Long term effects of lifts

Gents,

I've dug around a bit and can't find anyone who's posted a thread on the long term effects of lifting. If there is something, can someone post it? I'll clear this thread out quickly.

I'm not looking for a full on lift like most are - just to level out while maintaining, or improving ride quality. Here's what I'm thinking:

Front:
Bilstein 5100's set to 0
OME 883's (for 1.5-1.75")

Rear:
Bilstein 5100's
(Stock 2013 4 spring SR5 leafs already on truck) Might need to add a .75 or 1" rear block? Not wanting an AAL, considering at .75 that half of the AAL's input is simply from its thickness.

Wheels/Tires: Stock O/R 16" wheels, or if I can get my paws on them - TRD sport, or FJ wheels. 245/75/R16 or R17 BFG AT/KO's, or comparable model. Since its such a small circumference differential between the 245/75/R16's and the 265/70/R16's, I don't care much, and I'd actually prefer the skinnier tires for snow and lower rolling resistance. Would love to hear thoughts on this too.

Alignment.

I'm wondering if anyone has had issues with CV's wearing out quickly, or driveline vibes being difficult to get rid of? Does anyone have personal experience with the 883's on the truck - and the lift height? I've found a lot of references to them on the forums, but it seems to go back and forth. I'm only looking to go up 1.5".

I've heard enough about the negatives to just cranking up the billies.

 

I have a similar front lift to the one you're looking at. I went with Eibach coils on Billies set at 0 for a lift of about 1.5". The 883 coils will give you about the same amount of lift.

I do have driveline vibrations but they are in the rear (I lifted the rear as well) and I believe it's coming from the carrier bearing. I have not experienced anything negative with the front lift.

As for tire size, my truck came with 245/75R16 tires, most of the SR5's do. The TRD Off Roads come with 265/70R16 and the TRD Sports come with 265/65R17. You will not have any issues going with the narrower tire.

 

Pugga, what did you run for a lift in the rear, and was it necessary to install to level the truck? I'd like to run the factory springs in the rear for now with bilsteins, and the 1.5" increase in the front.

My SR5 came with the 245's - correct. The final tire size isn't a big issue to me as long as the width and diameter are near stock.

With a 1.5" lift in the front, did you have any camber/caster issues, or wear issues with the CV's over time? How many miles do you have on your lift components?

 

I'm running the OME 883's with 5100's in the front set to .85, and 5100's in the rear with a OMD rear leaf pack mod., which gave me 2.25"s of lift in the rear. The front is fine, but like Pugga, I need to do the carrier bearing drop. But the ride is great, stiffer than stock, but in a good way.

 

Wareagle: If you hadn't modified the rear leaf pack - and hadn't set your 5100's to .85 - you would be setting level?

I'm trying to avoid needing to do any drive line modification as I'm under warranty and don't want to tamper with anything. I also don't want the extra height - its just not needed for what I do with the truck.

What I'm wanting to do is put in the 883's with 5100's at O, and then JUST the 5100's in the rear. I don't want to lift the rear with blocks, mods, etc. I just want to level the truck.

 

I have the TSB leaf springs in the rear and the Icon 3-leaf progressive AAL (overall lift of 2" for the rear). I wanted to keep a factory rake so I lifted the rear a little more than the front but, because I have a shell and some tools in the bed, I ended up with a complete 1.5" lift all around and factory rake.

With the front lift, I'm able to get a good alignment with the factory parts without any issues. Camber, caster and toe are all perfect. I haven't experienced any premature wear on the CVs that I'm aware of but that's tough to really gauge until one of them is on it's way out.

So far, I'm pushing probably about 25k miles with my lift. I don't off road very often, I commute in stop and go traffic daily and put a lot of highway miles on the truck. I do use the truck to tow and haul frequently just to give you an idea of what kind of use my truck sees.

 

Try flipping the carrier bearing, that worked for me. Just unbolt it, turn it 180* and bolt it back up.

Right now, my issue isn't that I need it dropped, mine is going bad and needs to be replaced it's just too darn cold out to get it done

 

Thanks for the help Gents.

I think I'm going to go with 883's and the 5100's all around. I want to keep it simple, improve ride quality, and level the truck out.

 

Thanks for the tip. It only shudders at takeoff up to about 15 mph, but any vibe for me is too much.

 

You will love the ride quality. The 5100's made all the difference in the world for me, but I bought my truck with 130,000 miles on it, so I'm sure the stock shocks were shot. Doing the 883's with 5100's in the front should level you out nicely.

 

If anyone else could post as to the long term effects of having a lift kit on your truck, I would love to hear about it.

Examples: CV wear, fast wheel bearing wear from offset wheels, steering issues, etc.

 

I have the same exact set up except mine is set up at the 1.75 mark in the front I believe. No spacers. Seems like everyone else has aal or blocks. The bigger tires 270/75/r16 wrangler duratracts add about an inch in height for front and rear

The front sits at 23 and 22 in rear becuase of canopy?

25k miles as of March 2016, seems to be no problems but anything for you?

My suspension is really stiff though. Not really sure why.

 

Old thread but did you end up doing this setup?