, re assemble , see if this stops your leafs side to side" movement

 

Thanks Doug

Just about to get under there and check it out , but I was thinking about it last night and basically came to the same conclusion as you just posted . My axle shims are the old style that Toytec used to sell that are slotted instead of tight to the centre pin like the new ones .

The job I am working right now has me up and down an unfinished fire road that has gotten pretty bad in some spots which is putting some flex and a lot of bounce / rattle through the truck .

I wondered if maybe the shim on that side had just backed up a little relative to the axle , thus allowing some slack .

I will have both packs out to install new shackles and the OME AAL soon , I will add the second nut as you suggest at that point .

Thanks for the responses gentlemen

 

I believe I will

 

So , as it turns out the U bolt torque was the culprit .

The driver's side , which was the problem side , had 3 of the 4 below the 90 ftlbs , we set them to when installing the axle shims , one nut was really loose .

I loosened them all slightly , realigned the leafs as best I could , and re-torqued them , this time to 100 ftlbs

The passenger side bolts were under 90 ftlbs as well , but for some reason this leaf pack had no side to side movement , I did the same routine to this side , loosen slightly and re-torque to 100 ftlbd .

The noise seems to be gone aside from one slight click / clunk that I attributed to the driver's side leafs just moving slightly back to their neutral position after my manipulation of them .

Thanks for all the responses .

 

I'd run your road a couple more times and re-torque em.

 

Will do

 

So this is the mysterious notorious clunk?

Glad you left me hanging yesterday

 

You didn't answer me when I said I was going to light my truck on fire so I took matters into my own hands with a little help from these good peeps

 

whatever..... I was busy and said call me

keep crying wolf and one day no one will answer your calls for help

 

Peter and the Wolf ?

 

OK , so the fucking clunk is back , checked the U bolt torque and it was still fine

Checked for broken leafs

No rocks caught between the leafs



Next ?

 

is it possibly your shocks?

 

Pretty sure it's the leafs , I can almost feel a bind and release when the clunk happens

It occurs when the truck is turning with some flex , loading that side of the rear

My other thought was it could be that the front leafpack bushing is dried out or seized

 

it doesnt do it on bumps?hows the leaf spring bushings and torque on the bolts

 

I've been noticing a clunking during flex too. I keep nothing in the bed. I actually thought I ripped my brake line out at first. I may have to check my leafs tomorrow or maybe I'll just check out the f150 eco boost I've had my eye on

 

take some 3/4" flat bar stock maybe 1/8" or 1/4" thick and 4 strips for each side. Measure the thickness of your leaf pack then add an inch or so for a bolt top and bottom. Basically you are making a clamp to hold the together. I had the same problem with mine except I have stock leaf packs. Made the clamps and put them on and they have not moved since.

 

How do you take apart the rear end? Do you jack up the entire truck and drop the whole rear axle or do you just jack up one side at a time and do it that way? If youre doing just one side at a time you might not be getting everything to sit right especially with the axle shims since they angle the rear diff. Try dropping the entire back end and tigten everything the same amount of turns. Also if its a really loud clunk and happens when you are flexed maybe it is you shocks extending out all the way and they could be too short for the amount of lift that your springs give you

 

as stupid as this sounds, whats the condition of the rubber pads on the upper shock mount? and how are the bushings on the bottom?

 

some of my clunks come from my silencers/rubber pads that stick the leafs together coming unbound on big turns or when I flex it out

though idk how the dakars are